Utopia, Usonia: Studio Elana Schlenker’s labels for Usonia Wine stretch vernacular type to the max

In the world of wine, we’ve witnessed shifts towards more expressive, playful, casual, and experimental labels. But perhaps Usonia Wine’s ongoing collaboration with graphic design practice Studio Elana Schlenker is one of the boldest we’ve seen yet. Usonia, run by Julia and Alex Alvarez-Perez, crafts low-intervention wines from their Cayuga Lake vineyard and kindred growers. Principal Elana Schlenker, working directly with founders Julia and Alex began the project with the initial goal to create a new label system – something easily templated so that they could generate future labels on their own. The pair approached Schlenker with an established logo and a desire for bold colour. “It’s funny,” Schlenker reflects, “because we ultimately ended up in a pretty bespoke place. But I initially really took this directive to heart, proposing a pretty tight approach to type. One of those options was a modular colour-blocked system that formed the foundation for the final label design.” The project took on a new, more nostalgic and eclectic type-driven approach when Julia and Alex highlighted some vintage wine and liquor labels, each showcasing an eclectic blend of typefaces.