Some thoughts on the Wine Label Design Awards

Tuesday, 4 April, 2017
Winemag.co.za, Christian Eedes
It’s difficult to be optimistic on a morning when you awake to find that President Zuma has administered a cabinet reshuffle that only bodes ill but the results of the third annual Wine Label Design Awards sponsored by Rotolabel announced earlier in the week suggested in some small way that the future for South Africa is not entirely bleak.

If the overall quality of the work entered for this competition in the first two years had been no more than fair, it was of a much higher standard this time around. The question has always been whether or not the South African wine industry manages to convey a compelling sense of self to consumers via its branding and until now the answer has been probably not. This, however, finally seems to be changing.

Consumers are looking for brands that deliver some kind of experience and in the past, they were treated to family crests and illustrations of homesteads at best or Ndebele patterns, bushman drawings and “critter” imagery at worst.

This time around, however, there was a sense that the true, deeply characterful face of South African wine was finally being conveyed. Instead of the predictable, we had an array of labels, some more unconventional than others, but all fundamentally connected to the earth and with a real authenticity about them.

To read more online, click here.

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Black Oystercatcher Noble Late Harvest 2014
Black Oystercatcher Noble Late Harvest 2014

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