QDE PRIZE - 2008

The three letters QdE become the label, creating and original and strongly recognisable form. The characters are engraved on the paper by a laser. The result is elegant, and respectful of the great Mosnel tradition, achieved with avant-garde technology.

I decided to create a graphic sign, beginning with the printing, that would privilege information useful to the user, in the most informal manner possible (a label can be defined as something placed on any kind of container that identifies and describes its contents) and avoiding those “romantic” descriptions of perfumes and wine and food combinations that I believe to be completely subjective. Visually, the fulcrum of the label is the vintage year. This choice is dictated by the fact that a Brut of 1998 deserves to be made important. The typeface used for the texts is a Helvetica, in all of its variations (Thin, Light, Regular, and Bold). I am in agreement with others that everything can be expressed in Helvetica (“I love you” written in Helvetica Bold is very passionate, while in Helvetica Light it is very delicate). The size of the label, and its angle, are indicated by the golden relationships presented in nature. Tampography, which ensures high-quality printing results even with very small, thin characters, combined with the seal wax and the hand-written strip of paper, accentuates the impression of uniqueness for the product.

When we received the invitation to propose the graphic appearance of a product so refined and impressive as Mosnel, we welcomed it with particular pleasure and interest. The function that a label plays is that of recognition, of attraction, of production identification; it is a certificate of assurance and a commercial announcement, but at the same time is must also be itself the definition of a style, the construction of an image, the search for distinctiveness and the expression of a refined and appealing sense of taste. As far back as antiquity, the use of such “signs” has been the source of fascination and curiosity; many are those who have set their talents to creating them, fashioning them not simply into informational tools but into graphic elements, small glimpses that offer one pictured information linked to the places, the history, and the concept of wine. They have been small art works that both decorate and, with the passage of time, become elegant and refined collectors’ objects. With regard to our proposal, we asked ourselves what we wanted to achieve with it, what we wanted to convey. We surveyed different methodologies; we asked ourselves how we could make it compel attention to it, so that it would be unique while all the time preserving a traditional imprint that would faithfully reflect the brand it represented. Mosnel Franciacorta stands out for its production of only 360 numbered bottles in the magnum size, and it was precisely on this concept of a limited edition that we centred our attention. Right from the first, we tried to distinguish the graphic motif from the overall concept, subdividing the project into two steps. We asked ourselves what the idea was, the symbol, that more than any other would represent il Mosel using this number series. We then focosed on the concept of limited reproduction, which contributes to increasing the appeal of the label in the eyes of the collector and adds to its value. This idea is expressed not only through the graphic symbol of the bottle (a simple intuitive sign but explicit as well in its meaning), but through numerical representation as well; just as the real bottles contain wine, so our small reproductions contain within themselves this series of numbers. Those who purchase one of these bottles come into possession not only of wine but of a unique object, and by so doing they gain entrance into a small, select universe of connoisseurs. For the graphic explication, we were inspired by the sensory properties of the wine itself, a wine whose bouquet is evolved and complex, but at the same time delicate, with a dry, full palate displaying a crisp vein of acidity expressing finesse and elegance. This led us to create a graphic expression that preserves a clear, coherent visual identity combined with an image that reproduces the idea of tradition used by Mosnel, thus guaranteeing brand recognisability to the observer through use of the same typeface and colour classic to the brand. Cleanness, definition, and tradition are thus reinterpreted in a contemporary key. Finally, we propose for the label a special paper, which is often used in the wine industry because of its very high-quality and technical characteristics; it can be treated in various ways, in fact, that will made it humidity- and ageing-resistant, ensuring that it holds up well over time. Its pale colour references Mosnel’s traditional labels.

The form

The round shape that frames the coat of arms above and the frieze or flourish beneath have been preserved on the label, since they are components already present on the gold capsule and on the black neck label. The round shape constitutes an important visual reference in the integrated il Mosnel image, they are a recurring visual element on all of the labels of the current wines in an the overall corporate image. Those elements have been re-sized in view of the dimensions of the label and of the magnum bottles.

