On its first anniversary, ukvine.com is to launch an innovative and exciting competition for wine labels on English and Welsh wine bottles.
designs on wine, which goes live on March 1, St David’s day and the first anniversary of ukvine.com, is a month-long competition to judge current and future wine labels, judged by a panel of four design and marketing specialists in English and Welsh wine.
ukvine editorial director James Graham says: “It has long been my belief that the label on a bottle of wine is a key trigger to its purchase or sampling. Wine bottles in England and Wales have some very good, and very poor, examples of label designs. Our competition looks to set a benchmark for good design and, I hope, galvanise the poorer designs to up their standards.
“I am pleased that the Wine Chap, Tom Harrow, has agreed to lend us his name and reputation. He has an interest in English wine, as demonstrated by the staging of the Extreme Grape vs Grain fight night between English wines and beers, which I am pleased to say was a knock-out for the grape.
“I was interested to note recently that well-known wine journalist Robert Joseph tweeted: ‘Anyone who does not occasionally buy a wine based on its label is missing out. Labels are part of the fun of wine.’ I want this competition to put a bit of fun back into the wine world in the UK.”
Winegrowers and graphics agencies can submit up to six labels. Each label can be entered in up to two of the seven categories for £10. Extra categories can be entered for £15 each. Categories are:
• Best Sparkling Wine
• Best White wine
• Best Red wine
• Best use of typography
• Best use of images
• Best Re-Design
• Highest shelf appeal
Each category will be judged by Daniel Manning, Nathan Meyers, Felicity Murray and Neil Philips, experts in wine packaging, on-line retailing, design and marketing. The result will be announced on St George’s Day. Winners will be awarded rosettes they can add to their label design or use to create stickers.
Graham says: “The success of New World wines can be attributed to striking graphics as much as the quality of the product. ukvine.com wants to lay down a challenge to UK wine growers: do your labels match up to the best on the market?”
THE JUDGING PANEL
Daniel Manning is co-founder of ukvine.com and is a web consultant and marketing manager at Media Link Services, our parent company. His design for the website has been a vital plank in its market recognition.
Nathan Meyers is an interface designing standardista, wine loving photographer based in London, who specialises in visuals, is a bit of a geek and loves all things technology, art, alcoholic and natural… not necessarily together or in that order.. Nathan was born in the Eastern Karoo of South Africa in 1981 and runs an online wine shop with considerable English listings. He heads Nathan’s Creative as well as his own online art gallery, Nathan’s Art Shop. He runs the New Corker Wine Club and has supported ukvine.com since its launch.
Felicity Murray joined the world of wines and spirits when she became editor of Drinks International in 2006. She passed the Wine and Spirits Educational Trust’s Intermediate, Advanced and Professional Spirits courses with Merit and Distinction, and is now a freelance journalist and editorial consultant specialising in the wines, spirits and packaging sectors.
Neil Phillips (The Wine Tipster) is a presenter, speaker, wine expert, foodie, Master of Ceremonies, writer and horseracing pundit on TV, online via podcast and Web TV, at live shows and on radio. The Wine Tipster wanted to be a horseracing commentator at the age of five. His keen interest in English wine, and his habit of presenting talks at a certain Oxfordshire stately home, has led him to be dubbed ‘The Marlborough Man’ by ukvine.com.
A downloadable entry form will be online before March 1.
For full rules and further information on designs on wine, click here
