The aesthetic research I have undertook focused mainly on discovering the use of imagery, text, and special finishes on wine label design. It also focused on researching the hierarchy of the text as well.
43oz.com and Alex Kidomsky
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| On this wine label the name of the wine takes the highest priority, with merlot being second, followed by the date, and the red dry wine", the description of the type of red wine this is. The illustration also takes up just as much space as the text does, which creates an even balance between text and image, however because the image is on top, it does appear to be pushing down the text. This is not so bad because the first word on the label is the largest, so it created a strong barrier against the illustration. The colours are muted which gives it a vintage, old fashioned appearance. |
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| The name of the wine is the largest piece of text on this label, giving it the most focus. This is followed at quite a distance by the type of red wine that it is, in this case cabernet sauvignon. The smallest piece of text is the place it was made, right at the bottom. The name of the wine and all other text is separated by a pattern, creating distance between the two things, and emphasising the name of the wine really strongly. |
Sterling Creativeworks
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| This is a beautiful, ornate, and high quality wine label, purely down to the use of luxurious gold foiling, an extremely detailed, realistic illustration that takes up most of the wine label, and the ornate frames surrounding most of the text on this label. The name of the wine is the largest piece of text, followed by the place of production and the type of red wine it is. Then the date of production and other information come afterwards. Although this is an extremely detailed wine label, only three colours and then the foiling have been used., to ensure this complex design doesn't become overcrowded and too busy. The gold foiling is a great addition to give added quality to the label. |
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| This is an extremely simple wine label, with the name of the wine coming first, then the date of production, then the place of production, followed last by the type of white wine it is. The watercolour style illustration in the background creates an almost war time like feel to the wine label, one that is slightly old fashioned. |
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| This is a very traditional appearance of wine label, with a serif typeface for the name of the wine and a detailed black and white illustration. the use of red touches gives this wine label a sophisticated and traditional appearance, resembling red wax seals. |
Nicto Ngai
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| This is an extremely image based wine label, with a lot of different colours used, however all of similar tones so it doesn't appear too multicoloured. The name of the wine is the largest piece of text on this wine label, in the most ornate typeface as well, so it appears as the most important aspect. It is then followed by the type of white wine it is, then the date of production, then the place of production. The text takes up a really small portion of the label compared to the illustration though, emphasising that buyers should be drawn in my the illustration not by the name. |
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| This is much more of an ordinary wine label, with a simple, clean design, and the use of only one colour and foiling. What's interesting about this label is that the place of production is shown on a little tab at the bottom, making it stand out quite clearly compared to if it was part of the main label area. |
Irene Laschi and Laurie Millotte
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| This is an extremely contemporary wine label, with a simple coloured illustration covering the whole of the label but appearing in the background. This creates a really delicate appearance, however one that is offset by the strong serif typeface for the name of the wine itself. Although this typeface has a high contrast in stroke weight so it still maintains some of the delicateness the illustration shows off. The date of production and the type of white wine it is are the next largest pieces of text, followed by the place of production and then the smaller text at the bottom. |
Kissmiklos and Eszter Sarah
This wine label design really caught my attention by the bold use of yellow in it's design, and the strong use of typography in both serif and sans serif typefaces, creating an extremely contemporary design.
THEORETICAL RESEARCH
Type Hierarchy
According to Drink With Your Eyes, type hierarchy can influence a consumer to purchase your product over another, and this is the general order of hierarchy on a wine label from most prominent to least prominent:
- Brand name
- Product Type/Flavor (Gin, Pilsner, Cabernet Sauvignon, Mandarin Vodka, etc.)
- Sourcing (Appellation, source of grains, etc.)
- Vintage Date, Bottle Number, Production Level
- Endorsements & Qualifiers (Awards, founder’s signature, etc.)
- Alcohol % and Legal Mandatories (Legal information required by the country product where it is sold.)
This definitely fits in line with the aesthetic research that has been undertook, as in most of the wine labels that were looked at, the brand name was what took highest prominence, followed by the type of wine it was.
Drink With Your Eyes also states that you should use colour, boldness and scale of the text to determine hierarchy as well as the location on the label, which is something to take into consideration, just because a piece of text is first it doesn't mean it will be the most prominent if it's in a less bold colour.
Drink With your Eyes also suggest using colours related to the type of product on the label to emphasise the type of wine it is, for example purple for a red wine, instead of solely relying on the consumer to scan the bottle until they find the text that described what type of wine it is. This is definitely something to take into consideration when adding colour and illustrations to the wine label, to ensure it is really clear what type of wine it is. Similarly, the type of wine text is a really important piece of text for the wine label, so this should be made prominent at all times, as this is often what consumers look for when choosing a wine.
