When we met Mark Maxwell, he was a little reluctant to trust us. As he told us upon shaking our hands, “I don’t like paying for things I cannot see.” We got it. This was a guy who hadn’t dealt with designers in 40 years. Tenacious, brilliant and with unbending standards, he was used to relying on himself to meet his own exceptional expectations. A third-generation winemaker, Mark is part of a vigneron dynasty in McLaren Vale. He built his winery, Maxwell, from the ground up with his own hands. Since dropping his life savings on an unloved and overlooked vineyard in the 80s (much to the horror of his family) he has proved himself over and over to be an incredibly clever operator. He embodies all the best founder qualities: a razor-sharp mind, a passionate heart and endless enthusiasm to roll up his sleeves and get stuff done. He’s also a total visionary, producing a Mead that has become Australia’s favourite honey wine (of course, a guy like Mark was never going to just stick to grapes). Mark also has incredible instincts and the courage to back them, which turned out well for us. When we spoke to Mark and his son Jeremy about true design thinking and what it could do for their business, he listened. Really listened. The pair of them knew they had to leap to the next level to lead the market, so they jumped on board. And they’ve have never looked back. We’ve delivered a complete reinvention of Maxwell wines and we won’t lie—we’re proud as punch of it. We’re thrilled that a company that does everything so damn well now has the identity to reflect its excellence. As it should.