HorseHill Vineyards
From vine to wine.
Horsehill Vineyards collaborative wine project with Cal Poly Pomona students of Visual Communication and Design and South Coast Winery that will create and dedicate the 80th anniversary of the zinfandel wine. Our goal in the collaboration is to create a uniquely design wine bottle label to commemorate the accomplishments of Cal Poly Pomona with the head coordinator of Collins College of Hospitality Management , Dr. Margie Ferree Jones.
The Logo.
Learn by doing.
When designing the logo we took into consideration the importance of our school history. We wanted to also include the history of Horsehill and its importance to Cal Poly Pomona. The Arabian horses are an important aspect to our school and wanted to represent that by creating a logo that would represent a fence. Taking the fence idea and pushing it forward, we included sharp edges around the logo to portray the idea of gnarly vines growing on the fence. Cal Poly Pomona has grown wine on campus here at our school for years and wanted to make sure that was a big part of the design.
The “Learn by Doing”, motto that Cal Poly speaks highly of is something that we wanted to include into the design. Here at Cal Poly education is spread out through different colleges and majors. We arranged our logo of the fence to show nine negative boxes that represent the nine different colleges here at Cal Poly Pomona. Making sure Horsehill had an important part in our logo, the representation of the fence allowed us to create two H’s in the design which stands for Horsehill.
The Label.
When designing the label our main focus was making sure that we portrayed the importance of the wine here at Cal Poly. One of the things that our client pointed out to us in our first client meeting was the importance of the gnarly vines. So we went ahead and designed our label based around the gnarly vines. We did not want the vines to just be placed randomly on the bottle but be able to flow together well with our logo, typography and additional information on the bottle. The vines flow in a way that allows the eye to move around the bottle and take in all the different aspects.
Typography.
The type that was chosen was used to reflect the original concept, to be modern and traditional. That is why a bold version of Folio is used to add contrast and be used to represent modernism, while Baskerville is used to keep the traditionalism that is seen with most wine labels.
Belly Band.
The belly band represents the celebration of the 80th anniversary of Cal Poly Pomona. The logo is created from simple and clean shapes to make the design more modern, speaking to the original concept of modern yet traditional.
The Back Label.
Sticking with our overall theme of the label being simple and clean, we wanted the back label to display just that. We wanted the front of the label to be focused on the Horsehill Vineyards, zinfandel and date. So we put the logo on the back, right above the description of the zinfandel wine. The description of the zinfandel wine talks about what the wine is and the significance of the grapes. The company that produces the wine and the government warning are included on the back as well. Giving importance to our school and creators of the wine, we included the Cal Poly and The College Collins of Hospitality Management logo. Our back label follows a very clean grid structure that makes it easy to read the information that is being displayed.
Packaging.
The Box.
When it comes to packaging we want to be able to put our bottle into something that has purpose to it. We created two different packaging that both have different representations and meanings. We have a wooden box which can be used for a nice gift or as a collectors piece. We have a gift bag material bag that will be for daily purchases that your wine will go into. This is also a nice bag to have as a gift but its importance is making sure you get your wine bottle safely to its location.
Building the Box.
Craftsmanship is a huge aspect of our overall designs and process. The craftsmanship that we have in our label is what we wanted to showcase in our box. The box is made out of wood and is fourteen inches in height to perfectly fit the bottle. A rope handle is included on top to be able to carry the box. The box also includes a slider that is removable in order to get the bottle in and out. The reason for the slider is so that the bottle would be closed from the front of the box, as well as having it removable in the case of wanting to display it with the wine inside. The texture of the box is a burnt wood grain which came from burning the box to give it some character. The finishing coat is stained to give the box that dark look.
The Display.
Going along with our display and what we want to be included with the wine, an important aspect is where the wine is going to be sold. The Farm Store is the point of purchase for this wine so standing out to the public's eye is important. The wine is currently displayed right as you walk into the store but it is there like anything else on the shelf. With our display it will be front and center so when customers come in, that is the first thing that they see. Our display will be convincing enough for them to read our description of our wine as well as be encouraged to buy it in support of Cal Poly Pomona.