Post by Make a Mark™

Identity begins with the land beneath your feet. Based in Mendoza, Argentina, NAS - Nano Alfonsin Studio is a creative practice rooted in the cultural and natural identity of wine. Their contribution to Make a Mark draws its name from the Huarpe language: Tehul, meaning what happens beneath the earth. In the Uco Valley, the character of Malbec is born not only from the grape but from mineral-rich, alluvial soils shaped over centuries. This project honors that origin, celebrating the unseen foundations that give wine its voice. Tehul is a gesture of respect for roots, for culture, for everything that quietly supports what we taste. Creating a design that makes visible what is normally hidden required treating the entire bottle as a sculptural surface: - The Unearthed Form: ESTAL engineered a bottle with continuous topographic textures inspired by underground strata of stone, soil, and root, transforming the vessel into an artifact that feels excavated rather than manufactured. - The Foundational Layer: Avery Dennison provided Fasson® Cotton Touch Craft FSC®, positioned deep at the base to symbolize the silent architect of terroir, featuring metallic doming, digital screen printing, and debossing that evoke the rough mineral quality of earth. - The Cultural Memory: LEONHARD KURZ applied KURZ LUXOR® SPOT METAL 318, LUXOR® SPOT METAL 377 to bind the concept to ancestral wisdom, with Huarpe language inscribed at the bottom, reconnecting with the Indigenous worldview that earth is not just ground, but memory, meaning, and life. Tehul invites us not just to look, but to look beneath. The design wraps the form in layers that transcend the surface, revealing the essence of place through graphic clarity, tactile exploration, and emotional depth. Explore what lies beneath: https://lnkd.in/gcKvBzJ2