About Us - Experts in Alcohol Beverage Branding

Strategic branding that invites trial, reinforces quality, and assists recall.

For nearly 50 years, CF Napa Brand Design has set the standard for alcohol beverage branding. Led by Owner & Creative Principal David Schuemann for the past 22 years, we focus on translating brand ethos visually, never using a one size fits all approach for projects. The result is a bespoke solution rooted in strategy and, most importantly, a design that sells.

CF Napa’s expertise lies in the intricacies of our process—from project conception to conclusion, our team brings a strategic yet thoughtful eye
to every detail. We understand the market and target audiences on a global stage. We balance listening with leading to execute a design that
the client loves, and the consumer buys again and again.

Experts in alcohol beverage branding.
50 years of experience creating strategic solutions.
Materials & sourcing experts, with best-in-class vendor relationships.

Our Philosophy

Drink With Your Eyes®

As humans, we make countless decisions based on sensory information available to us - so much so that we may not even realize it. In the aisles of stores, when we are not afforded all our senses, we make choices based on looks alone.

This is our foundational belief at CF Napa Brand Design. Visuals profoundly impact the decision making process and consumer perception, especially where alcohol beverages are concerned. We drink with our eyes.

Capabilities

We develop strategies that set your brand’s foundation and envision your North Star — connecting mission, brand promise, and your consumer.

Brand Auditing & Alignment
Portfolio Tiering
Pricing Strategy
New Brand Launch
Existing Brand Repositioning

Explore Brand Strategy

We design packaging that make brands impossible to ignore and write stories that make them impossible to forget.

Consumer Segment Identification
Market Opportunity Analysis
Brand Alignment
Analysis of Competitive Set
Brand Voice
Brand Ethos
Brand Visualization & Activation

Explore Story Development

Your brand name is the introduction to your brand’s personality — it forges an emotional connection and assists consumer recall.

Explore Naming

Your logo, whether a symbol or a wordmark, is totally unique to your brand, and effectively communicates your ethos in the blink of an eye.

Logos
Icons
Wordmarks

Explore Logos

Your packaging tells your story visually — our strategic approach to design ensures the final solution captures the personality of the brand and relates your brand to your target consumer’s lifestyle.

Label Design
Package Design
Capsule & Closure Design
Production Coordination

Explore Packaging

We know the perfect bottle marries form and function – we create custom bottles that are beautiful yet thoughtful, strategic yet sleek.

Custom Structures
Custom Glassware
Custom Bottles
Factory Coordination & Communication

Explore Custom Bottles

From brochures to stationery systems to POS, we create supporting materials that stay true to your brand and communicate brand messaging clearly and effectively.

Case Cards
Hang Tags
Tasting Sheets
Sell Sheets
Shelf Talkers
Billboards
Stationery & Business Cards
Specialty Items

Explore Print

Your digital brand presence is as important as your physical presence – let us help you make your online footprint the best it can be.

Website Design & Programming
Ecommerce Integration
Launch Coordination
Ongoing Support
Email Template Creation & Coordination
Social Media Templates
Bottle Shots

Explore Digital

Team

With decades of combined experience in alcohol beverage strategy and design, our team sets the standard for excellence industrywide. Our sense of humor matches our sense of urgency and dedication to the brands we service. No matter what, our primary focus is to deliver amazing work that will make our clients hugely successful and profitable for years to come.

Wildly talented and exceptionally creative, our designers focus on finding the strategy & design that best fits each individual client.

Our account team brings years of client service and agency experience to every project, along with the energy, empathy, and resources it takes to drive projects and provide solutions no matter the challenge. Our production department brings over a decade of experience developing flawless final deliverables that allow for seamless production and execution.

David Schuemann

Owner/Creative Principal

Growing up in Southern Wisconsin, David Schuemann always knew he wanted to be a designer. After earning his BFA in Graphic Design at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, Schuemann began his career in Minneapolis, Minnesota where he was a designer for a record label and later a design director for one of the largest marketing agencies in the world. In the year 2000 he moved across the country to San Francisco, where he worked for a large branding agency at which he directed the rebranding of Fortune 500 companies including a large airline and corporate identities. With the dream to marry his passions for wine, beer, and spirits with brand design, he joined CF Napa as Creative Director in 2001. A year later in 2002 he purchased the firm and has since led CF Napa to become one of the world’s preeminent brand agencies specializing in the alcohol beverage industry. Under his leadership, CF Napa has created some of the fastest-growing and most successful alcohol brands in the world. The firm’s work has earned international recognition from nearly every major design competition in the world, is regularly showcased on numerous design blogs, and has been showcased in some of the most prestigious museums, including the Museum of Modern Art. CF Napa’s work is also part of the permanent collection at the Cooper Hewitt Design Museum at the Smithsonian in New York City and the permanent collection of the American Design Archives at the Denver Art Museum. Schuemann authored “99 Bottles of Wine, The Making of the Contemporary Wine Label”. The book offers a behind-the-scenes look at how creative packaging and innovative design at CF Napa drive some of today’s most successful wine brands. Schuemann writes regularly for numerous periodicals including a quarterly column for Artisan Spirits Magazine and is an alcohol industry thought leader, with regular speaking engagements at industry conferences worldwide (Download David Schuemann’s Speaker Resume).

Clients