The Blandy’s family is unique in being the only family of all the original founders of the Madeira wine trade to still own and manage their own original wine company, maintaining a tradition that goes back to the year 1811. For the refresh of their 10 years old Madeira wine range, they asked Volta Studio for a redesign that simultaneously respected their history, but also represented them as a proudly unique brand in the Madeira category.

Volta Studio’s approach was to create a packaging concept with roots in history, but with a bold attitude, looking into the future.

In the labels, big stencil numbers, inspired by the historical stencils featured on Madeira Wine’s old wooden barrels, dominate a dense, traditional typographic arrangement, set in silver foil over bright, flat, bold colours. History and bold attitude simply combined, to communicate the uniqueness of the brand. The flatness of the one colour printing in the labels is compensated by the use of a deeply textured paper, giving it the haptic feeling needed to contradict the visual cleanliness.

The new bottle, with strong shoulders, comparable to some of its whiskey counterparts, is customised with the brand’s name proudly embossed directly on the glass above and below the label, giving the product a more distinct premium character.

In the end, when comparing to the old labels, more classical, and serious, this new coloured redesign stands out of the shelf, bringing awareness of the brand — and its history— to new audiences.