SIGN OF THE DOVE
From vision to brand
An exciting new generation of vintners are embracing the challenge of balancing history and tradition with the monumental task of finding compelling ways to connect with ever-curious (and sometimes less loyal) new consumers.
Helping our clients creatively and strategically thread this needle is something on which our brand studio prides itself. Whether we are charged with evolving a storied brand or creating a new brand for an established family portfolio, this important work is and will always be one size fits one.
Sign of the Dove photography by Nicola Parisi.
A new project from a fourth generation wine family
Jake Taub’s singular vision for Sign of the Dove synthesized his modern sensibilities with his family’s rich traditions.
In any multigenerational endeavor, the brand and its artifacts must maintain a delicate equipoise between tradition and modernity. The task of harmonizing past and present is ultimately what defined the creative process for Sign of the Dove.
Could we create a brand that would make previous generations of Taub’s proud while also connecting with Jake’s generation?
A name and symbol with meaning
The soul of the label – indeed the soul of the brand – is the dove. Drawn from the Taub family’s surname, German for dove (taube), this deeply symbolic bird cements this new brand in lineage and legacy. The brand’s emblem is inspired by a mosaic from a place where the Taub family gathered for special occasions.
While the dove draws on an artform that dates back to antiquity, what surrounds it begins the brand’s many nods to modernity.
Making the customer journey beautiful
Customers often encounter a brand’s website before they make the decision to purchase wine. For Sign of the Dove, a concise, custom website aligns their digital front door with all the wonderful detail and mystery that informs the brand.
Carrying customized brand details throughout the sign up process and path to purchase ensures that the customer’s experience of the brand is not suddenly abandoned during a transaction. The sign up, customer account, and checkout pages (powered by Offset Commerce) are equally important as a website’s storytelling pages. These elements represent the digital ‘last mile’ and it is a distance we are always willing to travel.
An unexpected approach to photography
Photographer Nicola Parisi was selected for her expertise in both documentary style location photography and conceptual studio photography – a combination seldom found in a single photographer.
The careful selection of photographer and the boundary-pushing boldness of art direction means that Sign of the Dove’s brand assets are resonant and modern, ready for a digital-first world driven by press and social media.
In the studio, a contemporary visual language, rich in color and drama and inspired by fashion photography, guided Sign Of The Dove’s distinctive product images.
Photographs of vineyards are ubiquitous and very often indistinguishable from one another. An intentionally abstract approach focused on light and the oft overlooked details of a vineyard do more to impart both a sense of place and mood to Sign Of The Dove’s vineyard images.
The standard ‘bottle shot’ is reimagined as a peek at only a portion of the label. A sense of mystery and anticipation gives customers a sense of their promised experience of receiving the wine, not just possessing it.
Portraits are not people. Those who envision and manifest a brand embody that brand’s sensibilities. Our goal was to capture those sensibilities and trust that the person would come through.
Shadows offer a palpably playful ‘show don’t tell’ moment for the heroic product image, giving the viewer a sense that just out of frame there is a dove taking flight.
There is drama in the late, low light of winter. The very antithesis of verdant vines bathed in summer’s solar abundance, winter offers long shadows and loads of negative space. Harmonizing this sense of drama across both studio and on-location photography ensures the brand aesthetic permeates every image.
An early moment of truth
In the world of wine adjacency is inescapable. Great bottles of wine invariably find themselves shoulder to shoulder with other great bottles. It is a ‘moment of truth’ for every new brand.
So when we heard from Jake Taub that upon sharing a preview of his first vintage at an intimate team dinner, he saw a bottle of Sign of the Dove standing alongside some stalwarts of Bordeaux we were all ears. He felt at once that his wine ‘belonged’. It was just the feedback we worked so tirelessly towards.