Château Ksara’s 159-year history in winemaking has been told in many languages around the world. Yet, we preferred to tell its many stories through the creation of a new language: the “Language of Wine,” a complete and exhaustive visual language built around letters, numbers, and collages created from all the elements that make up the world of Château Ksara. The isometric illustrations depict the life during the day and night revolving around three iconic edifices of the land (the Château, the Observatory, and the church). With each letter, digit, and collage, a piece of the story unfolded and revealed a chapter, a character, a hero, and a moment in time at the estate. It isn’t until you collect the different brand items that you could unravel the story of Château Ksara.

To bring the Language of Wine to life, we identified elements such as the Roman influence, the Jesuit heritage, the terroir, the climate, the fauna and flora, the inhabitants of the Bekaa Valley, the winemaking process, and the passage of time. We utilized the hatching illustration technique and a fable-esque storytelling approach, which were both inspired by a tale of French origin where Jesuit missionaries cultivated the first dry wine of Lebanon on Ksara’s land. The illustrations were meticulously crafted into 36 characters and 4 collages. Each letter, digit, and collage told a piece of the story, revealed a chapter, a character, a hero, and a moment in time at the estate. Château Ksara’s brand collaterals were transformed into media for storytelling, whether it was a business card, compliment card, or a gift pack. When collecting the different brand items, one would discover the many stories of Château Ksara.

Château Ksara had an identity crisis and an untold story. The new illustrations created a set of words and images that were rightfully representative of Château Ksara’s heritage, which were ultimately used on all of the brand’s collaterals. Beyond its new identity, Château Ksara was able to create an innovative form of communication within the wine community: a complete and exhaustive visual language built around the Language of Wine. Once a chaotic and inconsistent brand identity, the new brand identity reinforces and re-instates Ksara’s status as a national icon to all major stakeholders.

Through collateral/stationary/packaging or the illustrations on their own, Château Ksara is becoming an attractive player in the ever more competitive local and international wine market.

In order to tell the 159-year-old story of Château Ksara, we didn’t want to simply create a visual universe depicting the elements that make up the land of Chateau Ksara. Instead, we wanted all these elements to serve a greater purpose: the creation of a new typeface that would come to define the Language of Wine. Each letter and digit was designed to tell different stories of the intrinsic relationships between all the different protagonists found on the Ksara land. The isometric illustrations depict the life at night and day revolving around three iconic edifices of the land (the Chateau, the Observatory, and the church). We were transforming these elements from branding elements into collectable pieces, illustrating the deep-rooted legacies they have left behind. As letters and digits merged into sentences, wine consumers and business partners were exposed to a greater number of stories.

Château Ksara is Lebanon's oldest and largest winery which, for more than a century, continues to pioneer the Lebanese winemaking industry. Founded in 1857 by Jesuit Priests, Château Ksara is a national icon today. Its vision is based on three core values: tradition, nobility and modernity, all three of which are reflected within the craft of their 14 wines. They produce over 3 million bottles a year in a saturated local market with over 50 wineries competing. Château Ksara’s former brand image had aged and did not reflect the winery’s rich history and true character. The agency took the initiative to recreate the identity in order to modernize the winery’s image by bringing its rich heritage back to life, thus re-instating the brand’s iconic status in the eyes of Lebanese consumers as well as allowing it to compete abroad against the established household names.