Similarly Advanced Labels NW states that reducing clutter on a wine label can allow the design the focus on the brand message and important information, which will be much more likely to catch a consumers attention if the brand is clear and laid out for them, rather than if they have to hunt for it.
Advanced Labels NW also suggests that visual hierarchy of information should attract a consumers eyes to certain aspects of the label in the order than you want them to be viewed, creating an effective story being understood clearly by the viewer.
They also state that in order to get consumers to look at your product, the label should have an emotional appeal, and effectively communicate your unique personality, rather than just blending into the crowd.
Skye Hallberg & Ron Woloshun also wrote an article in the Practical Winery and Vineyard Journal about wine label hierarchy. They said that that before you start designing anything, you should understand what you want your label to say about the wine. Is it traditional, is it contemporary, is it sweet and dainty? This should all be reflected within the design of the label, and understanding how you want your wine to be represented beforehand is key in creating an effective wine label which accurately represents the wine the way you want it to.
Wine Label Production
Label Adhesive
According to Merican Labels there are different types of adhesive you can use depending on how your labels are going to interact with the bottle and the outside world.
Permanent Adhesive - The label isn't meant to be removed once applied to the bottle. You cannot reposition it. The label can be attached to most surface types with little difficulty. If you try to remove them they will leave a sticky residue. The most cost effective adhesive.
Peelable Adhesive - The labels can be removed using this adhesive, however may leave a sticky residue on some surfaces.
Ultra Peel Adhesive - The weakest type of adhesive, and often used on good to display the price, where this label will then need to be removed upon purchase without leaving any residue. if used incorrectly however they can fall off.
Freezer Adhesive - Used if the product is meant to be frozen.
Marine Adhesives - Those used for products which are intended to be submerged in water. These are most commonly used for chemical labelling however.
After reviewing these types of adhesives, permanent adhesive would definitely be the most appropriate type of adhesive to use for the wine labels, as they aren't intended to be removed, and are one of the strongest types of adhesive so there will be no risk of it falling off.
Using milk as an adhesive
When researching adhesives for labels, milk has came up a lot in the search results. Which is completely bizarre.
According to How About Orange blog milk can be used to glue labels onto glass bottles, it works just as strongly as commercial adhesives, only it won't leave any residue on the glass should you need to reposition it when applying it initially or remove it. However, it doesn't work with ink jet printed labels as the inks run when they get wet. You can also only use semi or full fat milk, not fully skimmed. This blog posts also states that to make a stronger adhesive you can add gelatin to a milk and water mix, which gives it added strength.
Science Sparks also explains how you can make a natural glue using milk, baking soda, white vinegar and water. They demonstrated it's effectiveness by glueing two full egg boxes together and they did in fact stick strongly together.
They explained the chemical process:
"Here’s what happened to the milk. By adding the vinegar, you create a chemical reaction which makes the milk to separate into two parts, a solid (the curds), and a liquid (the whey). The curds are milk protein, called casein. Liquid casein is a natural glue.
When we add the baking soda it neutralises the vinegar (which is acidic). The bubbles are caused by Carbon dioxide gas being given off as part of the reaction. The curds form a liquid again after being neutralised."
From this research into using milk as an adhesive, this is an effective adhesive to use, and it appears to be most commonly used for home brews, which is perfect as the wine labels I am producing are for home brewed wine, where the bottles will only be given out to friends and family as gifts and who will probably want to reuse the bottles as most of them make their own wine themselves.
If milk is used as an adhesive, I will have to ensure the labels aren't printed using an ink-jet printer to ensure the ink doesn't run once the adhesive is applied.
Printing methods
According to Crush Creative Packaging, they offer 4 different types of printing processes for wine labels. These are Flexographic, Digital, Offset, and Direct Screen printing.
Flexographic - This is a rotary printing method that uses quick drying inks and raised relief image plates. The plates roll around a cylinder which rolls ink onto the plate which then rolls onto the paper printing the image. This is a high speed and economical way of printing labels if you have got a large run number. According to eHow, flexographic printing is best suited for non-flat media, which is why it is great for printing labels. They also describe it as being a lot cheaper in cost to set up than lithographic printing, and the plates can also be reused as well. According to MPI Label Systems with flexographic printing you can use water based or UV based inks, ensuring high quality labels.
Digital - This printing process reproduced multiple images one after another, without money and time consuming change overs. You can also do customs printing with digital printing, for example adding consecutive numbers to labels to highlight the limited edition standard of a brand. According to MPI Label Systems digital printing doesn't have the costs of setting up plates that offset and flexographic printing does. Digital printing also allows for short run flexibility, which allows you to react to market trends and make adjustments to labels quickly and easily. They also claim that you can print onto stocks that the flexographic printing process may struggle to, giving you more options and flexibility.
