You come across this solid warm red wine label with a pair of owls staring at you, their eyes popping in wonderment as if you’re the oddity in this encounter. Then you notice the name of the wine—gufo. Sounds pretty funny in English. Maybe it’s the name of one of the owls. Well, both actually. Gufo is the Italian word for owl.
It isn’t just the word gufo that grabs attention. The gold foil and distinctive typesetting accentuate it. There’s more to that all lowercase serif setting than meets the eye. There’s a baseline shift as well. The “g” appears to be elevated and the “f” dropped. But it fits so well, most observers—designers excepted—wouldn’t notice.
The owls. One large, seemingly upside down peering from the top. The other, smaller, perched at the bottom. Perhaps an offspring. Great illustrations. Highly engaging. The eyes are especially striking, not only because they’re black on a white background (contrasting with the dominant red) but also because they’re gloss-coated while the rest of the label remains matte—a tried-and-true technique to make details pop.
Primitivo, Italian cousin of Zinfindel, is characterized by dark berry and plum flavours. Gufo is a good example of the style and an excellent value.
The Gufo wine label captures attention with a bold, playful design. Design choices, like the striking warm red background, captivating characters, and clever typesetting, add intrigue to the label.
