DEAR TEA SOCIETY

Silver Eurobest
TitleDEAR TEA SOCIETY
BrandDEAR TEA SOCIETY
Product/ServiceTEA
Category E02. Drinks
Entrant OPEN STUDIO STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN
Idea Creation OPEN STUDIO STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN
Production OPEN STUDIO STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN
Credits
Name Company Position
Johanna Jöhncke Open Studio Stockholm Production manager
Karin Ahlgren Open Studio Stockholm Designer
Åsa Berg Open Studio Stockholm Account director / Design strategist
Emi Gunér Freelance Copywriter
Johan Damgaard Dear Tea Society Client
Catrin Rudling Dear Tea Society Client / Head of sales
Carolina Pilengrim Dear Tea Society Client
Agneta Pettersson Freelance Architect
Carl Ahlman Freelance Artist
Mimmi Blomqvist Freelance Artist
Sara Bonde Nielsen Freelance Artist
Robin Portnoff Freelance Artist
Ylva Krantz Open Studio Stockholm Designer / Final art

Background

The assignment was to develop a whole new Nordic tea concept that could stand for quality, sustainability, innovation, and traceability - in a playful and different way. A concept that stands out and creates a must-have feeling. The inspiration came from classical tea salons and British member clubs with the twist of something contemporary that makes tea drinking as urban and modern as the barista culture.

Describe the creative idea

Since the brand name did not exist when we got the assignment, our first step in the process was to develop a name. As the founders and employees are total "tea geeks" and extremely knowledgeable in their field, the name “Dear Tea Society” became a playful yet sophisticated brand name. We wanted the company to feel proficient, still inclusive and inviting. Once the name was decided, our creative idea was to create a fictional members club, where every tea has its own personality. Every blend/infusion is personalized with a portrait, a name and an intriguing personal description. Each tea should feel like a fascinating character that you would like to meet in person over a cup of tea.

Describe the execution

We learned about the characteristics of each tea and tried to visualize our characters; who would the tea be if it was a human being? Based on that we went searching for old and new portraits that we thought matched out different “tea personas”. They were named, and an imaginary world was built around each one of them. The member clubs brought our thoughts to studies and libraries, which led us to the book-like packaging design where the products are placed in the shelf with the back outwards for easy reading of the title, sort and flavor. In addition to visual identity, naming and packaging design, we developed a physical meeting place for tea lovers in the form of a showroom//teashop. On the walls we have hung the paintings of the characters from our packages and displayed the products as books in shelfs.

List the results

The Dear Tea Society concept allows the brand to constantly develop and create new members. We managed to create a brand and design that is commercial but still unique in its design. A product that the consumer actually wants to display instead of hiding it in the kitchen cupboard. Our goal was to both create a commercial value for our client and win design prizes. Both accomplished.