Design: Makers & Allies
Location: United States
Project Type: Produced
Client: Michael David Winery
Product Launch Location: United States
Packaging Contents: Wine
Packaging Substrate / Materials: Glass bottle
Printing Process: Digital printing, spot varnish, sculpted emboss
“Political Correctness is Instant Death to Creativity.”
Michael David Winery is well known for their bold and edgy packaging and personality. When they received pushback over one of their labels, someone at the winery asked “just how politically correct do we have to be to avoid offending anyone?”
We were happy to help push the envelope. The wine itself is dark, big, and bold, and we intended the package to take a dark turn on the concept of being politically correct. Playing off the “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil” maxim, the label is nothing short of provocative. Attached strings indicate the lack of freedom and agency that societal rules place upon us.
Shot on film in our studio, we destroyed the negatives and prints with acid, burning, and scratching, then enhanced with spot varnish and a sculpted emboss on the printed label to mimic the feel of the distressed images, as if they themselves are placed on the bottle.
Damn the man.