JAS.BRANDS

Saf Qymyz is an exploration of how traditional kymyz could look if translated from oral culture into a contemporary visual context.

A drink with a rich history, described by European travelers of the 13th century as “the white wine of the steppe,” still has no stable modern form. It exists either in a “rustic” aesthetic — plastic bottles, handmade labels, word-of-mouth distribution — or as a restaurant ritual for tourists. Between these poles there is a gap: for a young urban consumer, it’s difficult to see kymyz as a drink that fits naturally into everyday city life.

This is where the conceptual task appears: to imagine what a new kymyz product could look like if it spoke the visual language of today while maintaining its connection to tradition.

Purity as the starting point

The word saf in Kazakh means “pure.” In the context of this concept, it becomes a framework: pure taste, pure origin, pure visual logic.
We recognize terroir — Katon-Karagay as one of the cleanest ecological regions — as a truthful reference to where the drink could come from.

Tradition and modernity on a single visual plane

The visual system is built on simple elements: neutral colors, large shapes, and a rhythm closer to contemporary minimalism than to familiar ethnographic references.
The concept suggests that a traditional drink can exist within a clean, urban visual language without losing its cultural depth.

The can format as an exploration of new consumption

The aluminum can is a hypothesis: kymyz becoming a ready-to-drink product — mobile, quickly chilled, available in the moment.

This shift changes not only the form but the entire scenario of consumption: a drink you can take with you, open with friends, and integrate into the pace of contemporary life.

Form as the symbol of a shared drink

The graphic elements on the can are built from the silhouettes of kese — traditional bowls used for kymyz.
We used a double form deliberately. Two kese — two people. A gesture of sharing, which lies at the heart of the cultural ritual: pour a little, drink together, leave space for conversation.

In this concept, the idea becomes a pair of semicircles repeating around the can — a symbol of shared drinking embedded in a contemporary geometric language.

Why this concept

Kymyz is rarely presented in industrial packaging; more often, it lives through personal exchanges and local distribution. This concept explores the possibility of a new format: a drink that remains traditional yet receives a visual and functional form that makes sense to today’s consumer.

At its core, the SAF concept tries to answer a simple question: how can an ancient drink become part of modern culture?