Visual Techniques

From the time I was old enough to go wine tasting, I've been fascinated by wine label designs. Several years ago, I was walking through the wine aisles at Draeger's grocery store and came across "The Prisoner". The name of the wine says it all, but I was instantly drawn to the dark and disturbing image. Although I knew nothing about the wine, I took a chance on a $35 bottle just to have the label.

The visual techniques present in this design are singularity, distortion, and boldness. The single subject of the label is a bold image of a prisoner in chains, although slightly distorted since you can't see the face or one of the arms and legs. Despite the disturbing subject matter, the label is intriguing.

Although I am attracted to some of the darker more mysterious wine labels, I have also found many I like with completely different styles. Cupcake Vineyards is another one of my favorites and has a much softer design.

The visual techniques present in the Cupcake label include: contrast, symmetry, intricacy and brightness. The floral design on the borders of the label are symmetrical and slightly intricate with the combination of ribbons and branches. The colors used contrast well with each other and provide somewhat of a popout affect with the cupcake at the top and the Red Velvet name. All of the colors are bright and vibrant as opposed to being dull. There is also a juxtaposition between the text and decorative border as well as with the solid yellow border on the outer edge.





These two wine labels are very different, yet they both have an attractive quality. The cupcake label has a more classical and feminine aesthetic quality while The Prisoner label sparks an interest from a darker side. The bold choice of The Prisoner takes a chance on how the viewer will receive it, but the name of the wine somewhat dictates what the label will look like. The same can be said for a wine from Cupcake Vineyards, although this particular label could have taken another direction based on the wine Red Velvet. The word "cupcake" conjures up playful bright images while the word "prisoner" almost always has a negative connotation. If The Prisoner label was not employing singularity and there were other subjects, the impact would be less dramatic. The distortion is key in making this design successful because it makes the image less personal. We can't tell if this is a man or a woman and can't see the anguish on the person's face. The lack of details make it hard to form any kind of connection with this prisoner. Without contrast in color on the cupcake label the name of the wine and cupcake would no longer have a pop-out effect. The contrast in typography adds a playfulness to the label with the use of text that looks handwritten. The symmetry and somewhat intricate border details of branches and ribbons add a classical touch that balances with the  bright colors and fun vineyard and wine names.