Spirit Tea
Designer | Citron Design [Jennifer James Wright, Alice Du] and Stacy Redhead [staff designer]
Location | Chicago, IL, USA
There’s a saying in tea that you should only fill a teacup two-thirds full; the remaining third is for the feelings, identities and desires of those present. There was no reflection of the identity and feelings of our tea in the previous branding: monochrome, sans serif and stark. The inception for this rebrand was to convey the warmth, sincerity, and authenticity of those who comprise Spirit Tea. We worked with Citron, a brand design studio led by Jennifer James Wright out of Austin, Texas. The framework for this packaging concept was called “A Window”—and based on the premise that tea can be a gateway or a window: one that opens to origin or, simply, the present moment. "After a bit of research, we found most tea brands in the US rely on a fairly minimalist design aesthetic. We saw it as an opportunity to break from the norm. One way to do so was by embracing an unexpected hue. A vibrant lilac proved to be playful and welcoming, a perfect lead color to help spread tea to the masses.”
The pouches themselves each contain hand-drawn illustrations from our talented in-house designer, Stacy Redhead. The sketches, based on origin footage from our trips, captures the ephemerality of tea; the conditions of light; a glimpse through a window; an impression; a gut feeling. The core retail boxes feature a paper sleeve which creates the “window” that invites the viewer into the sublime experience of tea. Our Tier IV, or microlot, collection are dressed in blind debossed boxes. The effect is that of outline and shadow, a reference to the subtlety and nuance that the craft of these lots require.
"The Window” identity commits to the notion that tea should be enjoyed for its own sake. “Only then” J. Blofeld tells us, “can the tea drinker taste the sunlight, the wind and the clouds
