Design agency &Smith creates a 'playful look and feel' for new Millennial-focused tea brand Offblak

The brand uses the strapline ‘Drink tea like everybody’s watching’, with a "premium feel" design ethos according to &Smith, which adds that it wants to appeal to "a highly discerning Gen Z and Millennial market" which it's dubbed 'Generation T'.

"To break the rules of tea, Offblak’s packaging needed to be bold and stand at the intersection of quality and must-have appeal," says &Smith.

Illustrations were commissioned from the brilliant Thomas Hedger; while the logo uses a triangular ‘A’ as a nod to the pyramid tea bag design.

The colour palette is fresh but bold, used to differentiate the four core categories: Fully Charged, Chill Out, Glow and Caff Free. Each sub-range uses a specific style, such as a circular graphic or figure in different poses, with each flavour illustrated by a different image by Hedger.

Copy on the back of each pack offers information on the caffeine level and flavours, with details of what the tea feels like, for example, ‘Finishing a yoga session’.

Dan Bernstein, creative partner at &Smith, says, “We looked at tea as we know it, how it is delivered – both visually and physically. We’ve given Offblak the illustrative freedom that craft beer and coffee sectors have owned until now, with the flexibility to grow and develop the range with a truly ownable identity."