That was ours, a Narcissist Riesling from the wine collection Megalomaniac which we of course bought because we really liked the label, not because of our inflated sense of self-esteem and the overestimation of our powers and beliefs… or was that the reason why we liked it?! Who knows! In any case, . . . → Read More: What was your Christmas day wine?]]>

That was ours, a Narcissist Riesling from the wine collection Megalomaniac which we of course bought because we really liked the label, not because of our inflated sense of self-esteem and the overestimation of our powers and beliefs… or was that the reason why we liked it?! Who knows! In any case, here’s a little unpretentious review of both the designers and wine lovers’ perspectives:

THE DESIGNERS’ PERSPECTIVE:

The label comprises many of our favourite design elements: an embossed name (for a subtle 3D effect), minimal colours that are used intelligently to highlight a few details (tie + corsage), fancy metallic ink (our photo isn’t of the best quality, check out the LCBO website to see a studio picture that shows the reflection better),  it’s printed on a thick, off-white, cool died-cut paper, it uses a black, sans-serif font in various weights for the hierarchy of text… In other words, it’s simple, minimalist and it works. More importantly, it really communicates the idea behind the product’s name. After all, megalomania is all about one’s self-absorbency, and what’s better to illustrate that than a mirror!? And that’s exactly the effect produced by the metallic ink; it sorts of lets you see your own reflection in the label. We wonder if the metallic ink could have been used in a way that it’s located at the place where the head should be, so that when you hold the bottle your own face appears on it? That would have certainly been top megalomaniac! It might even have been a bit creepy, so another way the designers conveyed the mirror idea is by playing with the typography so that “2009 Narcissist Riesling” is reflected on the label, as if we were reading it in a mirror. Very cool.

In regards to the wine’s name, a quote from the maker on the back of the bottle explains it:

What’s with the name? I originally wanted to christen these wines in my name, John Howard, …and then my good friends accused me of being yet another “[profanity withheld] megalomaniac”. Regrettably, the name stuck.

For the rest, design-wise the bottle is pretty plain – in a good way of course. It has a nice smooth shape and shade of green. It’s a screw-top (silver; it goes well with the label) so no fancy cork to describe, and no difficulty to open the bottle, which takes us to…

THE WINE LOVERS’ PERSPECTIVE:

Okay, so let’s make something clear: we are not wine connoisseurs, and we are far from pretending to be. Having both worked at Starbucks when we were students and being put through “coffee tastings” way too many times, we have a very cynical view of all “tastings”. Back then, we knew than describing Espresso roast using the terms “earthy mushrooms”, “burned sundried tomatoes”, and Marc’s all-times favourite “tastes like a forest after the rain” was just an easy way to make our manager happy and that happy manager = easy work shift. So when we read the wine’s reviews on the LCBO website that says: Juicy-terrific! Lovely melon and peach fruit unfold in waves of flavour. Love this style. Slightly off-dry so it is incredibly food-friendly and light-bodied - well we take it with a pinch of salt. Did we taste melon and peach fruit? Not really. Was it good? YES! It was really delicious! Did we pair it with chicken salad, crab salad, shellfish like recommended? Nope, we had it with chicken madras curry, our Christmas dinner. Did it work? Yep. It was a very good match – we think – as the sweetness of the wine soothed the spiciness of the curry. It’s a light and refreshing wine for sure, a wine that would also have been great on its own during a warm summer afternoon. Versatile, but far from bland. We recommend it for sure. It’s an VQA Ontario wine from the Niagara peninsula, region known for the quality of the Riesling wine it produces. It’s reasonably-priced ($17.95) and can be found in the Vintage section of certain LCBO locations. It would make a perfect gift – especially if you’re trying to get a message through to that big-headed friend of yours. You can even order a custom gift box from their [profanity withheld] flash website (it’s a nice, interesting site, but we just can’t stand flash – it wouldn’t even open in Firefox so we had to use Safari. Effort.). Anyways, make sure your Flash is up-to-date and visit their site at http://www.megalomaniacwine.com

Once you’ve tried Narcissist Riesling let’s compare tasting notes!

