Margate-based studio Outsiders has conjured up a new identity for Supernatural – a natural wine brand “not of this earth” – with monster-like wax seals that glow in the dark and tongue-in-cheek storytelling.
Supernatural wine – dreamt up by Palms Pizzeria founders Stu and Josh – has been brought to life by Margate studio Outsiders, with a brand that’s full of folklore, mischief, and myth. It takes the world of natural wine (usually drenched in minimalism and soil references) and flips it upside down, culminating in a small-batch label that’s fun, eerie, and beautifully crafted, with bottles that glow after dark.
“The founders came to us with the idea for a natural wine called Supernatural,” says Outsiders co-founder Tom Lovell. “From the start, they wanted something that stood out and had a sense of irreverence.
“We all agreed there was already some fantastic design in this category, so how do you stand out? We wanted people to be immediately drawn to it when they saw it on the shelf and to leave them with a smile.”
From its witty tagline (“a natural wine brand not of this earth”) to the ghostly wax-sealed tops that double as glow-in-the-dark curiosities, the desire to be different is visible through every touchpoint. It’s a brand built on contradiction, as it’s both handmade and otherworldly.
“For us, that tagline captured the central tension in the brand idea,” says Tom Rogers, the studio’s other co-founder. “Natural wine is often described through its connection to the soil, sun, and ancient process. What’s the exact opposite of that? The line summed it up perfectly.”
Outsiders’ approach to Supernatural was grounded in the question of how you make someone pick up your bottle out of the hundreds on a dimly lit shelf. Their answer was to think beyond the label.
“We quickly realised that the neck and top of the bottle are, for the most part, completely left alone,” says Lovell. “Everyone focuses on the base label, but why aren’t people playing with the other 50% of the bottle? We were excited to see if that area could become an owned asset.”
That discovery led to Supernatural’s signature feature – its wax seals. When cooled, the wax forms eerie, organic shapes, each one slightly different, like a ghost trapped in motion. “There’s a strange, ghostly energy to it,” Rogers says. “That quality felt like the perfect bridge between the handcrafted and the supernatural.”
Of course, no supernatural story is complete without a glow-in-the-dark moment. “We’re all from the Goosebumps generation,” says Lovell. “Nothing says supernatural quite like something glowing in the dark.
“We loved the idea of these bottles living in kitchens and, when the lights are switched off, a tiny ghost floating on the shelf.”
Each bottle in the collection has its own personality, from the gothic red to the ghostly white and the Frankenstein-green Pet Nat. “We wanted each to embody its own genre,” says Rogers. “A red naturally felt gothic, a white became ghostly, and the green worked perfectly for Frankenstein.
“When you wax-seal a bottle cap, it even gives Frankenstein his hairline, which felt too good not to lean into.”
The duo’s background in fashion and product design also shaped their approach, as evidenced by Supernatural’s design as an object of desire. “We were aiming for a sense of collectability, something you’d want two of: one to drink and one to keep,” says Lovell. “Ideally, you’d want the whole set.”
For all the humour and character, there’s no shortage of craft. The studio worked with StickerWizard to create glossy relief labels, giving each bottle a tactile, high-end finish. “At no point did we want the wit to come at the cost of communicating that it’s a beautiful, low-batch natural wine,” says Rogers. “We worked hard on the craft and execution so that, although it’s playful, it still feels aware and design-led.”
Technically, the project was as demanding as it was inventive. The team spent weeks figuring out how to get character faces onto the wax. “For a long time we thought it wasn’t going to work,” says Lovell. “Then Tom had a moment of inspiration and tested one of his kid’s temporary tattoos on a bottle of whisky he had at home. It worked perfectly.”
Even the wax itself is an innovation. “I think we can claim that as an Outsiders’ invention,” Rogers says. “Mixing pigments with wax very specifically to make it glow correctly whilst still reading as white in the light.”
Supernatural’s first three releases – Ghost (white), Vampire (red), and Frankenstein (green Pet Nat) – have already built a cult following, but the brand’s world is still expanding. “The concept grows stronger with each release,” says Lovell. “There’s an alien-inspired skin-contact wine coming soon, and from there we’ll keep branching into the paranormal, fantasy, and magical.”
The studio and founders are now exploring new extensions, from glow-in-the-dark candles that fit into the bottles to ghostly gift wraps. “There are so many ways to keep building Supernatural as a brand and a product universe, not just a wine,” says Rogers.
At its core, Supernatural speaks to a new kind of wine drinker – one as interested in design and storytelling as they are in tannins and terroir. “They value quality, authenticity, and originality,” says Lovell. “For them, the experience matters just as much as the taste.”
If one thing is certain, it’s that the experience of Supernatural wines feels truly out of this world.
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