Branding + Packaging · Wine

Arena Blanca Winery

Arena Blanca Winery is a family winery near Alamogordo, New Mexico, on the high desert mesa by White Sands. It is part of McGinn's PistachioLand, home of the World's Largest Pistachio.

Outlaw Red, Adobe Red, Alamogordo Red and Rio Dulce labels laid out at an angle on a deep red surface

Client: Arena Blanca Winery
Role: Logo and label design
Fits: Brand Sprint
Services: Logo Design, Label Design, Illustration, Packaging

The problem

The winery wanted new labels that felt hand drawn, warm and Southwestern, and it had one clear example of what to avoid: the traditional wine label. Each wine needed its own artwork, with the logo as the only constant. That logo needed replacing too, because the original vector files were no longer available.

What we did

We showed each wine as a set of concepts, so the team could react to real options, and their notes made the big decisions. Our early artwork included saguaros, until the team pointed out that those belong to Arizona. New Mexico has prickly pear and yucca, so the saguaros went. The team also wanted local landmarks in the work, which is how the World's Largest Pistachio ended up on Pistachio Delight and in the block print on Alamogordo Red. We worked through the range best sellers first, then added matching back labels and delivered vector artwork for the printer and for label approval.

The work

The logo

Arena Blanca means white sand, and the winery sits near White Sands, New Mexico. The old logo set a line of hills inside an outline of the state. Our first new concepts kept that mountain feel, and the team told us it was the wrong landscape: they wanted dunes. So the final mark turns those hills into rippling sand inside a circle, which keeps a link to the old logo and brings it closer to the name. We kept "Est. 1999" from the original.

Before

After

The logo update, from the state outline to the dunes of White Sands.

The labels

Each wine gets artwork drawn from its name and the land around it. La Luz means light, so it has a sunrise over a village church. The styles change from wine to wine, but the logo and the order of information hold, so the range still reads as one winery on a shelf.

Adobe Red, Outlaw Red and New Mexico Cabernet Sauvignon on a sunlit adobe sill

White Sands on a rippled white dune at golden hour

Pistachio Delight on a farm table in a pistachio orchard, with pistachios scattered at its base

Tap a bottle to see its label

Swipe through the photographs, and tap a bottle to see its label, front and back.

The film

We also made a short film for the winery with AI video. It tells the story behind the labels: the white sand, the McGinn family's farm and the World's Largest Pistachio.