72 GALLO DESIGN GROUP
“Louis M. Martini Port offers a modern twist on an old story,” says designer Nancy Andre, “capturing the current equity of the brand while honoring its legacy.” Designed as an extension to the existing Louis M. Martini line of cabernets, it is the only Port-style wine in the product lineup—small-run, exclusive to the tasting room and not bound for retail-store shelves.

“It could afford to take on a character and voice slightly distinct from its parent brand,” Andre says. “It had to draw on all the tradition of Port wine.” Envisioning this package as entirely red— the hallmark color of the Louis M. Martini brand—Andre relied solely on type, with no extraneous icons or visuals, to give it its air of confidence and understatement. “I purposely blended typestyles that were both nostalgic and contemporary,” she says. “I turned especially to restaurant signage in the San Francisco area for this sort of ‘then-and-now’ look.”

As a designer, Andre found this project thoroughly enjoyable. “It was a brand I felt at home with,” she says, “but I was delighted to find the client open to evolving its image and willing to morph toward the contemporary.” by Romy Ashby