I had the great opportunity to work with the South Korean government and a group of students, to help out with their wine campaign. Suul is Korean for rice wine and is the Korean version of Sake. They were looking for international designers to work with a few Suul breweries to come up with new concept designs for wine bottles. After they were completed, more than half of the designs were selected to be shown in the International Suul Conference showcase in November 2018 in Seoul, South Korea.
These were the concepts that I designed for the rice wines.
Makoli - Milky white color wine. Unfiltered Suul.
Chongju - Yellow transparent wine. Somewhat filtered.
Soju - Clear as glass. Distilled Suul.
Water Dance - A delicate approach designed to fit the taste of the sweet Makoli wine. I watercolor painted a graceful Korean woman dressed in a Hanbok in soft feminine colors to capture the soft and fruity flavor.
Hello - Water color painting of a Butterfly on a hibiscus flower to fit the sweet and fruity flavor of the Chongju.
Vixen - Chose the design of a fox with a back story that people looking to buy a bottle would be intrigued. For this tart and tangy Chongju, a fox design felt fitting to capture the essence of the drink.
Paper Tiger - Using a traditional folk art approach, a white tiger suits the milky white color of the Makoli.
Stroll - A Korean style Dragon fits the fiery strong taste of this Soju.
Sol + Eclipse - These Chongju wines are sold as a pair, so the design contrast each other. Phoenix for Sol which represents the South while Eclipse represents the North with the turtle and snake.
A Letter - A magpie is holding a sacred scroll in its beak. The neck of the bottle is designed to look like the scroll with a silky ribbon tied around it to complete the whole design.
Three Piglets - For this Soju, three little pigs are seen hopping over a fence that also represents the roman numeral III.
초롱이 - Korean for Lantern. A more visual element to compliment the matte black bottle.
Sonamu - Korean for Pine Tree. A minimal design with a subtle Pine tree element in the first character.
One of the designs was used for a gallery exhibit banner at Korea University.