Offset - This type of printing can draw from a greater colour space than traditional printers, and it produces really high detail and a crisp image. It is also very effective for high volume print runs.
Direct Screen - This is a cost effective printing method for small to medium print runs, and you can also screen print directly onto the glass as well, creates a higher quality finish.
Printing finishes - Foiling
Oh So Beautiful Paper describes foiling stamping as a speciality printing process that uses heat, pressure, metal dies and foil film to create a unique, high quality addition to a print.
They describe the process as:
"Once the design is finalized, metal dies are created in the appropriate shape for each individual color foil to be applied for a particular design. The dies are heated and then stamped with enough pressure to seal a thin layer of foil to the paper, and each color is applied individually through multiple runs of the press to create the final design."
Oh So Beautiful Paper goes on to say that foil is an opaque medium which means that its colour won't be influenced by what colour stock you are applying it to, which makes it extremely effective when using a light coloured foil on a dark coloured stock. Metallic foils create a luxurious and high quality finish, with a lot of shine and shimmer, whereas if you were using metallic inks through lithography or other printing techniques these colours can often come out a little dull in comparison.
However, foil stamping is a labour intensive process and therefore can be quite costly, especially if using more than one colour of foil. Also, as foil is applied using heat, you shouldn't foil nearby an item that has already been applied using thermography, as this can spoil it.
Bradley Brothers also describe the foil stamping/blocking technique: "To create a foil blocked image an ultra thin polyester film carrying a foil pigment is fed into a press. There, a die of the desired image is pressed against the paper, trapping the film inbetween. As heat to the die and pressure to the paper are applied, the foil or pigment is released from the film carrier and transferred to the paper, forming a foil image."
This research both aesthetically and theoretically has given me a great insight into the wine label industry, and has definitely given me a lot of things to consider when designing my wine labels.
Printing methods
According to Crush Creative Packaging, they offer 4 different types of printing processes for wine labels. These are Flexographic, Digital, Offset, and Direct Screen printing.
Flexographic - This is a rotary printing method that uses quick drying inks and raised relief image plates. The plates roll around a cylinder which rolls ink onto the plate which then rolls onto the paper printing the image. This is a high speed and economical way of printing labels if you have got a large run number. According to eHow, flexographic printing is best suited for non-flat media, which is why it is great for printing labels. They also describe it as being a lot cheaper in cost to set up than lithographic printing, and the plates can also be reused as well. According to MPI Label Systems with flexographic printing you can use water based or UV based inks, ensuring high quality labels.
Digital - This printing process reproduced multiple images one after another, without money and time consuming change overs. You can also do customs printing with digital printing, for example adding consecutive numbers to labels to highlight the limited edition standard of a brand. According to MPI Label Systems digital printing doesn't have the costs of setting up plates that offset and flexographic printing does. Digital printing also allows for short run flexibility, which allows you to react to market trends and make adjustments to labels quickly and easily. They also claim that you can print onto stocks that the flexographic printing process may struggle to, giving you more options and flexibility.
Offset - This type of printing can draw from a greater colour space than traditional printers, and it produces really high detail and a crisp image. It is also very effective for high volume print runs.
Direct Screen - This is a cost effective printing method for small to medium print runs, and you can also screen print directly onto the glass as well, creates a higher quality finish.
Printing finishes - Foiling
Oh So Beautiful Paper describes foiling stamping as a speciality printing process that uses heat, pressure, metal dies and foil film to create a unique, high quality addition to a print.
They describe the process as:
"Once the design is finalized, metal dies are created in the appropriate shape for each individual color foil to be applied for a particular design. The dies are heated and then stamped with enough pressure to seal a thin layer of foil to the paper, and each color is applied individually through multiple runs of the press to create the final design."
Oh So Beautiful Paper goes on to say that foil is an opaque medium which means that its colour won't be influenced by what colour stock you are applying it to, which makes it extremely effective when using a light coloured foil on a dark coloured stock. Metallic foils create a luxurious and high quality finish, with a lot of shine and shimmer, whereas if you were using metallic inks through lithography or other printing techniques these colours can often come out a little dull in comparison.
However, foil stamping is a labour intensive process and therefore can be quite costly, especially if using more than one colour of foil. Also, as foil is applied using heat, you shouldn't foil nearby an item that has already been applied using thermography, as this can spoil it.
Bradley Brothers also describe the foil stamping/blocking technique: "To create a foil blocked image an ultra thin polyester film carrying a foil pigment is fed into a press. There, a die of the desired image is pressed against the paper, trapping the film inbetween. As heat to the die and pressure to the paper are applied, the foil or pigment is released from the film carrier and transferred to the paper, forming a foil image."
This research both aesthetically and theoretically has given me a great insight into the wine label industry, and has definitely given me a lot of things to consider when designing my wine labels.
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