The Chai Co. Tea

Design: Maria Lupan
Location: Moldova
Project Type: Concept
Packaging Contents: Tea
Packaging Substrate / Materials: Aluminium, paper, foil
Printing Process: Offset printing, Flexography

The Chai Co. is a newborn European brand that brings Indian Tea to the Western market. Company’s mission was simple: take highest quality teas to the masses. The product is intended for a young audience. The task was to create premium, minimalistic brand identity with a very subtle Indian influence.

India is instantly associated with bright tropical colors and bizarre shapes. In addition, when young people are the main target audience, it is natural to use bright palette and funny, lively design solutions.

However, in general, the brand needed a minimalist, modern and urban look in a European way. Therefore, it was necessary to find a balance between the exuberant vibrance of the East and the rational brevity of the West.

The logo is a teapot-shaped Indian elephant. Cheerful and cute, with a hint of Indian traditions and culture.

After reviewing hundreds of images from India – including photos of tea plantations, as well as images of modern European cities, I came to the conclusion that common visual elements are curvilinear stripes, which can be seen both in natural and urban landscapes. Also, line pattern is an expressive and flexible abstract symbol.

Currently four types of tea from four different regions of India are produced under the brand The Chai Co. I decided to create four packagings with different curvilinear black and white stripes (and a dash of vibrant color) forming a pattern that reflected the characteristics of the area in which each kind of tea grows.

Each packaging contains an insert with a description of the variety of tea, which can help a newbie to become a connoisseur, and also builds trust in the brand through stimulation and satisfaction of curiosity.

The result is a very flexible, witty and bright youth brand identity with a large number of expressive elements that can be combined freely.