As part of my final project for Graphic Design I, we were tasked with designing a series of labels for Olivio Olive Oil Co. The only requirements were:
- Include the name Olivio
- Add a flavor name and image
- Include a weight
- Include a tagline that read “Product of Italy”
- Create a neck booklet
This design started with observing the shelves of olive oil at a few local grocers. The bottles displayed at WalMart all seemed to have a common theme among the designs: white or light-colored labels (granted, that’s part of the brand identity for Great Value). The few brands that used a darker background on their labels, in my eye, stuck out more than the others. This helped sway my design decisions for the Olivio project — a more gourmet, slightly elegant feel.
To achieve this, I started with the design for the Olivio logo. The name was set in Uppercase serif, lending a chiseled, old-world feel. I drew a wreath of olive branches to frame the logotype, which forms an “O” and creates a secondary logotype for the brand.The next step was to create a shape for the label. I used a rectangle with slightly curved top and bottom to create more of a shield-like shape, a slight touch that helps reinforce the elegance of the brand. The logo was then given generous negative space to help pop off the black background, which, coupled with the slight vertical pinstripes added to other subtle touches of elegance.
The label was finished with a dramatically cropped image of the food(s) that corresponds to the flavor of oil. Each label then received a color that was coordinated with the back of the neck booklet.
The final touch of the package design was to use a gold cord to attach the neck booklet to the bottle.