In 1657, Garway’s coffee house in London held the first public sale of tea, advertising the “vertues of the leaf thea”.
A TEA SHOP WITH A TWIST Virtues of the Tea Leaf, or simply Virtues, is a mobile business specializing in organic, high quality loose-leaf tea. The “twist” is that customers hand-scoop the leaves, herbs, and spices to create their own custom tea blends. Since the company is fully mobile, operating out of a vintage VW camper van, it is versatile and available for both public and private events. Virtues is an excellent addition to community events such as food festivals and farmers markets, or even private parties.
IT’S AS SIMPLE AS GATHER, BAG, AND TAG Tea, which is the second most consumed beverage in the world, has a rich history spanning centuries. The purpose of Virtues is to modernize the concept of brewing and drinking tea for a new generation of connoisseurs. The self-serve nature of Virtues means that customers can take comfort in knowing exactly what ingredients are going into their tea, while enjoying the creative freedom of making their own unique blends.
THE MOOD Our brand aesthetic finds its inspiration from hand lettering, organic, playful colors, and informal painted patterns.
KEYWORDS - adventurous - lively - modern - bold - whimsical
SKETCHING IT OUT Initial ideas for the logo included more traditional approaches with script fonts and the incorporation of a leaf or teacup icon. Styles of leaves and different placements of the type around the icons were explored. However, in the end, a less formal typebased logo won out, since it gave the brand a more approachable, lively feel.
CLEANING UP Since the final logo was hand-drawn, most of the logo designing process involved tediously tweaking the type to make each letter consistent and clean.
Initially, the entire name was created in the hand-drawn font. Variations on ligatures and capital vs. lowercase letters were explored.
Finally, it was decided that an additional typeface would be added to make the lettermark cleaner and less overwhelming. The curve on “Virtues� was removed, and instead, the secondary type was placed on a slight curve.
THE FINAL LOGO The primary color for the logo is navy, however, it can be shown in any of the brand’s colors, depending on the background color it is placed on. Alternatively, the logo can appear as simply the “V” from the primary logo, or “Virtues” without the rest of the brand’s title. These versions should only be used as secondary elements, and only when the primary logo does not fit correctly in the space.
ADDITIONAL BRAND ELEMENTS Aside from the logo, the pattern shown on the left may be used on collateral elements to define the brand. The primary version of the pattern consists of an off-white background, however, any of the brand colors may be used as the background. In addition, individual objects from the pattern may be pulled from the pattern and used as decorative elements, and can be in any color.
TYPOGRAPHY Tipique, a less-rigid revival of a mid-century font similar to Futura, provided the perfect contrast to the thick, playful type used in the lettermark. When used as part of the logo, or for headings and other secondary elements, it should be in all caps and tracked out by 20%, and lowercase but not tracked out when used for body copy. Since the typefaced used in the logo was hand-drawn specifically for the brand, Tipique should be used for all text.
TIPIQUE REGULAR
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklm nopq rstuvwxyz 1 2 34567890
COLOR PALETTE Reminiscent of colors found in nature, the mix of soft pastels and bright, dense shades gives the brand a playful yet sophisticated feel. Orange and gold add a striking contrast to the rich navy and maroon, while the pale pink, green, and cream add balance against the stronger colors in the palette.
Pantone: 432C CMYK: 79.69, 66.8, 47.27, 36.33 RGB: 55, 67, 83 HEX: 374353
Pantone: 5803C
Pantone: 1645C
CMYK: 28.13, 12.11, 34.77, 0
CMYK: 0, 73.05, 72.27, 0
RGB: 186, 200, 173
RGB: 242, 106, 78
HEX: BAC8AD
HEX: F26A4E
Pantone: 487C
Pantone: 1815C
CMYK: 5.86, 38.28, 30.47, 0
CMYK: 30.86, 91.8, 93.75, 38.67
RGB: 234, 170, 159
RGB: 123, 37, 28
HEX: EAAA9F
HEX: 7B251C
Pantone: 19-9C
Pantone: 7569C
CMYK: 4.3, 7.03, 13.67, 0
CMYK: 17.58, 50.39, 100, 1.95
RGB: 241, 231, 216
RGB: 206, 136, 42
HEX: F1E7D8
HEX: CE882A
THE TRUCK Since Virtues finds its home inside a truck, the graphics needed to be done in a way that makes the truck easily distinguishable. The brand’s signature pattern was used to wrap the sides and continue on the front and back, while the “V” logo on the front and full name logo on the back make the truck recognizable from any angle. A vintage VW camper van added the perfect amount of character and charm to the brand, while giving a nod to the midcentury-style typography found in the logo.
BUSINESS COLLATERAL The print materials distributed has an important job- to carry the Virtues name and aesthetic to potential customers, clients, and employees. The letterhead needed to be sophisticated but not too formal, with just a touch of whimsy and playfulness. The business cards double as coasters, giving customers something functional to remember the brand by.
UNIFORMS Virtues employees are easily distinguishable by their uniforms. The aprons in the brand’s signature pattern protect clothes from any herbs and spices that may spill. Visors with the company’s logo help easily identify employees, while doubling as a sanitary measure to keep hair away from the face and tea products.
ADDITIONAL COLLATERAL Central to the Virtues brand is the tea itself. Jars are clearly labeled with the type, origin, and health benefits of each variety of tea. In addition, customers may also purchase branded mugs and plates to enjoy their custom tea in true Virtues style.
WEBSITE A colorful and easy to navigate website helps the brand remain accesible to customers, no matter where the truck itself might be located. Users can find information about the company, such as how to reserve Virtues for private events, learn about the origin of the ingredients, and even purchase bulk tea and merchandise in the online store.
Designed by Kate Greene