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Art of Tea

Art of Tea committed to putting the art into tea. A ground-up rebrand. Identity, logo and packaging. With a unique pattern for every blend. Still on shelves a decade later.

Before we started, Art of Tea looked like every other tin on the shelf. Dull, bland, forgettable packaging with no art to speak of. For a company that sourced and blended tea like artists, the brand said nothing of the kind.

So we rebuilt it from the ground up: a new identity system, a new logo, and packaging for the entire range. Each blend given a distinct, hand-crafted pattern. We put the art back into Art of Tea.

Overview
The partnership

A complete rebrand for the Los Angeles tea house. Identity, logo, and a pattern-driven packaging system across every blend in the range.

10+ years
The identity we built is still in use today, more than a decade after launch.
The Art of Tea range — a unique pattern for every blend

Define

The strategy was hiding in the name. Art of Tea blended tea like an art form. But nothing about the packaging showed it. So we made "art" the entire idea, and gave every blend a canvas of its own.

The idea

Put the art into Art of Tea.

Silver Needle — chevron pattern for a white tea blend

Create

We built a flexible identity system anchored by a single quatrefoil mark and a clean, consistent label. Then we designed a bespoke pattern for every blend. Harlequin diamonds for English Breakfast, a painted forest for Big Sur, tropical botanicals for Maui, hand-lettered type for Brooklyn. Different every time, unmistakably one brand.

White Coconut Crème — lattice pattern
Velvet — wave pattern
They didn't just design our packaging. They gave the brand its soul. A decade on, people still pick us up because of how it looks and what it says.
Steve Schwartz Founder, Art of Tea

Commit

The system was built to grow. New blends, new patterns, the same framework. So the range could keep expanding for years without ever losing its identity.

The result

More than ten years later, the identity is still on shelves. Unchanged, and still working. Art of Tea grew into one of LA's most recognised tea brands, and the packaging became the thing people reach for.

Art of Tea to-go cup with patterned sleeve
Sachet range spread out across a table
Iced matcha with a striped straw
In-store retail display of the range
Loose-leaf blend in a ceramic bowl
Sachet packs with patterned labels
Maui canister on marble
Assorted flavored tea sachets
Earl Grey Crème — zigzag pattern for a classic blend
The craft

Brand identity, logo, a typographic label system and a bespoke pattern library. One framework, a different piece of art for every blend.

Poured & stocked at

Hospitality & retail, nationwide
Four Seasons
Ritz-Carlton
Montage
Rosewood
Erewhon
Urth Caffé
The Huntington
Post Ranch Inn

Still steeping

A decade and counting