Graphic Designer
I really enjoy a good paper. I love the feel of a printed product in my hand, mostly because I know what it takes to get from an image on screen to a printed business card or flyer. For Bodine Wine, I strive to keep our printing local. I know all of the people in the shop we print at. They are the ones who taught me everything I know about working in the print industry. From Kristi, who taught me the importance of marketing a business, to Eric teaching me that "cardstock" is not an accurate descriptor of paper, to Ken in the finishing and bindery department who helped me shrink wrap my first order. The crew at Minuteman Press are family, and so we try to treat them that way.
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If someone were to ask me "What's the coolest thing you have ever gotten to design?" it would be this. The Bodine Wine labels caused a lot of firsts for me, the first time I designed a "real" label, the first time something I designed had to be approved by the federal government (on my first try too!), the first time something I designed was going to be sold in a retail space, and if you count Channel 27 news in Topeka, it's the first time something I designed was on TV. These labels are my babies. We went back and forth on the design for a long time, eventually settling on a simple design that could easily be translated across all of our wines present and future. The real fun came when we ordered them. As a self proclaimed "paper nerd" picking out the stock for these labels was one of my favorite parts of the entire branding process. These are called an Estate 4 and have a gorgeous satin finish.
We make cider too! Well, we will soon. These are the labels for our
"County Fair" cidery under the Bodine Wine Company name. I truly love these labels. I love the colors, the geometric pattern the cohesion, everything about these labels makes me proud to be a designer, and Bodine Wine's owner, Bob's reaction to these labels is why I became a designer in the first place. I started off with the Plain Jane cider, it was a simple enough idea, its apple cider so it should have an apple in the label, right? It took me three hours, and a few ciders from a competitor (call it market research) to draw up the fruit portion of these labels. The pattern contained within them is just a simple repeating shape, but I feel it gives the labels dimension, and character they would be lacking otherwise. This combined with the variations in color, make me feel like we have a really well rounded design for the cider labels. Honey Bee is a special label to me. It is a collaboration between two companies I designed the logo for, Bodine Wine and Kelly's Bees. What's the best way to keep with the theme and show off the fact that it's a collaboration? Create a really neat mashup. We are currently working on getting these labels approved, and on making the cider in the first place. These labels are going to go on a 22 oz amber bomber bottle with a crown cap and are going to be printed on a less textured stock than our wine labels.
I'm also the social media and merchandising manager for Bodine Wine. Here is a sneak peek at what our instagram feed looks like. I take all of the pictures and make all of the original wine humour tiles for our pages. This has really been an adventure for me and there has been a steep learning curve, I am responsible for posting content 2-5 times a week on Facebook and Instagram for Bodine Wine. I have learned about the instagram algorithm, what gets the most post engagement on Facebook and how to create events and talk to our fans. We also are working at merchandise for the winery. Right now, we have t-shirts and stickers (pictured below) and are working on more styles and colors for both of those things. In the future, we plan to branch out to wine accessories including glasses and corkscrews. Want to see more of my work with social media? Check out Bodine Wine on Facebook or Instagram @bodinewineco