BACKGROUND:
The project started with two flamboyant characters entering our office, very excited about wine. Lourens and Esté Raaf are a couple and the two members of Raaf (Raven), an Afrikaans music group known for their big personalities and theatrical stage performances. In addition, they share a love of wine and have a history of hosting famous wine-tasting and live music evenings at their home in Paarl.

THE BRIEF:
Lourens and Esté felt it was time to take their love of wine to the next level, so our task was to develop a wine for Raaf. The aim was not simply to create another commercial wine brand, but to create a statement that represents Raaf and becomes an extension of their music and live performances.

THE CONCEPT:
During our first meeting with Lourens and Esté, we immediately got a sense of their personalities and talents. This quickly became a rich source of inspiration. It was obvious that Esté was the poet in the relationship, transforming stanzas into songs. Lourens is a phenomenal multi-instrumentalist with an infectious passion for music and performance.

The concept of the poet and the dreamer quickly became the basis of our project. We wanted the design to be a visual statement that was art-led rather than brand-led. We developed an emotive illustration of Lourens and Esté embracing one another with open arms. Esté’s silhouette is formed from lettering, leading to an original Afrikaans poem that changes with each vintage. To convey Lourens’s passion and dreaming spirit, we used free-flying ravens to create his silhouette. The ravens lead into a space deliberately left open on the bottle for Lourens to play guitar with.

Lastly, a hidden detail comes to life during their live performances: a raven printed in UV ink that activates and glows under blue light.