I love wild typography. As a graphic designer, unbridled creativity excites me. In recent years, major brands have abandoned their distinctive wordmarks for bland sans-serifs, surrendering individuality and drowning in a sea of sameness. So it’s refreshing, dare I say invigorating, to see an upstart wine producer buck the trends and break the rules.
When I first spotted Unscripted Wines on the shelf, I was immediately drawn to them. The branding was visually chaotic and nearly incomprehensible from the front-facing label. It begged to be plucked from the shelf to be deciphered. You pick up the bottle, rotate it, try to piece the letters together like a typographic puzzle, and even then, it’s challenging to comprehend. The hand-drawn script is erratic and eclectic. Some of the letterforms border on the illegible, especially in all caps. Normally, that would be a cardinal sin in design. Script faces should rarely, if ever, be set in uppercase. But here? It works. It’s another rule gleefully broken, another signal that this brand is living up to its name.
I highly recommend using single wrapping labels over the traditional front-and-back application. This approach allows for a far cleaner and more cohesive layout. Too often, the back label becomes a dumping ground for compliance text and filler copy. On this label, every inch of space is considered. The typography on the information panel is well structured. Surprisingly so given the frenzied main wordmark. The vintage, varietal, and origin are treated with elegant restraint—classic in hierarchy and confidently undersized. Along the left edge, a vertical brand statement runs top to bottom:
“Here’s to leaping in with both feet, living with your whole heart and sharing something unexpectedly wonderful.”
It’s not just a tagline. It’s a philosophy, and it’s beautifully integrated into the design. The vertical placement feels contemporary and intentional, whispering rather than shouting its message.
As for the wine itself, this Sauvignon Blanc is crafted in a classic French style, offering modest tropical fruit notes with crisp acidity and a refined, balanced finish. It’s not ostentatious. It’s thoughtful, much like the label that wraps it.
Unscripted is not a mass-production brand. These are emerging winemakers, working within an experimental production facility in Ontario’s Niagara region. A hub for innovation where new ideas ferment as freely as the grapes themselves.
Unscripted Wines embody the thrill of creative risk. Their label design rejects convention with wild, hand-drawn typography and a modern single-wrap format that feels both rebellious and sophisticated. Beneath that chaos lies a thoughtful structure—proof that breaking rules doesn’t mean abandoning craft. Unscripted lives up to its name.
