SheLeaf - "Victoria" Black Tea Illustration by Mariam Gogiashvili

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I’m Mariam Gogiashvili, a visual artist and designer based in Tbilisi, Georgia. My practice centers around illustration and storytelling, and I work across branding, editorial, gifs, and posters. I love mixing digital media with hand-drawn elements and try to experiment with each project — always looking for ways to try something new.While my style shifts depending on the project, it’s consistent in the things I’m drawn to: patterns, textured layers, vivid colors, and character-focused visuals. I like working with mood and emotion, often including subtle symbolic details inspired by the project’s theme or personal memories.

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This project is part of a larger collaboration with SheLeaf - a Georgian tea brand that honors the unseen labor of women in tea production, especially in Georgia’s western villages. Each tea in their collection is personified as a unique female character, designed to reflect the flavor’s spirit and story. Victoria represents their black tea blend - rich, bold, and full of depth. The goal was to bring her to life through an illustration that embodies elegance, strength, and timeless femininity.

The task was to create Victoria, the character for SheLeaf’s black tea. I was given a few visual references for general mood, but I had full freedom to shape the concept, develop the character, and use my own illustration style. The only direction was that the illustration should reflect the personality of black tea — as I understood and felt it. I even chose to draw in a style I hadn’t used before, which made the process more experimental and personal.

This illustration was inspired by archival photographs of Georgian tea plantations from the 1980s - especially images of women in the Guria region wearing beautifully patterned dresses. Even in black and white, their clothing stood out with boldness and detail, creating a striking contrast against the soft, layered tea fields. That visual tension deeply shaped the atmosphere of Victoria. I often use patterns in my work, and for this piece, I introduced a new one that felt rooted in those references while staying true to my personal style.

In the illustration, Victoria is a character not tied to any specific culture, but instead expresses the core qualities of black tea: strength, calm, and quiet elegance. Her outfit - a simple peasant-style shirt and a patterned hat - reflects the balance between everyday simplicity and expressive beauty. A bird at her side represents the quiet inner freedom she carries - a symbol of presence and self-possession.

Alongside the illustration, I developed a visual guide to support the rest of SheLeaf’s tea characters. While each woman’s personality, colors, bird species, and even the weather around her will change to reflect the unique mood of the tea she represents, the overall composition remains consistent. Every character wears a version of the same hat, has a signature piece of fabric, and stands in a landscape that mirrors the spirit of her blend - creating a unified but diverse visual identity for the brand.

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