Those who have followed us know that we held our first wine label art contest - for Jumpin Jazz - in 2006, then announced the winner and unveiled the new label in July 2007. Last year we launched a second contest, this time for "Red Quartet," our most popular wine. Well, people must have been distracted by the presidential election or the collapsing economy or both because we just didn't get enough entries to feel comfortable choosing a winner. Then we heard about 99designs.com and next thing we knew Red Quartet" had a spanking new label.

Here's how it worked: We registered at www.99designs.com, a web community of more than 33,000 designers from all over the world. Then we wrote a brief to specify that we wanted a wine label that would be an interpretation of the "quartet" theme, make an impression on people so they would remember the Red Quartet name, and make the bottle stand out from others on the shelf.

A contest on 99designs.com runs for only seven days, but during that time the contest holder (that would be us) has to evaluate all the designs that are submitted, rate those designs from 1 to 5 stars, and provide feedback to the artists. Forty designers participated in the Red Quartet label contest, and they submitted 218 designs! We spent 2-3 hours every night looking at and discussing the designs, assigning star ratings, and writing to the designers with comments and suggestions for improvement. Late in the week we whittled down the entries to a select list of finalists; and in the end, it was our pleasure to notify Devi Jaya DeLavie that his design was the winner. It was a very intense week!


Here's Devi DeLavie of Arizona,
Winner of the Red Quartet Wine Label Contest
A little about Devi:

How long have you been a graphic designer?
I'm told that at about age three I started drawing on anything I could reach and have been doing it ever since.

What inspired you to get into graphic design?
I've been a visual, performing and media artist my whole life. From drawing and painting, to bronze sculpture, from writing, acting and directing for stage to having my own video production company...it's all just different forms of the same creative spark that makes humans Hue-men.

Are you self-taught or did you attend a program for graphic design (if so, which one)?
I am life-taught, but also have a degree in art from California State University at Long Beach.

Are you working full time in graphic design?
I'm trying to make it full time, but the economy has caused a lot of my clients to pull back on advertising just when they should be doing more (catch 22). So I go to a "job" between my hours of my real work.

How did you come up with the idea for the Red Quartet label design?
The initial design was four graphic grape shapes cut out of a background; negative images. When that didn't work, I literally turned a negative into a positive and added my favorite wine colors.

Do you enjoy wine? If so, what kinds?
I love a deep, multi-layered Merlot, a dryish, complex Sauvignon Blanc and occasionally a rich, mysterious Burgundy.

Many thanks to Devi for his brilliant design! A delicious new vintage of Red Quartet was bottled this spring. We hope you'll come up soon to taste it ans see the new colorful, crisp, eye-catching label. Here's a peek!



The initial contest for Jumpin Jazz resulted in a $250 donation to the Animal Rescue Foundation in Beacon, NY, and a fabulous label that always attracts attention. That's the Jumpin Jazz winning artist, Brandi Budziak, with Doug and MaryEllen in the photo. As you can see, Brandi is an amazing artist. To learn more about her, read An Interview With Brandi.


We still think wine, art, people, and charity make a great combination. If we can ever figure out a way to get lots of local participation in a contest, we just might try it again.