Simia Vintner

Simia Vintner is a conceptual wine brand that celebrates character, storytelling, and the joy of visual identity. The project explores how illustration and branding can work together to turn a product into a personality - using humour, nostalgia, and tactile design to create a wine label that feels alive.

At its centre are three hand-drawn monkeys: an orangutan, a chimpanzee , and a blonde gibbon. Each was first drawn in crayon and later digitally dressed in Photoshop, giving the illustrations a raw, layered quality that blends childlike energy with refinement.

The brand’s visual style draws inspiration from Murray Ball’s Footrot Flats, Dorothy Wall’s Blinky Bill, and the bold, thick-lined artwork of Gary Taxali — artists who share a warmth and humanity that shaped the project’s tone. Every design choice was guided by the desire to make wine branding feel approachable, expressive, and story-driven rather than polished or pretentious.

Simia Vintner is not about commercial production but about concept — an experiment in personality-led branding. It asks how illustration, typography, and tone can come together to make something you’d want to display on your shelf just as much as you’d want to drink.