For this task, I created two wine labels for an existing wine company called ‘Wanaka Wines‘ for a client. I was given a brief to combine the culture of New Zealand and Japan in order to market to a Japanese audience. I did a label for both white and red wine.

Step 1: Moodboard

I created a moodboard to fit the mood I wanted to achieve for both the white wine and red wine label. I combined the cultural symbols and art of both New Zealand and Japan, and decided to make my white wine label bright and colourful with tones of blues, pinks and greens whilst my red wine label was dark and mysterious with tones of blacks, reds and deep oranges.

Step 2: Sketching a composition

I then sketched my different ideas of the white wine and red wine label combining recognisable cultural elements of both Japan (The Great Wave, cherry blossom tree, koi fish) and New Zealand (Kiwi, silver fern, Mitre Peak). I both used the concept of the ocean as I feel it brings a feeling of refreshment, which is what I want to portray for both of the wine labels.

Step 3: Creating my white wine label

I brought together the images of the famous Japanese art ‘The Great Wave’ with a cherry blossom branch peering over it with New Zealand’s Mitre Peak in the background with a Kiwi on the top. After I placed each layer where I wanted to, I started on using the clone tool to clone the other half of the mitre peak mountain on the left as the image I found cut it in half. I modified each layer’s hue/saturation and levels etc to make them all stand out and lighter than their original tone. I then used a grainy filter found by clicking on Filter > Filter Gallery as I felt that it added to a ‘washed out’ feel and also how my wine label would be slightly textured in real life.

I also made the branches of the cherry blossom black so that they would stand out more as opposed to their more reddish tinge in the original image. I did this using the lasso tool to select the branch and then I made it black using the black and white settings in the adjustments window.

I added some text to add ‘Wanaka Wines’ brand name, and used a light blue to fit in with the blue theme. In order to make the logo stand out more however, I had to add a black stroke so that it didn’t get lost in the background.

Step 4: Creating my red wine label

The process is similar for the red wine label. I had to use different images for the sea and the sky as I wanted the Ocean to have some natural reflection on it, but I wanted the sky dark enough that it portrays a nighttime setting. I got the red circle of the ‘sun’ from a Japan flag, but I modified it by cutting into the sides with a lasso tool to create an interesting look. It also resembles the clouds blocking the sun slightly. I added an orange glow using the Layer > Layer Style > Glow setting. I then mirrored this glow onto the ocean to create a reflection by duplicating the layer (Right click > ‘Duplicate Layer’) and playing with the opacity tool. I also added a shadow to the Koi fish so that it didn’t look too flat and that it was almost jumping into the water. I made the W’s of the logo red so that they stood out more, and also because the all black font would’ve looked too dull. I made a white stroke around the text so that it didn’t blend into the dark background.