Public type aND Tea: Written and designed by Valery Herman
As I sit here in Starbucks writing this and sipping my steaming hot grande Earl Gray, I contemplate tea culture. Only recently did I learn this term, which refers to the way tea is made and consumed, the way people interact with tea, and the aesthetics surrounding tea.
This book takes an in-depth look at tea through the lenses of the American perspective I am surrounded by, the Asian perspective that I’ve been exposed to thanks to my brother, and the British perspective my inner Anglophile aspires to understand—all with a particular focus on typography.
As a graphic design student studying typography, you’re more inclined to notice it wherever you go. I happen to go to a lot of tea shops.
“Better to be deprived of food for three days, than tea for one.” —Ancient Chinese Proverb
“It’s liquor is like the sweetest dew from Heaven.” —Lu Yu,(8th Century Classic),”The Classic of Tea”
chapter one:
Asian tea culture All things tea can be traced back to China. Most of the world’s tea is still grown in that part of the world. There are some interesting tales about its origin, such as the Chinese legend that Emperor Shen Nong invented tea in 2727 BC when he was purifying water and several leaves happened to blow into the pot. In ancient China, tea was originally used as a medicine; over the years it slowly shifted towards being first viewed as a tonic, and then as a beverage as it is today.
PASSING ON THE PASSION My brother’s passion for Asian culture has influenced me greatly. He studied Chinese in high school and fell so much in love with the language that he has gone on to study abroad in and travel to various countries in Asia multiple times over the course of his high school and college education. Due to his influence, I have been exposed to a great deal of Asian culture, among which has been tea.
THE ART OF TEA My first boba tea was consumed under my brother’s insistence, and I’ve been hooked ever since. When I discovered House of Cha in Lawrence, I was delighted. It is a wonderful little café where I’ve spent many an afternoon. Although a small shop, it is cheery and inviting.
Located on 9th st. next to Wheatfields
Each bubble tea you order is packaged with a piece of plastic over the top of the cup which you have to spear with a straw, rather like a Capri Sun.
“It’s always tea-time” —Lewis Carroll
Let’s Talk Tea... Bubble tea, also called boba, is a drink served either hot or cold made with sweetened tapioca pearls and drunk through a straw. It is a popular drink, said to have originated in Taiwan in the 1980’s. Bubble tea cafés can be found throughout the world and are popular in the U.S. (particularly on the East and West coasts).
“There is no trouble so great or grave that cannot be much diminished by a nice cup of tea.” —Bernard-Paul Heroux
These tiny price labels are one of my favorite typographic elements of this store.They are certainly a more asthetically pleasing choice than the scribled sharpie notes found elsewhere.
“The great artisans say the more a teapot is used, the more beautiful it becomes.” —Sherlock: Season 1 Episode 2
THE VIBE The House of Cha is one among many hidden gems downtown has to offer, allowing Lawrence residents a means to keep up with the recent popularity of bubble tea. This little shop fits in with the typical quirky college town vibe, and is an excellent environment to study in. While the walls and overall color scheme are neutral and soothing, the shop also has more playful, fun elements like their chalkboards.
“The life of tea is the life of the moment. We have only now, and we each sip it in our own cups.” —The Minister of Leaves
This beautiful Chinese calligraphy is a wonderful typographic element of the shop adding asthetic charm.
“If you are cold, tea will warm you; If you are too heated, it will cool you; If you are depressed, it will cheer you; If you are excited, it will calm you.” —William Gladstone (1865) Victorian British Prime Minister
“You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me.” —C.S. Lewis
chapter two:
British tea culture In the United Kingdom, tea is consumed daily and often.The British typically take their tea hot, black and in large quantities. British tea culture extends far beyond just that and into the broader category of British culture in general. To the British, there is a right and wrong way to make tea. While adding milk is common, there is an ongoing holy war as to whether the milk or the tea goes into the cup first. It is even possible to determine a Brit’s class and upbringing based on the way they drink tea.
