With the proliferation of wine brands crowding the shelves of wine stores and supermarkets, wineries are having a hard time making their products stand out.
The profile of wine tasters is constantly changing and their purchasing behavior is evolving, so how can a wine label be designed to encourage consumers to pick up the bottle? Do the labels really make you pick a bottle?
The power of the label
For those who are not wine connoisseurs, it can be stressful deciding which bottle of wine to bring to a dinner party, or picking which wine goes well with a certain dish. It can lead to aimless browsing in the wine aisle, with confusion about what to do. At this point, the impulse is to just pick out a bottle based on its fabulous looking label, hoping that it tastes as good as it looks from the outside. As CG Napa Brand Design's David Schuemann puts it: "A carefully crafted label can make us think the bottle is way more expensive than it is, and it can boost our enjoyment of the wine itself."
So why are we compelled to pick up a certain kind of wine, while ignoring others? We base it all on the label. Wine labels can convey emotions to a potential buyer and reflect the flavor that's inside. They can evoke feelings and produce memory recall. A playful, quirky label can command a lot of attention from the younger generation of drinkers, while a cream-colored, embossed logo of a vintner's house imprinted on the label can impress mature wine drinkers.
A study made by Annie Larson suggests that millennials are more attracted to brightly-colored wine logos and sans serif fonts than traditionally made wine labels. The study further mentions that 94% of its participants remembered graphic wine designs, in contrast to the 68% who remembered wines that had traditional labels on them.
Why wine labels are so important
Why do labels matter so much for wine drinkers in particular? What about other beverages like beer, juices and soda? While labels do play a role in all beverage marketing, wine label designs are important because choosing a bottle of wine is more complex. More so than say a strawberry juice or a lager. There are so many different types of wines, from chardonnay to merlot to pinot noir, with different ages and from different places. This leaves many consumers bewildered. Which will be a good choice for a wedding gift, a night with the girls, drinking on the beach, or a romantic dinner? The labels serve as a guide to help consumers find the flavor, quality, and type they like.
Wine label elements
Here are some of the key aspects of label design:
Colors - People are highly responsive to visual stimuli, which is why a color definitely brings multiple layers of meaning into a product. One of the questions you need to ask is what kind of emotion you want your brand to convey.
If you are aiming for warmth and optimism, choose yellow. If you want to inspire professionalism, sincerity, and calmness, the color blue will never fail you.
If you want to evoke royalty and creativity, then purple is the right color for you. Research how different colors impact audiences and choose your colors with a purpose.
Graphics - Use bold, clean lines and simple shapes in order to make the logo recognizable even from afar. Further, knowing what graphics attract the target audience is key such as a colorful, trendy image for a wine targeting millennials.
Typography - Again, consider your target audience when deciding a typeface. Serif fonts appeal to a conservative audience, while modern sans serif will impress a younger demographic.
Text and background color combinations - In order to make an impact with your logo, you need to pair text and background colors successfully to create a nice contrast. Having a contrast makes the text easier to read, minimizes eye strain, and makes the overall label design more aesthetically appealing.
Once you have made up your mind on what color will best fit your winery brand, look it up on the color wheel and choose its complementary hues which will provide great contrast.
The secret to the label
The label on a wine bottle is more important than many might think. As you can see, there are many elements at play which make a customer pick a certain bottle. In order for a winery to have their wines chosen from the wide variety available, they will now need to identify their target audience and design the label elements to appeal to them.
Want More?
Love a good round-up as much as we do? Have a look at these great themed design posts:
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Written by Jessica Walrack on Monday, July 25, 2016
Jessica Walrack is a professional freelance writer with a background in sales and marketing. After 7 years in the corporate world, she stepped into the online sphere and has now been freelancing for 4 years. She specializes in helping businesses to create a stellar online experience for their audience in order to build industry authority and increase profitability. In her spare time, Jessica enjoys traveling all over the world with her family.
