Creative Black Belt

The Problem: Branding Wine 101 with Joe and Lori O’Keefe was no easy feat, but it sure was fun! We discussed wine, of course! And questions like how literal did we want to be about the school idea? How could we communicate that learning about wine can be fun? Where is the balance between appearing knowledgeable without being overwhelming and pretentious? How could we present the wines so that people who don’t know the difference between “oaky” and “earthy” could still go home with a bottle they’ll enjoy?
Having spent a few years in New York City, Joe and Lori wanted to create an atmosphere similar to their favorite wine shops there—fun, light-hearted and family-friendly, the kind of place you could walk into, and comfortably ask for a great $10 bottle of wine, the kind of place where the owner ran the store and knew his wines like he knows his children.

Scope of Work: Logo, Website, Printed Business Materials, Store Design and Signage

Solution: Before I had any ideas of what the logo and type would look like, I saw the lime green and deep red. These are exaggerated colors of white and red wines. We went through a round of logos that was completely canned, and then waited. A few days went by, and Joe sent me a link to a wine store website he liked for its structure and language. Somewhere on that website was a photo of a big wooden sign in the shape of a wine bottle on its side. “Joe, how about that for your logo?” I said.
“How ’bout what?”
“The wine bottle… on its side…!”
The rest is history…

“From the onset of the WINE 101 concept, Christina has been an integral part of our branding strategy. Everything from the logo, store icons, colors and furniture has Christina’s Midas Touch. Everyone who visits the store responds immediately to the colorful, easy to understand set up of our shop. Christina is easy to work with and always makes a deadline!! Remember, ideas that spread win. Christina’s imprint on out store has people talking!”
— Joe O’Keefe • Owner, Wine 101

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