Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/383377
W i n e s & V i n e s O C T O b e r 2 0 1 4 47 ered that we needed to respect classic Burgundy cues like the bottle shape but stand out at the same time," ehrlich said. The four labels wrap around the bottle and let the company tell a strong story: The name means "most beautiful" in Greek, and the fruit itself comes from a desirable place: the Pacific Coast Range. Purple Wine also wanted the package to add value, to be distinctive and luxurious, yet cost-effective. To make sure everyone involved under- stood the project, ehrlich prepared a design brief that emphasized the goals, target consumer, competitive set, attributes, brand character and communication goals. To make sure there were no problems in production, the team met with vendors, the production team, the purchasing department and produced a preliminary design as quickly as possible. It was a relatively straight- forward printing job with bright white felt, four colors (burgundy, gray, gold, black), a high-build, matte varnish, sculpted embossing and die-cuts. The four-panel design did entail some challenges in application, but the Purple Wine Co. brand team works closely with its sister company's production team. one critical consideration was the time- line. They worked backwards from planned bottling time, setting the glass and shipper production in motion, mak- ing sure that all the vendors would be able to deliver on time—especially should they be bottling during the peak season. The production team, printer and designer were involved from the early stage. The company also recognized that it might run into special challenges meeting the timeline: The label mentioned the three counties the grapes came from, which the TTB first rejected, but the agency approved the mention on appeal. Purple Wine Co. wasn't sure if the four panels would introduce problems, so they tested the application. "It's vital to under- stand the labeling equipment," said ehrlich, noting that the close connection between the brand managers and produc- tion was important to success. The labeling took two webs: one for the right and back panel, and another for the left and front panel. They needed 8.35 millimeters between the labels, or the labeler would read the side panel and front as one label and be unable to adjust spacing. The company would be able to change the space between the label sets so the space between them could be larger. "We decided that some wiggle (difference in spacing) was oK." Flint & steel sauvignon Blanc Though the four panels for Calista Pinot Noir had issues, the packag- ing chosen for Flint & Steel Sauvignon Blanc presented even more challenges. The goals were to really stand out with a see-through label juxtaposed with clean, metallic lines on the front panel label—something dra- matic and different. They also wanted to a tell story: When steel is struck against flint, it creates a spark—a creative inspiration like civilization built on fire. The name Flint & Steel suggests the characteristics of great Sauvignon Blancs, ehrlich said, and Purple Wine Co. wanted the package to communicate the idea behind the wine. "We wanted the design to reflect the crisp, refreshing, yet com- plex wine in the bottle," ehrlich added. As always, the company wanted to add value, to design elements that make the label special, higher than average for the company's wines but still relatively affordable. They also wanted to create buzz, and ehrlich reports great response from the field, though the product is new. Again, she prepared a design brief and shared it with the designer and printer to determine direction for what type of print- ing techniques and technology were avail- able. They decided on a clear film with an inverted image for the back panel so it would show through the bottle, then deposited a screen of white over it and printed the back label on top of it. The front panel used ink over foil embossed with a thermochromic ink accent. This thermochromic ink turns "orange" when the wine is chilled to 55º F or less. It is available in offset, flexo and screen inks. Wineries can use more than one color depending on the design. The design team worried about how it would work in practice, as they did not want anything gaudy or flashy, she said, but the concept was a fun way to reinforce the wine's name and story. The initial design review with the pro- duction team missed a step that could have been a disaster. "even very experi- enced teams always run into challenges," ehrlich warned. The project proceeded well despite the very condensed timeline. "The designer, production team, purchasing and supplier all worked very closely to meet dead- lines," ehrlich added. "It was very tight ordering the cutting dies and ink—they arrived just in time." Unfortunately, due to the short time- frame, they did not have time to order blanks and test online prior to bottling. ehrlich admits that the Flint & Steel packaging ended up being a difficult proj- ect to execute. "The PeT liner was harder for labeling equipment to apply and broke more than usual, but it did have advantages for the printer, lower cost and could be recycled," she said. The clear film label material plus PeT selected for the acetate back label was thin but had greater adhesion to the liner than PK44 and the typical label. "It was nearly impossible for the arm on the labeler to peel the label off the liner. our line crew had our maintenance team make a new arm that could apply the label properly on the spot in our machine shop." The result was that it applied the label cleanly with no bubbles. "It was a very close call. We skipped a step during the planning process, and it's easy to do," reflected ehrlich. Cryptic red Blend The Cryptic Red Blend, unlike the previous two examples, used screen-printing rather than an applied label. Purple Wine Co. wanted the wine package to stand out and move up market from $10 red blends. "We wanted to set it apart from the pack with a distinctive and more luxurious package design and make the name and package more mem- orable by silkscreening." The company envisioned a wine that looked expensive for a moderately priced wine—not lisa Ehrlich serves as executive vice president of marketing for Purple Wine Co. Purple designed Cryptic's screen- printed package to create luxury in the $10 red blend category. P A C K A G I N G