John Oliver‘s signature red wine nearly had a decidedly pink label.
Bill Mayer, the award-winning illustrator who conceived of and designed the label for “Cabernet SauvignJohn,” has shared a look at his creative process—including some alternate label ideas.
The California wine, produced in collaboration with the team at HBO’s Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, went on sale November 3, following Oliver’s on-air reveal of the charity fundraiser .
Less than 24 hours after Oliver announced the release of “Cabernet SauvignJohn,” the limited-edition cab sold through its entire online inventory. Proceeds from the sale—$50,000 in total—were donated to 16 food banks across California.
Mayer in his gallery’s blog says that assignment was to create a wine label for John Oliver’s Cabernet SauvignJohn “with some pretty hilarious subtext,” as evidenced by the back label (seen in the photo gallery below).
For the front illustration, Mayer entertained some “obvious explorations” including Oliver “in a toga ready for a Greek Bacchanalian orgy,” the Last Week Tonight host as “a silly pink unicorn,” and what turned out to be the final concept, “John as a horse.”
“I’m not sure if the horse really looked like John, but it was super funny,” Mayer noted.
Mayer was also responsible for an accompanying image used to promote the wine’s sale on CabernetSauvignJohn.com.
“They wanted John and the Horse to be on a sort of date after the photoshoot/successful product launch,” Mayer explained. “We thought it would be really funny if John was way more into the date than the horse was.
“This was a little tricky to get right,” the illustrator acknowledged, “but overall I’m really happy with how it turned out.”
In closing, Mayer offered “big, big thanks” to Last Week Tonight EP Jeremy Tchaban and the HBO series’ art team, “and to John Oliver for putting together such a fantastic show, and more and more, not being afraid to speak truth to power.”
The on-air unveiling of “Cabernet SauvignJohn” came at the end of a segment in which Oliver explored the long history of celebrity wine ventures, from Orson Welles’ drunken Paul Masson ad shoots to a 1990 instructional VHS titled The Celebrity Guide to Wine, featuring then-spouses Steven Seagal and Kelly LeBrock, to MacLachlan’s Washington winery, Pursued by Bear.
Review illustrator Bill Mayer’s early sketches, alternate labels, and final artwork in the slideshow below; visit TheBillMayer.com for more of his work.
Label concept (toga)
What a perfect choice for the artist and what a fun project!