Hills Appeal
A blend with purpose
Hills Appeal was a pro bono wine label created to support the Adelaide Hills Wine Region after the 2019 bushfires, which destroyed nearly 30% of vineyard plantings. Twenty-one winemakers contributed to a limited 2019 Syrah Meunier, with all proceeds reinvested into the fire-affected community.
Client Adelaide Hills Wine Region
Services Naming, Concept Development and Packaging Design
Credits
Agency • Liquid Ideas
Photography • Steven Woodburn
The Challenge
The brief was to design a label that acknowledged the gravity of the moment without dwelling on loss. Instead of focusing on devastation, the visual direction needed to feel hopeful, forward-looking and celebratory of the region’s strength.
The Approach
The identity was built around a more hopeful reading of the Adelaide Hills landscape. Rather than referencing fire directly, the design used abstract contour forms to suggest growth, movement and renewal.
Working within a condensed timeline, the label was developed through focused rounds of refinement, balancing bold visual impact with simplicity to ensure strong shelf presence. The final design was supported by launch imagery and media rollout as part of Liquid Ideas’ broader earned media campaign.
Brand Expression
The visual identity translates the landscape into undulating bands of colour, giving the label a sense of energy, continuity and collective momentum. A palette of lavender-blue and pink creates an optimistic tone, steering the story away from literal fire imagery while keeping the work connected to the region’s terrain.
The distressed typography adds a human, imperfect quality, balancing the boldness of the label with the emotional context behind the project. Across bottle photography and campaign assets, the identity was designed to feel hopeful, visible and easy to recognise, supporting the fundraising message with warmth, clarity and restraint.
The Result
A total of 10,800 bottles were produced, with proceeds supporting grape growers, winemakers and vineyard owners impacted by the fires. The wine was recognised not only for its quality, but for the collective generosity behind its creation — multiple producers donating barrels to form a unified blend.
The optimistic visual identity reframed the narrative from loss to solidarity, positioning Hills Appeal as both a fundraising initiative and a symbol of community strength within the Australian wine industry.
