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9Tea3 is Chicago-based tea brand that sells premium organic and herbal blends, grown and harvested in Australia. The CEOs (both college friends of mine), sought to create a distinctive brand that blends two of their passions together—tea and music. 9Tea3 is a love letter to the golden age of Hip Hop (the 1990s), an era of music in which we are all the most fond of.
I was approached to establish the company’s brand identity and help them launch the product. In this engagement, I created the logo, the product labels, the Shopify website, and established the creative direction for the brand’s social media posts.
9Tea3 is an extraordinary brand like no other, a company that finds its roots within a culture that is influenced by artists and songs of an era of music that ushered in the success and significance of legends like The Notorious B.I.G, Tupac Shakur, WuTang Clan, A Tribe Called Quest, Snoop Dogg, Outkast, and slew of others. Infusing elements of wellness, culture, exquisite taste, with a dash of hip-hop, R&B and soul, the 9Tea3 brand (like these musical genres), are innovative and transformative.
With that said, I wanted to incorporate some of the graphic nostalgia of the 90’s, integrating clear hip-hop references to create a distinctive look-and-feel that is truly reflective of the brand’s spirit.
I began crafting the brand identity, starting with the logo design. I always initiate my logo design process by exploring typefaces. In ideating, I wanted to source two different styles: typefaces that are reminiscent of graffiti (which became an integral part of hip-hop culture) and typefaces with distinctive numbers 9 and 3. In sourcing the former, I identified typefaces that are handwritten, graphical, stenciled or ‘sketchy’ with imperfect lettering. And in sourcing the later, I identified typefaces with characters unique enough be used as a logomark.
After I settled on a few typeface options, I then started sketching ideas for the logo on my iPad. I explored several ideas of how to visually capture the essence of the brand; some of the ideas included leaves, some included tea sachets, and some with just text. Once all ideas were captured, I narrowed down the options and chose the sketches I felt were the strongest. These sketches would be referenced to create vector art in Illustrator.
In creating vector art in Illustrator, I found that some of my ideas didn’t quite hold up and needed to be tweaked for a more refined design. In refining, some ideas were eliminated from further exploration. Ultimately, I settled on (6) logo concepts to present, all of which have clear hip-hop references: Abstract, Tribe Vibe, Mathematics, Graffi “TEA”, Cypher, and Da’ Dip.
In a nod to one of the most prolific emcees and producers in hip-hop (Q-Tip), the ‘Abstract’ concept is a clean, symmetrical, yet unconventional design. I modified the Staatliches typeface by adding angles and sharp edges to the arms and legs of the characters, while applying tight kerning and negative space to create a unique logo. And in an effort to tie-in the product, I replaced the bar in the letter ‘A’, with a tea leaf.
In further homage to Q-Tip and A Tribe Called Quest, the ‘Tribe Vibe’ concept is a tribute to the legendary group. Leveraging the Catenary Stamp typeface, I created a logomark out of the characters 9, T and 3 to mimic the stick figures that are integral to the ATCQ brand identity. Additionally, I used the Rock Salt Regular typeface to typeset the brand name in a circle, making the ATCQ logo influence obvious.
Named after the song released in 1999 from one of my absolute all time favorite artists, Yasiin Bey (formerly Mos Def), the ‘Mathematics’ concept leverages lines and shapes to create a simple geometric design. Using the Megrim and Museo Moderno Light typefaces, I wanted to create a logo inspired by of the Egyptian symbolism that was displayed and popularized by the 90’s rap group, X Clan.
Influenced by the graffiti style of tagging, the Graffi “TEA” concept is reminiscent of the stylized spray paint writing pioneered by young kids in Philly and New York in late 60’s and 70’s. Using the typefaces Sedgwick Avenue and Sivar Pro, I created a logo that mimics the visual expression once seen as vandalism, and is now a celebrated art form; similar to how hip-hop was once a subculture that has become mainstream.
Named after this long-established battle of emcees, the ‘Cypher’ concept leverages the formation of the circle as the foundation of the design. As such, the logo is round and meant to resemble the rings that are sometimes left from the moisture that gathers at the bottom of a tea or coffee cup. To achieve this effect, I applied a pencil brush stroke to a circle and paired that graphic with the Arsilon typeface.
Titled after the hip-hop dance song released in 1996, the ‘Da’ Dip’ concept is a wordplay on the act of dipping tea. Taking the same vector art from the Graffi “TEA” concept, I created a new graphic in the shape of a tea sachet. Leveraging the numbers 9 and 3, I used the negative space to create a distinctive logomark. The intent was to capture the spirit a cultural moment, while visually illustrating the product being sold.
The next and most consequential step in crafting the brand identity was to design the product labels. I chose to make the leaf in the logo the main feature of the design, “assigning” colors to the respective products that are either emblematic of the principal ingredient within the tea blend and/or aligned with the theme behind the product name. In an effort to reinforce the themes, I applied hues of the assigned colors (or in some instances, black for legibility) to specific words in the product names. Due to the printer’s specifications, bleeds were not allowed and a white border was required. With those restrictions in mind, I recommended black pouches be used for optimal contrast and maximum vibrancy. The result is a colorful, yet refined and cohesive product line.
After completing the product labels, I then began working on the Shopify website design. Leveraging the Modular theme, I took screenshots of its components and created a template in Figma, by which I designed the user interface around. Once I completed the individual page designs, I exported all of the graphics, images, and icons and uploaded them into Shopify to start the site build. Despite being restricted by the Shopify theme, I was able to replicate the design of the Figma prototype through custom HTML and CSS.
Being that music is such an integral part of the 9Tea3 brand identity, the team wanted to include a page on the site called ‘Sips & Sounds’, wherein curated playlists are pulled in from Spotify. In addition to building the Sips & Sounds page, I also created the look and feel of the brand’s Spotify channel.
Finally, to promote 9Tea3 and to drive sales via social media (specifically Facebook and Instagram), I designed branded visuals using Photoshop and Figma. Once completed, I exported assets from the Figma files, and uploaded them into Canva, where I built custom templates for the team to create social content posts on their own. In an effort to garner and reinforce brand recognition, the 9Tea3 logo is present in each of the templates (and wherever possible/relevant) so too are the product pouches.
