Febvre Wines Brand refresh Guidelines

3 Wooly Sheep

A brand refresh for a Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc that people already know as their go-to wine.

Client
Febvre Wines
Role
Brand refresh, guidelines, packaging, POS
Deliverables
Identity system, retailer guidelines, shipper, gift box, menus, coasters, posters
Original mark
Kerrie Judge, Marketing Manager, Febvre (2005–2019)
A bottle of 3 Wooly Sheep Sauvignon Blanc with its black label and three white sheep, on a candlelit restaurant table with food and two glasses of wine.
Overview

The brief

3 Wooly Sheep is a Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough, New Zealand, brought to Ireland by Febvre; its label is simple and hard to forget: three white sheep on black. For a lot of people it's the bottle they reach for without thinking.

That recognition came from Kerrie Judge's original design, and it was the one thing not to lose. The job was to bring the brand up to date for 2027 and beyond, so it could work across the new formats and channels now open to it, without changing what people already love about it.

KeptKerrie's flock, the black label and the plain-spoken name
RefinedCleaner sheep, a tighter lockup and consistent type
ExtendedShipper, gift box, menus, coasters, posters, screwcap
Written downGuidelines so retailers and venues use it the same way
Approach

The approach

  • Protect the recognitionThe sheep, the black and the name stay exactly where customers expect them. Anyone who bought it last year should spot it on the shelf in a second.
  • Tidy the detailsThe name, variety and region sit in one fixed stack underneath.
  • Black as the brand colourOn a shelf full of white and cream labels, a flat black panel is the fastest way to be found. Every touchpoint starts from black.
  • Built for more placesThe old label only had to work on a bottle. The refreshed system works on packaging, print, venue POS and social, wherever the wine goes next.
Close-up of the 3 Wooly Sheep label: three white sheep stacked above the name, variety and region on textured black stock.
The lockup: mark, name, variety, region
A bottle on its side showing the base and the edge of the black label.
Black label against green glass
01

The retailer guidelines

Most of the people putting this brand in front of customers aren't designers. They're shop owners building a display, or a venue printing a wine list.

So the guidelines were written for them: short, visual and focused on the handful of rules that keep the brand at its most recognisable.

  • Clear spaceKeep a space the height of one sheep clear on all sides of the lockup.
  • Minimum sizeThe flock must stay readable as three sheep. Below a set width, a single sheep stands in for the flock, as on the screwcap.
  • ColourOff-white on black by default. Black on off-white where black isn't possible. No other colours.
  • The flockIn the full lockup it's always three, always in their stack. Don't rearrange, rotate or redraw them.
  • On shelfFace bottles label-out in blocks of two or more, so the black reads as one panel.
  • On menusUse the supplied lockup, not a retyped name.
A row of 3 Wooly Sheep bottles faced label-out on a shelf, the black labels reading as one band.
Bottles faced label-out on the shelf
02

Packaging

The black 6 x 750ml shipper case with the full lockup, on a wooden pallet.
Shipper case
Close-up of the shipper corner showing black board and a single sheep.
Black board, kraft edge
A bottle in a shipper with a black screwcap printed with a single sheep.
Screwcap: one sheep where three won’t fit
03

In the venue

A 3 Wooly Sheep window poster in a restaurant window, showing the sheep mark above a bottle.
Window poster
A waiter in a black apron printed with the sheep mark, holding a bottle of 3 Wooly Sheep.
Staff apron
A 3 Wooly Sheep campaign card beside a photo of the bottle with oysters and salad.
Campaign cards
A black folded menu and two round coasters with the sheep mark, next to a glass of white wine.
Folded menu and coasters
Outcome

Outcome

The refresh keeps everything that made 3 Wooly Sheep a go-to and gives it the kit to go further: from the case that arrives at the shop to the coaster under the glass. Retailers and venues now work from one set of rules, so the brand looks the same wherever it's sold.

For Febvre, it means a wine people already love can keep showing up in new places without losing what they recognise.

Original sheep mark by Kerrie Judge. Brand refresh, guidelines and rollout by Conor Murtagh.