The Thirtea Nine

Design: Fred Trevor
Location: United Kingdom
Project Type: Student Project
School: Shillington
Course: Graphic Design
Tutor: Andy Judd
Packaging Contents: Loose Leaf Tea
Packaging Substrate / Materials: All recyclable materials. even the plastic inside is compostable
Printing Process: Digital printing on tracing paper

Packaging for loose leaf tea brand, The 39, whose ethos focusses on transparency and honesty. Inspired by the story of 39 Japanese university faculty members who walked out in protest of intervening government banning certain books. The story goes… In 1933, Professor Takigawa had two of his textbooks banned from use by the Militarist Japanese parliament. The following month he was fired from Kyoto Imperial University. This led to 39 professors, from different disciplines within the university, coming together to resign.

The tea celebrates the 39 disparate individuals who came together on a stand against oppression and political obfuscation. Celebrating each other’s individuality, but connecting on a common goal. The decision to walk out was decided at a tea ceremony with the 39. Tea was the bond that brought them together…

Packaging was required across the entire range of teas.

What’s Unique?
One of the most distinctive visual features is the use of strong vivid colours on the logo mark contrasting with the natural look and feel of the cardboard/tracing paper.

The packaging journey also sets its apart from other tea packaging designs. Each box comes wrapped in tissue paper with a sticker on the outside teasing the individual characters. once the main packaging box in revealed you can open to reveal some secondary messaging which is handstitched to the compostable plastic bag in which the tea comes.