Designing a Wine Bottle Label

Think of when you are in the supermarket, pushing your trolley, shopping for wine.  It can be tough deciding on what wine to choose when there are so many on the shelf.  With 3 or 4 bottles in your hand, all priced the same, what makes you choose one over the other? Ultimately, the label.

The label is vital for your wine bottles, so making them look sophisticated, eye-catching and of a high quality is your ticket to creating a successful brand.

We have created this article to help guide you through creating your perfect wine label, and leaving your customers on cloud wine. Similar steps can also be followed for creating other spirit labels such as gin labels and rum labels. 

Step One: Who is your audience?

Before you start to think about creating your label you need to ask yourself who your audience is.  To know this you will need to know, who you are.  What sort of business are you? How long have you been around? Where did your business originate? Who does this appeal to in the market?

Write two or three sentences to describe your business and decide if you are reaching out to an older, more sophisticated audience, or perhaps a younger more adventurous buyer looking for something new.

Step Two: Choose your colours

Deciding on your colours is an important step – from the bottle colour (which generally come in red, green and clear), to the label colour and lastly the brands colours.

Red wine comes in dark green bottles to keep the sunlight out and stops the wine from oxidising.  Traditionally the labels on red follow darker, deeper colour schemes, or a white label with rich red tones with gold or black text and images

White wine labels tend to be lighter to create crisp feelings, with Rose wine trending with pinks and golds.

In more recent years, wine companies are breaking these traditional rules and opting for more vibrant, colourful labels which catch your eye.  So it really comes down to taste and how you wish to portray your brand.

Step Three: Typography

Choosing a strong typography can draw attention to your label, and needs to stand out against your chosen colour.  The font you decide on will tell your customer a lot about what they will be uncorking.

Script text may be used for your more sophisticated looking wine labels, or bolder fonts for a more modern twist.

Step Four: Select your imagery

Some wineries choose a mascot image to display on all of their wine bottles, such as a native animal to their country, a place where the wine is made, or a character.

A more modern winery may opt for something more unusual looking, creative or cartoon like.

Select your image and decide on the style it is to be printed.  Whether it’s a bright colour image, an elegantly drawn image, or a photo image, think what would appeal most to your audience.

Step Five: The back of the label

Ofcourse the front of the label is what will draw the attention of your customers, but the back of the label is also important as it will display the ingredients used, legal info like government warnings, and alcohol content, but also your vineyard history and background.

Step Six: Choosing your label material

Choosing your label material can completely change the look of your label from a thick premium paper, to a metallic polypropylene.  This is where your label manufacturer will be able to advise you on the best solution for your artwork and brand, and also offer trial samples to ensure you are happy with your finished product.

A trip down any wine aisle in the supermarket, you will see a range of textured papers, decorative foil stamping, embossed letters, die-cutting and unique finishing touches.

Embossing and foil stamping will give your labels a luxury feel, or some added digital texture may be used for a fun design and touchy feely finish.

Die-cutting will create any shape to your label, so if you want to steer away from the standard rectangular shape, your label manufacturer will be able to order in your custom shape for your required design.

Whilst thinking about what features you want for your labels, also bear in mind the cost to the added elements which may be more cost-effective if bought in larger quantities.

The options are endless so if you don’t know where to start get in touch with a label manufacturer for help and advice.

Step Seven: Finding your graphic designer

If you’re not an expert in art, rather than choosing the cheapest option and designing your own label, you are best to find a graphic designer to draw up your artworks so that it  looks professional and is print ready for when you get in touch with your label supplier to place an order.

Depending on your budget will be a factor on where you find your graphic designer but you can find a freelancer or a cheaper designer through a crowdsourcing contest on websites such as 99designs.  If you have a larger budget hiring a design agency could be an option for you.

Step Eight: Branding

Now you have your chosen label, colours, materials and design it is vital to keep this consistent with all future wines which you may produce.

Once a customer tries and likes one style of wine, they’ll be excited to see your brand on a wider range of options and will be more likely to purchase again and again.

Step Nine: get in touch with your label supplier

Finding a wine label manufacturer, you can trust is essential to make sure your labels are of a high quality.  If you haven’t found one already then Labelnet can help with your order from start to finish.

Your label experts can advise you on the best materials to use for your label design, from coated paper, silver polypropylene, or textured craft paper there are endless options.  What’s even better is finding the right label supplier can offer you premium embellishments such as hot foiling to create metallic text or images, embossing to add a 3D effect to part of your label or screen printing for a high build glossy print perfect for creating a stamped image.

Your label may be perfect for digital printing if using vibrant colours and needing a fast turnaround, or flexographic printing for larger orders and CMYK colours.

Don’t worry if this is mind boggling to you because your label supplier will help you step by step through making your final label decisions and can even offer a trial run of your labels before you commit to your order.

For further help with your label order please get in touch and our team will be happy to help 01277 364964.