Rightly or wrongly the world of fine wine has a reputation for being pitched toward the elite. So when master sommelier Emily Wines – yes, that’s her name (see photo below) – had the opportunity to create a wine series of her own for Cooper’s Hawk Winery & Restaurants, she knew she wanted it to be friendly and approachable, perfect for accompanying appetizers and entrées. It also had to have a label that instantly communicated one more quality – these wines were meant to celebrate the strength and courage of women.
Designed by Makers & Allies [projects / website] and printed by All American Label & Packaging, the label for the first, Camille Brave, lays a stunning, colorful foundation for the rest.
Emily was determined to craft a “feminine” wine, but not in the gentle and retiring sense of that word. Instead, her watchwords were “sexy,” “luscious,” “voluptuous,” “loud” and “intense.”
The artwork Makers & Allies came up with is nearly all of these. The label for each wine – Camille Brave and Camille Proud – features a full-length portrait of a different, confident looking woman surrounded by a psychedelic spray of flora, brilliantly rendered through a mix of hand-drawn illustration, photography and the look of a fine oil painting. (The visual textures here are quite stunning.)
Deriving its name from Emily’s middle one, the Camille line sports labels that begin with a 60 lb. Avery Dennison Fasson Frozen Orion Diamond base label. The artwork was then digitally printed CMYK over the shiny label stock, lending those vibrant colors a distinctive metallic sheen.
And because no premium label is truly complete without it, shimmering foil was added to form a halo around each woman’s head – Gold for Camille Brave and Silver for Camille Proud. A closer look at this last reveals embossed rays in the halo, adding that extra bit of fine aesthetic detail, as well as that oh-so-important tactile appeal.
The halo is especially significant here as the overall look of these bottles brings to mind votive candles, particularly Mexican prayer candles, which usually feature an image of a saint along with a written prayer.
With the Camille wines, women are given a vibrant, shimmering vision of their own inner saints. “Believe in yourself,” they seem to say, “and the good life will soon follow.”
