INSPIRATION: UMIKI blended pure desalinated filtered ocean water with Japanese ocean side distilled malt whiskies and whiskies in reserve. After finishing its curation in Japanese pine barrels. This sustainable process gave its own whiskey name UMIKI whereby UMI means OCEAN, KI means TREE. The ocean is known as the source of life and the ever-green pine tree is seen as the symbol of life in Japan. So the design inspired by the combination of these immortal values for Japanese.

UNIQUE PROPERTIES / PROJECT DESCRIPTION: UMIKI has a soul that comes from the heart of nature. In this project, mainly inspiration was UMIKI’s unique sustainable process. As UMIKI does, the design also highlighted this harmony between ocean and tree and put this special synergy into the heart of the bottle: Tree aged lines are combined with ocean water ripples. Logo design is reflecting this as well: There are ocean waves under the pine’s lines. While creating the logo has been encouraged by -Japanese alphabet scripts- kanji letters.

OPERATION/FLOW/INTERACTION: UMIKI is a sustainable whisky which benefited from only pure ocean water for blending. When the bottle is held, it is certain that experiencers will feel that the design is committed to share the value of living in harmony with our beautiful planet through the life time of UMIKI. The box and the label are also produced from sustainable materials. The brand and the design meet in the same ideology and gives the same message: We should remember that We owe to the nature&the world and respect them all the time.

RESEARCH ABSTRACT: Many drink brands started to transform into eco-friendly brands. Eco-packaging also being introduced into more products. This is not a trend. It is a fact that the world is exhausted to be used its natural resources very fast. The design with sustainable materials reminds the source of life. Blue color from ocean, light brown from pine trees and white color from purity in design are wisely combined to show how UMIKI is produced.

THE CREATIVE RESEARCH CHALLENGE: Ground waters and natural resources are generally used in the whiskey sector. UMIKI is the first brand in the world that takes desalinated filtered ocean water and then transformed as drinkable and finished in pine barrels. While creating the brand design, this eco-friendly process brightened the creative idea. Both considering the brand’s philosophy and working for the social responsibility awareness motivated to blend the ocean and pine trees
in design. It was very important to stick to the Japanese minimalist design approach as well.