Judy Olsen Design

04/26/2026

Had an amazing time at the grand reopening of this stunning winery! Not only did I get to see my labels in person, but the wine was incredible and the views were breathtaking ☺️. If you're a wine lover, you need to add this spot to your list, especially if you're near Purcellville!

01/11/2025

I’ve been very quiet on here this past year. It has been one of the most difficult years of my life and as a result, the end of an era. I have given up my office space outside my home and moved everything back into my home office. Last summer I took a full-time job as Marketing Director with one of my clients—ash salon + spa. I am still doing some freelance work on the side, however, and this change has been so good for me.

A lot of factors when into making the decision to step away from my own gig and I am a firm believer in everything happens for a reason. Not long after I started my new job my father started to go downhill. This past year was full of helping to care for him (and my mom), working, and then dealing with a cancer diagnosis for my husband. Not having to think about landing new clients and all the things that go along with running your own business during that super, super stressful time was truly a godsend. Add to that the support that all my new coworkers provided and, well, I really don’t think I would have gotten through this past year without them all. They made me laugh at times I really needed to, gave me other things to focus on, and lots of hugs.

Cont’d in comments

01/05/2023

Sometimes there is equity in a design that is hard to walk away from. In this case, customers referred to Horton’s chardonnay as “black cat chardonnay” and we didn’t want to totally walk away from that element (swipe for the before). But, we definitely needed to update the label to something more modern and contemporary.

In addition to a new design, we switched from a metallic film to an uncoated paper stock for a more classic feel.

If you are a cat person, you know this look well and likely would at least pick this bottle up and give it a try.
We always say, “Your packaging can sell your first bottle of wine, your winemaker sells the second.”

01/03/2023

Packaging is where you can pull all your design cues together to tell your story and create the all-important feelings about your brand. It’s a huge part of your brand strategy—and if it’s not then it should be.

Packaging can sway a customer to try a brand they might not be familiar with. This is particularly true in the alcoholic beverage category, where customers often purchase based on price point and design cues. It’s important that the contents of your packaging live up to the brand expectations you set with your visuals.

How often do you buy something based on its packaging? Let us know in the comments.

11/04/2022

We are proud to announce that we have won two 2022 Davey Awards 🏆Both of them are for the same client, Doukenie Winery, for parts of their brand refresh.

Doukenie Winery was established in 1985 when they planted their first grapes—and it was time for a brand refresh. A few things stood out when we met about their project. 1) There is a dominant silo right outside the tasting room and winery. 2) Acres and acres of vines cover the grounds and appear to go right up to the base of the mountains surrounding the property 3) Their greek heritage and the story of Doukenie are an important part of their heritage they didn’t want to completely walk away from.

These things all influenced their new branding and package design. We developed three tiers of labels with custom capsules as well as a new logo and brand marks. The rows of vines leading up to the mountains appear on their second-tier labels as well as one of their brand marks. We incorporated a subtle nod to their Greek heritage in the new logo. We echoed the wide strips in the Greek flag (also on the silo) in the letter E in their logo and also echoed the shape of the silo in the N.

The new packaging won a gold award and the brand identity won a silver award.

10/05/2022

The Economic Development Department of Fauquier County came to us for a rebrand because their old identity just wasn’t working. It wasn’t reflecting who the county is and the opportunities for businesses that exist there. One of the largest counties in the state of Virginia, the roadside welcome sign says “ A business friendly agricultural community”.

The first step was to have a meeting and get at the root of the problem and to zero in on what the important attributes of doing business in the county are. We landed on open spaces, quality of life, history, and opportunity. The logo we came up with marries the agricultural, historical and business/lifestyle elements in the skyline image and the tagline pulls in the idea of space to grow and the open spaces that contribute to the more relaxed lifestyle the county offers.

Swipe to see the before logo and tagline and let us know what you think.

Want to know if you might need a rebrand or a brand refresh? Take the quiz on our website (link in bio) and find out.

09/16/2022

Trying to get back into sharing on this platform after a long hiatus—not a conscious one…just busy.

Let’s start with a brand refresh. What is a brand refresh? It’s an evolution of a brand—in this case, like going from being a blonde to being a redhead.

In 2021 Ash Salon was ready for a brand refresh. It was time to leave the millennial pink and hunter green behind! The interior of the salon was getting an update as well so we wanted to update everything else at the same time. We kept the timeless black and white in the logo, adding new supporting colors. Then we overhauled their website and all of the print materials—rack cards, gift cards, business cards, and club cards in their new colors.

Is your branding still working for you? Find out by taking the free quiz on our website at the link in our bio.

04/20/2022

I feel this quote on a deep level 😅. No, seriously. Lately I’ve had discussions with people about “my style” and while I don’t like to think I necessarily have a style, I have to admit that more often than not it would be described as clean and simple. Even my more involved designs, usually for packaging, still have an approach that embraces information hierarchy and organization.

Design simplicity means presenting visual elements so as to minimize clutter and let the user/consumer focus on what is the most important. But how do you know what is most important? Sometimes the client tells us, but a lot of times we deem what is most important to the consumer because we know who that consumer is.

Simple doesn’t mean without thought or purpose. Not even close. A lot of thought goes into developing a design that appears simple yet has purpose. Think about some of the top brands that embrace simplicity—apple, Starbucks, FedEx, Netflix, to name a few. What do you first think of and how do you respond to those brands. I mean, is there a better feeling than holding the swoon worthy packaging for a brand new apple product in your hands?

11/24/2021

One of two awards we won in the 2021 American Graphic Design Awards from (a total of four this year!). This one is for branding for Rappahannock County, Virginia. We developed a versatile logo system, tagline and website as part of this project. See more at our website link in bio.

07/28/2021