]]> http://yellowcardesign.com/blog/2012/01/04/what-was-your-christmas-day-wine/feed/ 0 http://yellowcardesign.com/blog/2011/11/17/latest-work-zeste-un-cadeau-gourmand/ http://yellowcardesign.com/blog/2011/11/17/latest-work-zeste-un-cadeau-gourmand/#comments Thu, 17 Nov 2011 16:03:08 +0000 ycd http://yellowcardesign.com/blog/?p=1835

Certificat-cadeau | Magazine Zeste

Lucky people who will be receiving a subscription to Zeste (Quebec’s most delicious-looking food-related magazine) this holiday season will not only receive 4 or 8 issues of one of the best executed magazine in the province: they will also receive this beautiful gift certificate, designed by none other than us . . . → Read More: Latest work! Zeste : un cadeau gourmand.]]>

Certificat-cadeau | Magazine Zeste

Lucky people who will be receiving a subscription to Zeste (Quebec’s most delicious-looking food-related magazine) this holiday season will not only receive 4 or 8 issues of one of the best executed magazine in the province: they will also receive this beautiful gift certificate, designed by none other than us @ Yellow Car Design. We were commissioned by the magazine to create a print-at-home certificate for people buying the subscription as a present to give to their loved ones to let them know that they were now subscribers to Zeste. The deadline for the project was very tight but thanks to the great pictures that were submitted to us we were quickly inspired and designed something that looks good in next to no time!

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Les chanceux(ses) qui recevront un abonnement à Zeste (certainement la publication culinaire québécoise la plus appétissante) en cette période des Fêtes ne recevront pas seulement 4 ou 8 numéros du magazine gourmand le plus haut de gamme de la province : ils recevront également ce joli certificat-cadeau, conçu par nul autre que nous, Yellow Car Design. Nous avions reçu le mandat de créer un certificat pouvant être imprimé à la maison par les gens qui achètent l’abonnement en cadeau; ils peuvent ainsi donner le certificat à l’être cher(ère) pour lui dire qu’il ou elle est désormais abonné(e) à Zeste. Nous avions très peu de temps pour compléter le projet mais grâce aux excellentes photos qui nous ont été soumises nous avons été rapidement inspirés et sommes arrivés à un très bon résultat en un temps record!

Sometimes our designer’s skills come in handy for our family and friends who need help with a project. For us, it’s great fun as it’s low pressure work (let’s put it this way: we do it for free as long as we have total control on the art direction ) . . . → Read More: Chantalle’s Daycare Christmas Card]]>

Christmas Card for Chantalle's Daycare

Sometimes our designer’s skills come in handy for our family and friends who need help with a project. For us, it’s great fun as it’s low pressure work (let’s put it this way: we do it for free as long as we have total control on the art direction ) and it’s also extra artwork for our portfolio and you never know who’s going to see it and like it. For the “clients”, it’s a great deal as they get a professional design at a very minimal, or nonexistent, cost. I did the work above for my mother’s daycare. The brief was simple: create a Christmas card for her to print at home and give to the parents of the little kids that she babysits. The only requirements: it needed to be “Christmassey” and childish. I did this illustration while watching TV -a great advantage of low pressure work- and thought that doing a single-side letter-sized format was the best option: this way my mum will be able to print it at home, on matte photo paper. Nice and easy. I am also planning on designing a matching sticker that she can put on regular white envelopes to seal the letters. We put the studio’s website on everything we do as, again: you never know who’s going to see this and like it. Of course, my mum is a big fan so doesn’t mind the extra advertising for us!

vicky

PS: Have I ever mentioned that one day I would really really like to illustrate a children book? Yep. I’d actually would like to do the whole thing (writing/illustrating) and already have an idea of who my purring characters could be inspired of…

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La carte de Noël de la garderie de Chantalle

Parfois nos talents de designers viennent en aide à nos proches qui ont besoin d’un coup de pouce pour un projet. Pour nous, c’est amusant car c’est du travail sans pression (évidemment, on fait le travail gratuitement en autant qu’on nous laisse le contrôle de la direction artistique!) et c’est aussi du travail supplémentaire à ajouter dans notre portfolio. Pour les “clients”, c’est un bon deal puisqu’il bénéficient du travail de designers professionels gratuitement ou à coût minime. J’ai fait le travail ci-dessus pour ma mère. Le mandat était simple: créer une carte de Noël qu’elle peut imprimer à la maison pour donner aux parents des petits enfants qui se font garder à sa garderie. Le tout devait être enfantin et “de Noël”…J’ai fait cette illustration en écoutant la télévision – un avantage du travail sans-pression! J’ai choisi un format “lettre” que ma mère pourra imprimer à la maison, sur du papier mat. Facile et simple. Je planifie également de faire des petits autocollants assortis qui pourront servir à cacheter l’enveloppe. Évidemment, nous mettons l’adresse de notre site internet sur tout ce que nous faisons… Qui sait? Peut-être qu’un jour un client potentiel verra et aimera notre travail. Et biensûr, ça fait plaisir à ma mère de nous faire de la publicité gratuite!

vicky

PS: Ai-je mentionné que j’adorerais illustrer un livre pour enfants? En fait, je pourrais même me charger de l’écriture… J’ai déjà une petite idée de qui pourraient être les personnages félins de mon livre!