Founded in 1961, Karl Vineyards is a Californian-based winery founded by a collective of art misfits and closet wine nerds. FOMG developed a brand that elevate bottles to works of art. Cohesive yet highly flexible, the identity system allows for various designers, illustrators, painters and other creatives to contribute. With a recently growing national distribution, Karl is being taken seriously despite all its efforts to the contrary.
We invented Karl’s wine packaging and iconography to be clear, yet whimsical—making information more digestible while introducing elements of surprise and joy. By successfully adapting the brand’s friendly, yet elevated, aesthetic for its wine business, we helped Karl Vinery begin to diversify its offerings while setting the stage for future growth.
We revamped Karl’s image by combining art and identities from various eras into one cohesive brand. This new look was then implemented across all promotions, and a first-ever web presence was created. Following the campaign, sales saw an increase of 78%, the number of wholesalers jumped from 2 to 14, and the brand gained over 1,000 fans on social media within 30 days.
FOMG recommended new brochure concepts that would help Karl Vineyards stand out against competitors and impress consumers with refined tastes. Our new designs emphasized the quality of the wines and the indulgence of the Karl experience. The result was a cleaner, simpler, and more professional brochure style suited to resonate with Karl’s target audience.
FOMG developed a brand that elevate bottles to works of art. Cohesive yet highly flexible, the identity system allows for various designers, illustrators, painters and other creatives to contribute. With a recently growing national distribution, Karl is being taken seriously despite all its efforts to the contrary.
FOMG continued to illustrate the story behind the name BOÖTES – (Boötes is the 13th largest constellation in the night sky, occupying an area of 907 square degrees). – but ina more abstract and modern way. It was also very important for the brand name to be strong, even symbol like, for better brand recognition. Once the icon was developed, FOMG worked with various famous designers to develop a strong and unique line of labels to optimize shelf impact and to strongly appeal to the consumer target base.
Since Karl Vineyards is a modern company, the website and brand have chosen colors that represent their contemporary spirit. While choosing the color, writing style and showing the authenticity of the company through photos, we have been trying to move away from the classic style that represents their competitor in the wine sector.
We’ve already redesigned karlvineyards.com to provide a more modern look and functionality. Their site is now relevant seasonally, tells a compelling brand story and provides value to consumers in the form of high quality and exclusive content. We’re continuing to build out the site with more content and to support multiple campaign initiatives.
To create the minimum viable website for launch, FOMG developed a new page strategy, navigational improvements and a high-level design overhaul. In addition, they added lead capture and conversion points to most pages.
After the site went live, the designers began to focus their attention on each line of business. Starting with the company’s most profitable business units, they began the intricate task of polishing the layout, designing icons and selecting imagery.