“Tea evokes a place and a mood that are essentially British. On a cold, damp day, few things are more welcome than a cheerful cup of hot tea.” —Tea with Jane Austen
Union Jack bunting is a major decorative element employed by this shop.
Located on Mass, between 9th and 10th
A PROPER CUPPA Brits on Mass Street is a purveyor of British goods and, as such, has quite an extensive selection of popular British tea brands. They also sell teakettles, mugs, strainers and other accouterments as well as scones and biscuits, which are a necessary accompaniment if you’re striving for truly British tea.
NOTICING THE LITTLE STUFF It is easy to get lost in the depth of these shelves, and easier yet to find interesting typography, which is everywhere. The typographic personality of this store ranges from the cheerfully hand-painted window type outside to small hand-labelled pricing on merchandise inside. Gill Sans pervades throughout, on mugs and tea packaging alike.
Brand Profile: Twinings is an English marketer of tea. In 1706, Twinings was one of the first companies to introduce tea drinking to the English. Their logo reflects this long history. In fact, Twinings holds the world’s oldest continually used company logo. They also use Gill Sans, perhaps predictably, as a part of their branding to evoke British nostalgia as it is highly reminiscent of historic patriotic Britishness.
These practically floor-to-ceiling shelves, while slightly overwhelming, house such well-known brands as PG Tips,Twinings,Tetley, Barry’s, and more. And if that isn’t enough, Brits also sells their own loose-leaf blends.
These hand-made signs use sticker letterforms and the checkered border is cohesive with other paper signage throughout the store.The fact that the white space was not removed from the enclosed parts of some of the letterforms would drive me mad if I worked here.
Let’s Talk Tea... English Breakfast is one of the most popular blended teas and the most common form of British tea culture. It was originally blended to complement the traditional, hearty English breakfast from which the name derives. Breakfast tea is more strongly flavored than afternoon teas and has a higher caffeine content. Because breakfast teas are often enjoyed with milk and sugar similar to how coffee is consumed, they must be strong enough to keep their flavor after milk is added.
“One or two Americans have asked me why the English like tea so much, which never seems to them to be a very good drink. To understand, you have to make it properly.
There is a very simple principle to the making of tea, and it’s this—to get the proper flavour of tea,
the water has to be boilING (Not boilED) when it hits the tea leaves. If it’s merely hot, then the tea will be insipid. That’s why we English have these odd rituals, such as warming the teapot first (so as not to cause the boiling water to cool down too fast as it hits the pot). And that’s why the American habit of bringing a teacup, a tea bag, and a pot of hot water to the table is merely the perfect way of making a tin, pale, watery cup of tea that nobody in their right mind would want to drink. The Americans are all mystified about why the English make such a big thing out of tea because most Americans HAVE NEVER HAD A GOOD CUP OF TEA. That’s why they don’t understand. In fact, the truth of the matter is that most English people don’t know how to make tea anymore either, and most people drink cheap instant coffee instead, which is a pity, and gives Americans the impression that the English are just generally clueless about hot stimulants.
So the best advice I can give to an American arriving in England is this: Go to Marks and Spencer
and buy a packet of Earl Grey tea. Go back to where you’re staying and boil a kettle of water. While it is com-
ing to the boil, open the sealed packet and sniff. Careful—you may feel a bit dizzy, but this is in fact perfectly legal. When the kettle has boiled, pour a little of it into a teapot, swirl it around, and tip it out again. Put a couple (or three, depending on the size of the pot) of tea bags into the pot. (If I was really trying to lead you into the paths of righteousness, I would tell you to use free leaves rather than bags, but let’s just take this in easy stages.) Bring the kettle back up to the boil, and then pour the boiling water as quickly as you can into the pot. Let is stand for two or three minutes, and then pour it into a cup. Some people will tell you that you shouldn’t have milk with Earl Grey, just a slice of lemon. Screw them. I like it with milk. If you think you will like it with milk, then it’s probably best to put some milk into the bottom of the cup before you pour in the tea. If you pour milk into a cup of hot tea, you will scald the milk. If you think you will prefer it with a slice of lemon, then, well, add a slice of lemon.
