Schwartz has delved even deeper the phenomenon of synesthesia in the latest iteration of 'The Sound of Taste' campaign – this time exploring another of the five senses, ‘touch’.

To demonstrate the effect that herbs and spices have on the senses, Schwartz have created an interactive poster that uses innovative ‘touch sensitive’ inks to turn the surface area of the paper into an interactive interface. 

“We've basically created an app that's made out of paper. Pair the poster with a smartphone or tablet via Bluetooth, and your device effectively becomes a mobile speaker. 16 different herbs and spices have been translated into musical chords and the conductive inks on this poster enable you explore those sounds with your fingers. We thought this would be a great way to dramatise flavour, something that is silent and invisible”, says Andy Lockley, Creative Director at Grey London, the creative agency behind the poster.

Conceptual Illustrator Billie Jean was invited to create a visual articulation of what taste might look like. Each herb and spice depicted in the artwork was assigned a musical chord matching its flavour characteristic. For example, cumin became E flat major, chilli was ascribed A flat major and fennel was characterised by a higher-pitched F minor.

When the artwork is touched, different chords are triggered to create a symphony of flavours.

Grey London collaborated with experimental print technology collective Novalia, who developed the interactive inks and software.

“Conductive ink is a prototype technology that puts the same type of capitative touch screen you have in a smart phone or tablet into plain old paper –effectively breathing new life into what many believe is a dying medium. Schwartz is the first brand to use this technology in a commercial application”, explained Kate Stone, founder of Novalia.

The posters have been developed to form part of a trade launch to promote Schwartz Flavour Shots, an innovative new range of herb and spice blends, to retailers.

Credits

Client: Schwartz

Creative Agency: Grey London

Chief Creative Officer: Nils Leonard

Creative Director: Andy Lockley

Art Directors: Andy Lockley / Andy Garnett

Copywriter: Dan Cole

Creative Producers: Georgie Moran / Lucy Dunn

Managing Partner: Philippa Baldwin

Business Director: Camilla Ashenhurst

Account Manager: Lucy Gregory

Account Executive: Rowenna Trevellyan

Original Music: MJ Cole / Soho Music.

Sound design: Holly Clancey 

Illustration: Billie Jean

Illustration agent: Agency Rush

Typography: Alex Camacho

Design: Joe Towsey / Jessica Tibbles

Print Production / software developer: Novalia