The new WINES by V logo has officially been launched, and with excellent feedback. (Thank you, friends!) I am thrilled with the outcome; but even more so I was thrilled with the process of creating it.
Creating a logo that is supposed to be symbolic of myself, my company, my vision, my work, passion, efforts, time, philosophy and more, is easier said than done. Thankfully I had the expertise of Jasmine from Rutherford Design who listened to my sentiments and was able to beautifully transcribed them into an image.
The logo process had me internalizing wine, what I love about the wine world, and what kind of company I wanted to carve out of the massive industry. I hope you will read on as I believe it will help you understand more about WINES by V and what the company stands for.
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When Jasmine (aka Jas) and I first started talking about a logo, I knew I wanted it to include a person. If you google wine logos you will see that they all display wine: bottles of wine, corkscrews, a wine glass, or a wine stain. They aren’t necessarily bad, but they also aren’t personal.
I find that very interesting, because if there is one thing I know for certain, it is that wine is very personal. Ask the person purchasing a bottle of wine on their child’s birth year that they hope to share with them on their 21st birthday; or ask those that work in the vineyards and hand-pick every single grape that goes into a winery's vintage; or ask someone who was raised in a small wine-making village across-seas that dates back multiple centuries and whose entire civilization and culture revolves around wine production; or ask that someone who is prepping to pop a bottle of Champagne to celebrate a new big promotion at work, or the purchasing of their first house, or an overdue get together with dear friends. The conclusion is, wine is personal. Wine is people. And so is my logo.
Okay - so we settled on having a person in the logo. The next question was, what kind of person? You may say “Vanessa, this logo is clearly you, right?” And to that I would say, “Yes, that is me. But it is also you. It is also him. It is also that girl across the bar who is laughing with her friends and enjoying whatever is in her glass without a care in the world. The girl in the logo is anyone and everyone who enjoys wine."
We played with various iterations of a woman with a glass of wine before we settled on this one. Jas was very patient with me as we experimented with different looks. At first she was facing forward, but something about her felt too self-centered. At one point she had more detail, but suddenly she felt too fancy. When she was all-consumed in the aromas of her glass of wine, she felt too pretentious. Every one of these graphics were beautiful, but I knew I didn’t want any of those sentiments to come through.
The wine world is FULL of pretension and it can feel exceptionally exclusive; but there is no reason it should. I pride myself on being a wine person, with a beer person's approach to sharing. Yes, I know a lot about wine; but that doesn’t mean that everyone has to in order to enjoy it. A wino is a wino because they love wine, not because of how much knowledge they have on the subject.
When we settled on this woman, I knew we had nailed it. I felt as if anyone could look at her and feel as if it could be them, on a casual Tuesday night, at a friend's house, up the street.
I hope that message comes across to you as well; and if you can relate to this kind of woman, you should call me up, because I would love to share a glass of wine with you.
Next step, branding. If you haven't yet heard, WINES by V will be hosting a holiday wine tasting and shopping event on Friday, November 22 at The Copper Crown in Anaconda. (Full details here).
Come join us at the event and sip on wine I've hand selected to pair with your holiday feasts. And if you feel so inclined, pick up a new WINES by V shirt as well.
All WINES by V swag will be available for purchase through the website in time. If you have an interest in a WBV tee, a 2 bottle WBV wine tote, or a WBV wine glass, contact V at winesbyv@gmail.com