Sandeman Sherry Classics

Design: VOLTA Brand Shaping Studio
Creative Director: Pedro Vareta
Designer: Rui Magalhães
Project manager: Lourenço Neves
Location: Portugal
Project Type: Produced
Client: Sandeman wines
Product Launch Location: Europe
Packaging Contents: Sherry wine
Packaging Substrate / Materials: Glass bottle
Printing Process: Offset printing, foil stamping

The Sandeman brand is world-famous for its Port wines, but it also has a 200-year-old tradition in the production of the best Sherry’s of Jerez: just remember that the Don, the brand’s mythical symbol, wears a student cape from Coimbra and the typical wide-brimmed hat of the Andalusian Caballeros.

Sherry is a very characteristic fortified wine, with profiles ranging from dry to sweet. Aged according to the solera method in typical black painted casks, they are true treasures waiting to be discovered.

Sandeman challenged VOLTA Studio to redesign its unavoidable classic Sherry’s: the young and elegant Fino, Medium Dry and Medium Sweet. Our work began with a search in the archives for Sandeman’s old labels, having discovered and recovered a distinctive graphic detail of labels from the 60’s / 70’s: the top of the label with an arc shape and a circular symbol in its visual fit.

The typical colours of this wine range, blue, red, and green were used with stronger tones, bringing renewed youth to the bottles. As with premium wines, the black circle at the top with the Sandeman fire brand symbolizes the famous black painted casks.

Aligned with the recent visual renewal of the brand, the Don now has much more presence and prominence, and all the typographic arrangements and finishings make the product more premium.

The range of Sandeman Sherry classics is now more modern and punchy but is solidly anchored in the brand’s long and rich tradition.

What’s Unique?
The previous Sandeman Sherry bottles had a more classic look & feel that needed a clear graphic shift in order to uplift the brand. The interesting shapes we found in old Sandeman labels with circular special features gave us the perfect link to Sherry’s traditional blacked out casks, while making the bottle more premium and unique.