1st Label Attempt!

[Watersilk]

This is my first attempt at creating a label for over 30 years.

I created it for the first wine we have made in over 30 years, I think the label was more difficult than making the wine!

Three decades ago, I just wrote on a random piece of paper by hand, something like 'Rosehip, October 1986'; it's all you need really, but then things were simpler, no computers. Now, there is no excuse not to at least try to create 'something' vaguely professional; however, it wasn't so easy!

What a headache, trying to find a label template for Apple's Pages, then I found the Avery site. I had decided that I needed to print six labels per A4 page, because a gallon would be the smallest quantity I would be making. Squeezing all the text and the coat of arms in there was a little frustrating, but it came together in the end.

The next challenge was to find a glue that would stick paper to glass and was water soluble, for easy removal after the wine is consumed, to prepare the bottle for another vintage. I tried Pritt, a craft glue, for office and... children, yes, I thought, children are bound to get glue all over the place, surely this glue would be easy to remove; a trial with a prototype label proved that it was!

The label also went on quite easily, and smoothly. Which glue do you use?

I would have liked to print with some colour, but that would incur extra costs. Oh, by the way, I forgot to mention, I'm 'tying' to keep to a strict budget; based upon foraging for free fruit, and buying as little as possible, sugar, corks, and other necessities.

I guess that it's plain to see that my label is influenced by French labels, I think they make some of the best commercial wine labels, just my opinion. It was interesting to look through some of the creative labels in the 'Post your labels here' thread; I think it's so important to design a label that is personal, one that means something to you, the winemaker.

There is still some way to go, the coat of arms needs some extra work and perhaps I have to think about a rear information label?

Any thoughts for making the labelling process smoother would be greatly appreciated; for example, getting them all the same level!

 

[winemaker81]

Your label looks good!

I've been using the Avery Design & Print desktop application for years. Originally I printed on paper, cut with scissors, and used a child's glue stick. The labels come off easily, although sometimes too easily.

In recent years I started using pregummed labels, printing on a color laser printer. I like the labels a LOT better and they are far more durable, but this increases cost.

 

[Hazelemere]

https://www.staples.ca/products/174...-laserinkjet-name-badge-labels-white-400-pack

 

[Noontime]

Really great job on the labels. I always strongly suggest people put labels on their wines, because it absolutely does positively affect the experience of drinking it. The design is fantastic; the only thing I would suggest from a design perspective is shifting some of the top and middle stuff up... you have vertical space that's not being used on the top and text on the bottom that is close to the edge, moving stuff up and creating a little more space in the middle might improve the composition (absolutely a nuanced small thing).

For consistency applying them, there is The Label Wizard that works wonderfully. It's nothing fancy, just a well made jig. And you could certainly create your own. Just having a jig that has a straight edge for the label so it goes on the bottle straight, and a reference for the label relative to the bottle so they all go on the same place. Labeling Equipment | The-label-wizard

Easy adhesives are children's glue sticks or paste, or watered down elmers glue. How the glue interacts with the paper can vary depending on what you print on, and how well they adhere can depend on your storage.

 

[Watersilk]

Really great job on the labels. I always strongly suggest people put labels on their wines, because it absolutely does positively affect the experience of drinking it. The design is fantastic; the only thing I would suggest from a design perspective is shifting some of the top and middle stuff up... you have vertical space that's not being used on the top and text on the bottom that is close to the edge, moving stuff up and creating a little more space in the middle might improve the composition (absolutely a nuanced small thing).

For consistency applying them, there is The Label Wizard that works wonderfully. It's nothing fancy, just a well made jig. And you could certainly create your own. Just having a jig that has a straight edge for the label so it goes on the bottle straight, and a reference for the label relative to the bottle so they all go on the same place. Labeling Equipment | The-label-wizard

Easy adhesives are children's glue sticks or paste, or watered down elmers glue. How the glue interacts with the paper can vary depending on what you print on, and how well they adhere can depend on your storage.

Hello Noontime,

Yes, I absolutely agree, the spacial positioning is not right. I struggled a lot to get the text I wanted, plus the family coat of arms all on the label, within the print area. There are empty spaces above the vintage and the alcohol percentage; I wanted these two to be central left and right to the coat of arms; yawning gaps in my word processor knowledge appearing here. There are also issues with the winery name, Chai an Gasson, the spacing between 'an' and Gasson is larger than between Chai and an. The coat of arms also needs attention, the Hipocampus (mythical Greek sea horse) looks like a character from Walt Disney, no disrespect to Walt, but not exactly how it is supposed to look. I'm going to work on a revised design for subsequent vintages, hopefully, I will creep a little closer to my design vision.

I will have a look at the label wizard, I wonder if it is one I found on the internet, that one worked with pre-glued labels.

I was also wondering if the label will lift in time, the child's glue wasn't reassuringly sticky. I will have to look up 'Elmers' glue, I guess that's a brand name. We store our wine in the cellar, a cool, but damp, mouldy place; time will tell.

One last comment, we have around 300 bottles of commercial wine in the cellar, made from an exotic fruit called 'grapes', it was somewhat reassuring that, while my bottles lay amongst them, they didn't scream that they were homemade; perhaps they were whispering it, but it fell on deaf ears, I was quietly satisfied with my first attempt.

Thank you for the constructive criticism, it is much appreciated!

 

[BigDaveK]

One last comment, we have around 300 bottles of commercial wine in the cellar, made from an exotic fruit called 'grapes', it was somewhat reassuring that, while my bottles lay amongst them, they didn't scream that they were homemade; perhaps they were whispering it, but it fell on deaf ears, I was quietly satisfied with my first attempt.

The labels look great!
If I tweaked my labels until I was 100% happy none of my bottles would have labels.

Grapes? Grapes?? I'll have to google that...

 

[QuiQuog]

You did well at mimicking a French label, it looks nice. I'm also partial to them. As far as the layout, I agree that it looks a bit bottom heavy. You'll always get critique when you ask for it, but it looks good as is also. Can you translate what I assume is Latin?
I was into heraldry several years ago, and I'm always intrigued when I see someones armorial achievement. Could you say a bit about the history of your arms, and the elements that it contains? It's interesting that you have supporters, as they're not typically included in personal arms. Was this granted to you, or is it a hereditary achievement?