“I need a wine label design”- this is a common phrase that I hear when I’m getting acquainted with a new client and project. While it is true, they do need a wine label designed, the unspoken yet more powerful portion of the statement should be, “I want to sell wine”.  And its important to differentiate between designing pretty packaging and designing packaging that successfully and precisely supports sales to the target audience.

Design just for designs sake, slapping a pretty piece of art on a product and calling it packaging, may indeed sell some product and have some success. However, in a well designed product every design element of the particular package should be chosen with a singular purpose in mind: encourage the target audience to interact with (and purchase) your product. In the absence of a purchasing the secondary goal should be to increase your brands visibility and perceived value.

A good show, that’s what I’d call it- We got to meet lots of new people working on a variety of cool new projects, and everyone seems so excited to get their new winery/project off the ground. I really enjoy these shows, just for that reason. For the most part, people have time to hang out and chat in a little less hurried fashion than the typical work day allows for.

Working the booth I didn’t get as much time as I usually do to go out and wander the floor looking for new products, but I did get to visit with a few vendors that we otherwise rarely see.

Even though all of us were tired, one of the first things we did when we were back in the studio was to meet and talk about what we’d like to do better next year. Armed with some fresh enthusiasm and excitement about potential we came up with some fun new concepts (you’ll have to visit us next year to find out what they are).

2 years, that’s how long its taken to get a booth at the Unified Symposium. But this year we’re here! After chipping away at a new website design for a while the symposium finally created a deadline that we could sink our teeth into. So, we’re also introducing our newly designed website right along with our booth. Come on by and say hi, we’ll be at booth 2324 upstairs.