Hello!

Design: Denomination
Location: Australia
Project Type: Produced
Client: Fourth Wave
Product Launch Location: Global
Packaging Contents: Wine
Packaging Substrate / Materials: Glass

Australian winery Fourth Wave launches a new range of ‘friendly’ plant-based wines called Hello!, with brand strategy and packaging identity by drinks design specialist Denomination.

The plant-based movement is booming as more people seek to reduce their dependence on animal products for all kinds of reasons, including health, the environment and animal welfare. To respond to this trend, Fourth Wave has introduced a range of wines that invites everyone to the party – vegans, vegetarians, flexitarians, pescatarians, meat eaters, anyone who prefers to drink wines that have been produced without using animal-based ingredients like bone, casein and isinglass.

Denomination’s work shows how a brand can position itself effectively in a broad and inclusive fashion, while responding to the specific needs of more niche target consumers, such as vegans, too.

“Hello! wanted to embrace all wine lovers without alienating vegans and vegetarians,” says Rowena Curlewis, CEO, Denomination. “So the messaging on the front and back labels is open, friendly and clear. We had to remember that it’s not necessarily obvious to people without a knowledge of wine production processes that a lot of wine is not vegan-friendly.”

The plant-based movement has moved into the mainstream across lots of sectors, and so the typically brown and pious approach to branding is becoming less relevant. Fourth Wave approached Denomination because it wanted to position Hello! in a way that’s inclusive while also remaining recognisably animal-free.

To balance those two rationales, and communicate the brand’s friendly, all-encompassing stance, Denomination created a deliberately soft colour palette, using pastels that are reassuring, comforting and tap into a feeling of security. The matte paperstock reinforces the natural positioning of the brand, and the typography is simple, modern and easy to read and relate to. The labelling spells out in clear terms that this is a wine for all, stating that it’s ‘vegan friendly, vegetarian friendly, pescatarian friendly, carnivore friendly’, etc. In fact, it’s ‘friendly full stop’.

Nicholas Crampton, co-owner, Fourth Wave, says: “It’s important that our sector responds to the plant-based movement in a modern, cool way, just as other sectors have. Hello! is a very friendly wine that happens to be vegan, too. We want everyone to feel the love.

“Denomination has communicated the brand’s credentials without relying on clichéd vegan design cues. It’s natural, it treads lightly, but it’s never worthy or dull. Hello! literally calls out from the shelf like an old friend. It’s warm and approachable.”

Curlewis says: “Hello! is contemporary, sexy, forward-thinking and part of the zeitgeist. It delivers a positive message which is perfect for today, and gives Fourth Wave a strong position in this fast-growing sector.”