Ichiei: Redefining Tea Packaging with Minimalism and Elegance

A High-End Brand Identity for a Health Food Agent

ichiei's philosophy revolves around the concept of "beautiful health from the beginning of eating habits." Loquat, a highly potent plant used in traditional Chinese medicine and folk therapy, serves as the main ingredient for their tea. To capture the essence of this powerful plant, Hung incorporated the shape of the loquat fruit into the brand's logo, symbolizing the natural and beneficial properties of the product.

To cater to their main sales market in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macao, the design team aimed to transform the act of tea drinking into a poetic experience. The tea leaves are depicted as scattered across Japan's landforms, creating a simplistic and stylish interpretation of a healthy and tea-centric lifestyle.

The realization of the design involved the use of Adobe software for the logo and all printed materials. The packaging was produced using 350g art-card with matte lamination, while the leaflet was printed on 128g glossy paper. The thank you card utilized 250g matte art card, and the poster was printed on 128g glossy paper. The attention to detail and choice of materials further enhance the brand's luxurious image.

The technical specifications of the design include a small tea package size of 12cm x 12cm x 12cm and a big tea package size of 17cm x 6cm x 20.5cm. The leaflet opens to A4 size and folds to A5, while the thank you card measures 5.4cm x 9cm. The poster is sized A2, ensuring that each element of the design is carefully crafted to create a cohesive and visually appealing experience.

Throughout the design process, extensive research was conducted to ensure the authenticity and uniqueness of the brand identity. The team studied the shapes of loquat fruit and leaves, as well as the style of Japanese minimalism. The use of white color was carefully considered to establish a clean and elegant product identity. Additionally, the client provided pictures of their Japanese farm, which exuded a sense of peacefulness, elegance, and purity, aligning perfectly with the company's concept of producing high-quality and health-focused products.

Despite the challenges faced during the design process, such as simplifying the stroke-heavy Chinese character "Ying" in the logo, Hung successfully created a logo that is easily identifiable and resonates with the target audience.

ichiei's brand identity and packaging design have garnered recognition in the design community. The design was awarded the Bronze A' Design Award in 2018 in the Graphics, Illustration, and Visual Communication Design category. This prestigious award is bestowed upon designs that exhibit outstanding creativity, resourcefulness, and technical skills, contributing to improvements in quality of life and making the world a better place.

With its minimalistic and elegant approach, the brand identity and packaging design for ichiei's loquat leaves tea redefine the way tea is enjoyed and promote a new way of embracing a healthy lifestyle. Through the combination of simplicity, sophistication, and the essence of Teaism, ichiei continues to establish itself as a leader in the health food industry.