Packaging · Brand Identity · Launch System
Transform a working prototype into a retail-ready product in 17 days.
Role
Creative Direction · Brand Identity · Packaging · Product Design
Client
Sommify · Co-owner
Industry
Games · Lifestyle · Food and Beverage
Deliverables
Logo · Board · Packaging · Cards · Wine Keys · Instruction Booklet · Campaign
Recognition
Kickstarter funded in 13 hours · 3,000 units sold year one
Overview
When Jessica and Connor handed me a working prototype of their blind wine-tasting game, I came in as a co-owner, not as a designer executing a client brief. Every decision carried the weight of that stake. The mechanics were solid. The design was not retail-ready. My job was to turn a functional prototype into a product that could live on a shelf, star in a commercial, and ship for the 2020 holiday season.
I rebuilt the board from scratch and designed the full packaging system, wine keys, playing cards, and instruction booklet as one cohesive product, all inside that window. It had to work in hand, at distance on a shelf, and on camera. The Kickstarter funded in 13 hours. First-year sales hit 3,000 units, with national lifestyle and entertainment press and a national television feature. None of that happens without a system that communicates trust, quality, and play at every touchpoint.
A Blind Wine-Tasting Game
Recognition · As Seen On
Logo Design · Branding
Research · Development
Creative Direction
On the logo
The mark had to work at game-box scale and Kickstarter thumbnail scale at the same time. Legibility at 40px was a design constraint, not an afterthought.
On packaging
Retail packaging for a game is a six-sided brand impression. Every face was designed as a deliberate surface, not a required field to fill.
On the board
The board is the centerpiece of the play experience. It had to feel like something you wanted to photograph. That is not decoration. That is product design serving marketing.
On color
Deep, wine-stained richness against soft cream. The palette communicates the category immediately, before the consumer reads a single word.
On the 17-day window
Compressed timelines sharpen decisions. There was no time for misdirection. Every choice had to be right on the first pass, and that discipline shows in the work.
Strategic Insight
I joined as a co-owner, not a designer executing a brief. The mechanics were solid, but the product was not ready for retail. Rebuilding the board and developing the packaging, cards, wine keys, and booklet as one system, all inside a 17-day window, is what turned a functional prototype into a recognizable, market-ready product and brand.
Game Design · Print
A full design system in 17 days. Kickstarter funded in 13 hours.
Packaging · Print
Campaign · Launch
Funded in 13 hours because it looked like it deserved to be.
Impact
Timeline
17 days to a full product system
Kickstarter
Funded in 13 hours
First-year sales
Roughly 3,000 units sold
Press
National lifestyle and entertainment coverage, including national television
Testimonial
"Andrew stepped in, asked the right questions, immediately took ownership, and delivered under a strict deadline. He listens, understands what is needed, and follows through with confidence and clarity. Blew my expectations out of the water."
[Connor Taylor · Co-founder, Sommify]
Project Close
Coming in as a co-owner, I had a stake in whether the game sold, not just how it looked. The play already worked. My job was to give it a brand that felt like a finished product, and that part was mine to build.