The Opportunity
Vicar’s Choice Bright Light was developed to give lighter-style wines a more engaging and contemporary shelf presence. In a category where reduced alcohol products can often feel overly clinical or driven by function alone, the opportunity was to create a wine packaging design that felt premium, positive and easy to understand at a glance.
The Creative Method approached the project by shifting the focus from what the wine had less of to what the brand could offer more of: brightness, freshness and approachability. That strategic thinking led to a packaging concept built around lightness as both a product benefit and a visual world.
The Challenge
Lighter-style wines are often sold through what they have less of, rather than what they offer more of.
For Vicar’s Choice Bright Light, the challenge was to create a packaging identity that could communicate a naturally lighter proposition without feeling compromised, clinical or overly health-led. It needed to hold onto the credibility of Marlborough wine, while creating a fresher, more modern emotional hook for consumers.
The pack had to work hard at shelf: quickly signal lightness, maintain varietal clarity, and feel optimistic enough to attract new drinkers without alienating existing wine buyers.
The Strategic Insight
In wine, lighter doesn’t have to mean lesser.
The opportunity was to shift the conversation away from sacrifice and toward mood. Rather than focusing purely on reduction, the brand could celebrate brightness, ease and drinkability – a more positive, contemporary way into the proposition.
That thinking shaped the core idea behind the range: Bright Light as both a product benefit and a brand world. Something airy, lifted and radiant. Something that felt visually light, emotionally light and easy to understand at a glance.
The Creative
We built the packaging around a simple but distinctive visual language: sky, clouds and halo.
That central device gives the range an immediate sense of elevation and optimism. It cues lightness in a way that feels intuitive and memorable, while avoiding the predictable tropes that often dominate better-for-you wine design. Rather than overloading the label, we kept the expression clean and open, allowing the concept to breathe.
Soft pastel colourways create clear differentiation across the range while reinforcing the mood of each wine. The pale sky blue Sauvignon Blanc feels crisp, fresh and lifted. The blush pink Sauvignon Blanc Rosé brings softness and warmth without losing the overall coherence of the system.
Typography was handled with restraint to keep the range premium and easy to navigate. The Vicar’s Choice name provides familiarity and trust, while Bright Light becomes the hero, framed by clean varietal information and Marlborough provenance. The lighter alcohol callout is integrated as a supporting badge – visible enough to do its job, but not so dominant that it overwhelms the brand.
The result is a label system that feels buoyant and modern, with enough structure to sit confidently in wine, and enough freshness to stretch beyond the usual category codes.
The Outcome
Vicar’s Choice Bright Light gives lighter-style wine a more appealing face.
It transforms a functional proposition into something more emotional, visual and ownable – a range that feels clear, contemporary and full of positivity. The design makes the product easy to understand, but just as importantly, easy to want.
By combining premium restraint with a brighter, more optimistic brand world, the range creates shelf standout without shouting. It proves that when lighter wines are framed around what they bring, not just what they remove, the result can feel far more compelling.
Vicar’s Choice Packaging Design
Wine packaging design for a lighter Marlborough range
Client
Vicar’s Choice
Industry
Wine
Expertise
Brand Strategy
Brand Identity
Wine Packaging Design