The image

The image is constituted by a symmetrical graphic decoration in which the shoots, tendrils, and buds make up the visual part of the label, framing and showcasing the text, which then assumes the function of completing the visual. The Mosnel logogram, in the centre, is the lead element in the graphic composition. Counterbalanced by the heraldic motif is the leaf, which almost emerges from the label’s delicate background colour and is enclosed by a delicate, light-coloured tendril in raised relief. Small, idealised grape berries, in diminishing sizes, bring to mind the wine’s delicate mousse and lively bead of pin-point bubbles.

The printing

The light background colour, a warm ivory, on the light surface texture of the label, relates to the golden colour of the capsule and of the Mosnel logogram printed in opaque gold, while the name of the wine should be in dark green, the colour of the glass of the bottle. This is a “tactile” label, on which the die-stamped, opaque white reliefs of the shoots and buds interweave with and retreat into the more delicate relief, shiny and more cheerful, of the tendrils positioned over the leaf, in the centre. This particular arrangement, the shiny raised print, gives the label a luminosity that goes beyond that conferred by gold print of the logogram.

Completely round 01

The purpose of this label is to highlight the vintage year. The 1998 is what is designed to be captured at first sight, with the gold and the transparency combining to create a rhythmic lightness that prepares for the tasting enjoyment to follow.

Completely round 02

Black and Gold in a marriage of light/opacity–I need no other information–, high quality tattooed onto the skin of the bottle. A strong concept, an expectation that can wait no longer, with nothing further to do except open and taste.

Completely round 03

Elegance is the primary objective of this label, which allows itself the luxury of counterpointing shiny black with opaque black. The Mosnel logogram benefits, through capturing the eye at first glance, with the small white text marking time out of time.

Completely round 04

Echoing the classic colours of the sparkling wine bottle, the laid paper is a delicate foil to the shiny/gold 1998 and to the words Mosnel…divided by a text in grey, in sum, a label to caress, a seal of great quality.

Tactile notes

The idea is to make the visual impact with the bottle an occasion of compelling curiosity. Thus the choice of using the Braille alphabet. One must come up very close, touch it, bring it close to the eye to really understand it fully. An interplay of surfaces that work on two levels, optical and tactile… perhaps enigmatic at first glance, but certainly elegant, to underscore a brand that has no need of explanations to undeline its excellence.

The history of the word Mosnel, linked to the reclamation projects carried out by the Cistercian monks, bring us back to the analysis by Gilles Cle´ment and to his creation of the concept of the “Terzo Paesaggio” (Third Landscape). To start from a particular work in order to recover the history of an entire growing area and therefore of a wine, to divide the work into 360 equal sections, to create totally unique labels that make up together a unique whole–this is the overall concept of the label. Art and Wine is a classic binomial, but it should not be simply taken for granted, for the innovative and unexpected thrust of sectioning up an art work to then confer uniqueness and equal dignity to each bottle emphasises and concretises the individuality of the sign without deforming or contradicting the brand. Inside the package holding the bottle would be inserted a silkscreened copy of the overall artwork, with a number corresponding to that on the bottle, thus achieving a perfect equilibrium between the limited series of bottles and the limited series of artworks.

The Italian typographic tradition furnishes the source of inspiration for communicating a wine of great class and elegance, whose primary qualities are tradition and quality. The proposed label is entirely based on coupling (stylistic ligature) the letters “F” and “B”, the initials of Franciacorta and Brut. The shape of the F recalls classic tradition, utilised starting with the Bodoni poster (Giambattista Bodoni and Chauncey H. Griffith, 1790), while the “B” is more geometric, essential, and contemporary. The two letters are joined together and united so that they form a single container, a new geometric shape, a sign with the strong die-cut visual and form-al impact that the typeface exudes. The textual element, designed vertically, becomes a metaphor for the sparkling wine bubbles that rise from bottom to top. The typeface selected for the composition of the “service” text is Helvetica Neue (Max Miedinger, 1957), a “modern” classic that integrates pleasingly well with the gentle lines of the “FB” container. Even the choice of colours privileges tradition and sobriety. Black and white are classics of typography. The gold conjures up the colour of the wine, and is the symbol/synonym of the value, rarity, and elegance of a refined artistic taste. Cin cin! A toast to tradition, to typography, and to good wine!