New image for Calmel & Joseph's wines

This month sees the launch of Languedoc wine merchant Calmel & Joseph's new graphics package and website, created by French design consultancy Agence S.

Laurent Calmel and Jérôme Joseph are wine traders specialising in the southern French region of Languedoc-Roussillon. Originally founded in 1995 as JJoseph, Calmel & Joseph's production consists of a range of contemporary, terroir-based wines with personality.

The decision to commission the design of a brand new Calmel & Joseph corporate identity was driven by the need to give the company and its products a distinct and coherent image. It is being rolled out across all marketing materials, labels and packaging, and launched via a brand new website from June 2013 onwards.

The company logo has been reworked based on a Didot typeface which dates back to the beginning of the 19^th century to add a certain finesse, and a new company typeface – Din – has been chosen and will be used across all company communications, including email.

This new signature is defined across the new website www.calmel-joseph.com, accompanied by highly-distinctive graphics that take engravings as their source. The connection between the craft of the engraver – a demanding art that requires technical mastery and precision – and that of the wine maker is an obvious one. Besides being aesthetically pleasing and unique within the wine sector, such symbolism is easily understood by an international audience (an important point, as 95% of Calmel & Joseph wines are sold outside of France).

All labels across the Calmel & Joseph ranges have been redesigned. Legibility by the export customer was high on the list of objectives. A choice of sober background colours (white, grey and beige, with ochre used to highlight details) means that each range can be recognised at a glance, while the elegance and simplicity “reflects the company's commitment to quality”. A combination of coloured backgrounds and engraving ‘families’ allows each range to be positioned within a subtle hierarchry: a combination of white background and workmen's tools has been applied to the Les Terroirs range, while a grey background and precision tools denote Les Cuvées Rares, and a beige background aligned with precious objects belongs to the universe of Les Crus.

Originally founded in 1995 as JJoseph, Calmel & Joseph offers a range of services beginning in the vineyard, through to winemaking and marketing expertise. The company works exclusively with privately-owned wineries based across Languedoc-Roussillon, making wines that aim to showcase the potential of the region's diverse terroir.

Founder and commercial director Jérôme Joseph was joined in 2007 by oenologist Laurent Calmel. The company offers four ranges (Les Terroirs, Les Crus, Les Cuvées Rares and Villa Blanche); annual production of Calmel & Joseph-branded wines averages at 200,000 bottles.

Main export markets include the UK, Benelux, Denmark, Germany, USA, Canada, China and Japan. 

21 June 2013 - Felicity Murray