Press Releases

BEYOND THE POUR: Pairing Art and Wine Label Design

San Francisco | CA

San Francisco (October 4, 2005) – The San Francisco Museum of Craft+Design, announces its upcoming exhibition: BEYOND THE POUR: Pairing Art and Wine Label Design. This exhibition will demonstrate the relationship between Northern California Wineries and the artists or designers with whom they have worked to design a wine label. Artists and designers have been selected to document the process from start to finish, considering everything from the needs of the client to the final wine label. Noted Bay Area designers will create innovative displays of their process illustrating how creativity of design is integral to the wine industry. The exhibition will also include the design process of corks, capsules and bottles. Marketing tags known as point of sales materials are also a part of the total design.

The curator for this exhibition is Bob Nugent;a recognized artist and past Professor of Art and Chair of the Art and Art History Department at Sonoma State University. Mr. Nugent also manages the Benziger Family and Imagery Estate Wineries contemporary art collections and the Imagery Artist Collection labeling program. He has been involved in the layout and design of over 190 wine labels. He has chosen six designers from the Bay Area who will describe their process of working with wineries. Displays will be created documenting the evolution from an initial idea to a finished product, showing the changes and developments along the way.

In addition, Imagery Estate Winery, through Mr. Nugent, makes it a practice of working with painters, sculptors and craft artists to design wine labels. Exciting artworks by established Bay Area and national artists will also be presented. Artists included are Robert Arneson, Squeak Carnwath, Dominic DiMare, Don Farnsworth, David Gilhooly, Nancy Graves, Sol LeWitt and David Nash.

Among the designers and their firms to be included in the exhibit are, Caldewey Design of Napa, CA. They have designed labels for Beringer, Groth, Stag’s Leap, Chalk Hill and Forest Glen to name a few. They have also collaborated with Charles House Design from Santa Rosa, CA to produce the book, ICON, Art of the Wine Label”, that chronicles the design of 100 wine labels they have designed. Among the wineries they have produced labels for are Glen Ellen Winery, Benziger, Bonny Doon, Lingenfelder Vineyards and Frog’s Leap. The Frog’s Leap label was awarded the Design of Excellence Award from the American Institute of Graphic Designers. The label is now part of the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Institution.

“With careers that parallel the rise of the California wine industry, Caldewey and House have shaped and influenced the evolution of the international wine label, and developed the concept of the wine package as both a work of art and a commercial enterprise.” ___ Robert Mondavi

Buttitta Design, a full service design firm since 1986 has garnered both local and national awards for label designs and recently two gold and three silver awards from the Printing Industries of Northern California for its greeting card designs. Patti Buttitta, creative director says, “Design is a process. At times, the elements come together in unexpected and unusual ways.” Among the wineries they have produced labels for are Mauritson Wines, Bannister Wines, Rosa d’ Oro Vineyards, Burnett Family Wines, Paul Mathew Vineyards and Laurel Glen Vineyards.

CF Napa of Napa, CA, is a full-service brand strategy and design firm whose capabilities are grounded in more than 30 years of experience. In 1997 the Smithsonian Institute, in Washington D.C., decided to chronicle the evolution of the modern California wine label through original sketches and label designs collected from the archives of Napa Valley packaging designer CF Napa. CF Napa has designed labels and packaging for Gloria Ferrer, Ehler’s Estate, Pazzo, Beringer and Old Ghost. They have been nominated for the prestigious 2005 Wine and Spirit International Design Agency of the Year Award.

Britton Design from Sonoma, CA has won numerous international and national awards, including gold and silver trophies from the Brand Design Association in New York. For Viansa alone, Britton Design won 86 design awards, including the 1997 London International Advertising Awards for Viansa Athena, voted, Best Wine Packaging of the World.

Michael Osborne Design is a San Francisco based design firm that was established in 1981. Their work is on display in the permanent collections of SFMOMA, the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in New York and the National Postal Museum in Washington, D.C. Michael Osborne designed the 2002 and 2004 LOVE STAMPS for the USPS.

SFMC+D will present a Thursday evening and Saturday afternoon Speaker Series that is free for members and $5 for nonmembers; wine tastings are $10 for members and $15 for non-members:

Thursday, October 27, 2005, 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm. Curator Bob Nugent will discuss the exhibition. Following this discussion Mr. Nugent will introduce his new book, Imagery: Art for Wine.

Saturday, November 5, 3:00 pm to 4:00 pm Mr. Nugent will moderate a panel discussion with the label designers. Wine tasting 4:00 pm to 5:30 pm.

Saturday, date (TBD), 3:00 pm to 4:00 pm Kimberly Charles, Spokesperson for the Society of Wine Educators, will lecture on the significance of wine glass design. This will be in conjunction with Riedel Glassware.Wine tasting 4:00 to 5:30. *Contact SFMC+D for more information at 415-773-0303 or info@sfmcd.org

The San Francisco Museum of Craft+Design, a non-profit organization, was founded to celebrate and promote the art of contemporary craft and design by developing and hosting innovative exhibitions and creating vital education and community outreach programs. The Museum is located at 550 Sutter Street in San Francisco’s Union Square. The Museum is open Tuesdays, Wednesday, Fridays and Saturdays from 10 am – 5 pm, Thursdays from 10 am – 7 pm and Sundays from 12 pm – 5 pm. The Museum is closed on Mondays. Docent tours are offered every Thursday (call for specific times) or by appointment for special groups. Admission to the Museum is $4 for adults; $2 for college students and seniors over 62 and free for youth under 18 and members. To become a member, sponsor or for more information, please call 415-773-0303, email info@sfmcd.org or visit www.sfmcd.org.