Aigerim Zhumabayeva - MA Graphic Design and Art Direction
Synetaste: Colours of Flavour
As a graphic designer, I wanted to investigate synaesthesia, which became a central theme during my MA course. Drawing on my previous experience as a freelance designer in the HoReCa sector, particularly with restaurants and bars, I sought to reimagine my everyday design practice in a more experimental way. My initial aspirations for this project stemmed from an earlier unit, where I explored The Colour of Pomegranates and began developing a restaurant identity. During that process, the idea of wine packaging first emerged as a promising direction.
In my view, wine drinking has traditionally been tied to aesthetics and refinement, often staged in languorous settings where participants are elegantly dressed. Rather than contributing to conventional branding, I wanted to challenge these perceptions and show that wine tasting does not need to feel complicated or elitist. Instead, I envisioned it as something simple, sensory and even playful.
Inspired by synaesthesia, I aimed to translate flavours into colours and shapes. One strong influence was Wong Kar-wai’s In the Mood for Love, where costumes function as an extension of character emotions and contribute to the film’s visual storytelling. Rewatching it made me realise that materials themselves carry meaning. This inspired me to use silk for packaging, symbolising wines with smooth and soft qualities. Extending my research into textiles, I also explored furoshiki, the Japanese wrapping cloth, as a versatile and eco-friendly approach to packaging.
My project therefore focuses on reinterpreting traditional wine labels, stripping away unnecessary complexity and reimagining them through abstract, minimal forms. To begin, I observed wine shelves in both supermarkets and boutiques, photographing and analysing how labels function as communication tools. From this, I developed an initial system that balances logic with abstraction, aiming to remain flexible and adaptable across formats while leaving space for open interpretation.
