A collaboration of Avery Dennison with Italian design agency Smith Lumen and Italian printer Rotas Italia has resulted in an award-winning design project in wine & spirits. Converters, designers and brand owners are now being invited to receive their own copy of the ‘Black & White’ envelope, with its set of inspiring wine and spirits labels that follow a common design theme.

Ralph Olthoff, segment director wine & spirits, from Avery Dennison, said that Smith Lumen and Rotas Italia were asked to create a range of labels with a shared creative and narrative concept: “Black and white are iconic design colours, especially in the wine and spirits segment, and we wanted to show how a brand story can be created which starts with the paper itself, and goes on to incorporate the individual brand’s style and messaging. The results have been outstanding – and we were delighted to see our ‘Black & White’ envelope win first prize in the ‘Literature Design’ category at the 23rd Brand Identity Grand Prix earlier this year.”

Drew Smith, CEO and founder of Smith Lumen, said that materials in the Black & White Collection from Avery Dennison offered a stimulating starting point: “The creative concept for this project was completely free – and there is nothing more exciting for a brand design firm. We closed our eyes, caressed the papers and listened to the story they had to tell. Contrasts between the black and white and the strong and delicate textures – structured and soft – brought out in us memories and sensations linked to exploring different places and traditions.”

“We created an ‘Inspired by Diversity’ concept, expressing the contrasting emotions which make every journey an experience. All of this was enabled by high quality materials. We were able to deliver a complete project, in which creative design, physical materials and productive technologies went hand in hand.”

Francesco Celante, president and founder of Rotas Italia, said that the Black & White Collection papers offered important printing benefits: “These materials deliver the profound and luxurious levels of black that are difficult to achieve using print on its own. There are also subtly different white materials that interact extremely well with the printed designs. Collaboration with creative agencies is a fundamental aspect of our job, especially when we are facing projects with high standards, like this one using the Black & White Collection. Working with Smith Lumen on these special materials was a pleasure for us - we were able to express clearly the sensations they wanted to evoke. Smith Lumen had a clear vision of what we could achieve with such outstanding papers, and our own experience with high-value applications allowed us to bring their creativity to life, with exceptional end results.”

Materials used in the project include the brilliant white Fasson^® Martele Extra White (finished design ‘Calavera Bianco’); the velvety Fasson^® Martele Black (finished design ‘Bondi Beach Brew’); deeply textured Fasson^® Cotton Touch Craft (finished design ‘Ekapa’); deep black Fasson^®Cotton Black (finished design ‘La Fleur du Mal’); a sensual Fasson^® Soft Touch White (finished design ‘Echo’); and opulent Fasson^® Soft Touch Black (finished design ‘Anami’).

Various consistencies of the papers enabled three-dimensional effects, using emboss and deboss techniques. The black-pulp papers also allowed extremely high-end finishes that more conventional black-coloured papers cannot deliver due to glimpses of the white ‘pulp’. Different printing techniques used included copper and gloss leaf, braille paints and stand-out silk screen colours.

Click here to request a ‘Black & White’ envelope complete with wine labels.