When a Visual Language Catches On

A personal reflection on branding, place, and influence.

There’s something quietly powerful about seeing the look and feel you created begin to ripple outward.

A few years ago, I had the honour of developing a fresh branding direction for Heaven’s Gate Estate Winery in Summerland. We weren’t just designing labels—we were telling a story. One rooted in sunlight, land, lake, and memory.

I don’t often write about my own influence, but in this case, the visual overlap felt worth exploring. Not from a place of ownership, but from one of curiosity—and quiet pride in how ideas can take root and grow beyond the original design.

In 2020, I created a minimalist, wave-inspired label for one of their sparkling wines—an abstract interpretation of the Summerland landscape in warm, layered tones. That label went on to shape much of the winery’s seasonal marketing and visual voice, and introduced a colour palette and curved line motif that would later become familiar to the region in more ways than one.

Heaven's Gate Winery Sparkling Gamay label designed in 2020.

Then, in 2021, I illustrated a fully custom design for their Gamay Nouveau release: a hot air balloon floating over vineyards, peachy hillsides, and the iconic cliffs that overlook the lake. What many don’t know is that this label contains seven hidden bears—a quiet, symbolic detail woven into the landscape.

Unreleased label illustrated design in 2021

That number wasn’t random: seven is my favourite number, and also my birthday. It’s a number I return to often, and in this piece, it became a personal signature tucked into a public story. The bears themselves honour the real-life visitors to the vineyard that season—a black bear and her cubs who took shelter in the very block where the Gamay was grown. Harvest happened while they slept, and the wine became a symbol of timing, trust, and respecting the rhythm of the land.

What makes these designs truly mine—beyond the timeline or colour choices—is the emotional and symbolic intent behind them. The Gamay Nouveau label wasn’t just an illustration. It was a story: of bears sleeping through harvest, of a valley I know by heart, of hiding seven bears to quietly honour my own birthday. Every detail came from connection—geography, memory, rhythm.

The sparkling wine label I created the year before was different—quieter, more abstract—but equally intentional. I leaned into minimalism, trusting colour and form to hold emotion. The soft wave lines weren’t trend-driven; they were the land and the lake, simplified. They were restraint and reverence.

That’s where the integrity lives. These weren’t just wine labels. They were visual love letters to Summerland, written in curves and colour.

Though the Gamay Nouveau label hasn’t been released yet, it remains one of the clearest pieces I’ve ever drawn for this region—layered with meaning, memory, and a bit of magic.

And that visual language didn’t stop at the label. Since 2020, the colours and tones from those early designs have rippled into Heaven’s Gate’s social media, shaping its presence across seasons. As their content manager, I’ve continued to evolve that aesthetic—carrying the same warmth, vibrancy, and sense of place into every post, campaign, and image shared.

Heaven's Gate Winery's Instagram

So when Destination Summerland’s new tourism branding launched—and I saw familiar strokes: softened corals and teals, sun shapes, curved lines—I paused.

It felt so close.

So familiar.

But then I realized: it’s a compliment.

Creative work—when it’s done with clarity and intention—tends to echo. It means the heart I poured into those labels and campaigns wasn’t just good design. It connected. It helped shape a broader visual story about what Summerland feels like—and what kind of memories people hold here.

This isn’t about ownership.

It’s about influence.

About recognizing that branding, at its best, becomes part of the identity of a place.

So if the work I created helped inspire others to build something beautiful for this community I love—then I’m proud. Not possessive. Not bitter. Just proud.

Because this is what I do. I listen closely. I notice the light. I translate feeling into form.

And sometimes, that translation becomes a language others want to speak, too.

You can view Destination Summerland’s new branding here if you’re curious to see how the regional aesthetic is evolving.

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Want to collaborate? I work with wineries, small businesses, and creative entrepreneurs who want branding that’s thoughtful, artful, and full of heart.

Let’s build something beautiful, together.