Drink it. After a few moments you will begin to think that the place you’ve come to isn’t maybe
quite so strange and crazy after all.”
—An excerpt from The Salmon of Doubt by Douglas Adams
“Coffee isn’t my cup of tea.” —Samuel Goldwyn
I don’t drink coffee; I take tea, my dear. —Sting, “An Englishman in New York”
chapter three:
American tea culture The US has made its contribution to global tea culture by popularizing iced tea. In America, 80% of tea is consumed cold. It used to be the case that finding a good cup of tea in the US was an uncertain proposition. Fortunately for tea lovers, this is changing. In the last 20 years, tea has been experiencing a resurgence—various teas have made their way to the mainstream market, coffee shops have started serving full leaf, and specialty tea retail is a growing business.
PURE AMERICAN CULTURE I doubt any company embodies the average American consumer’s drinking habits better than Starbucks. Being such a massive company, the typography in all their branding is very cohesive and clean. Their former logo used a bold but simple san serif font, but their new logo is without any type at all, since the logo alone has become so widely recognizable.
Located everywhere
PURE AMERICAN CULTURE
I doubt any company embodies the American consumer’s drinking habits better than Starbucks. Being such a massive company, the typography in all their branding is very cohesive and clear. Their former logo used a bold but simple san serif font, but their new logo is without any type at all, since their logo alone has become so widely recognizable.
A CULTURE OF COFFEE Here in America, if you find yourself in the mood for a cup of tea, you’re likely to be given a choice between a few tea bag avors, which will then be dropped into a cup of hot water and left there (the concept of steeping seems to have been lost here). You will not be asked if you want milk, lemon, or sugar in your tea. In fact, you will likely not be asked how you like your tea at all. America is a coffee country.
A CULTURE OF COFFEE Here in America, if you find yourself in the mood for a cup of tea, you’re likely to be given a choice between a few tea bag avors, which will then be dropped into a cup of hot water and left there (the concept of steeping seems to have been lost here). You will not be asked if you want milk, lemon, or sugar in your tea. In fact, you will likely not be asked how you like your tea at all. America is a coffee country.
The store’s interior uses a wide array of typographic diversity; combining clean, professional typefaces and more playful hand-lettering.
The story of our nation’s independence begins with tea, at the Boston Tea Party of 1773 when shiploads of tea were dumped into the harbor to protest high taxes. The reason coffee tends to be so much more popular than tea in America is mainly due to it being associated with British imperialism—during the American Revolution, it was popular to give up tea for coffee as a symbolic act of defiance; after the War of 1812, coffee’s popularity stuck.
Brand Profile: Tazo is a company perhaps best known for being stocked in Starbucks coffee shops. As of 1999, Tazo is in fact a division of Starbucks. The Tazo logo used to use the typeface Exocet, although in 2006 they changed the T to improve legibility. The brand was then completely redesigned in 2012 to modernize it. They did away with using Exocet because they felt it was too 90’s, but there were some elements that they maintained; the cross bar on the Z and the perfect circle in the O are still there. They essentially made a modernized, stylized exploration of their old logo.
Hilarious misspellings of ones name is part of the Starbucks experience, especially if your name is unusual and already commonly misspelled, like mine.
Today tea is more popular than ever, and is the second most consumed drink in the world, losing only to water. The next time you find yourself sipping a cup of tea, spare a thought for the culture it comes from, or perhaps take a closer look at the interesting typography on the tea tag.You might even find yourself tempted to start collecting them (or maybe that’s just me).
CREDITS Written and designed by Valery Herman Fonts used: Gill Sans, Filosofia, & Archer All photos were taken with a Canon EOS Digital Rebel The University of Kansas, Fall 2013, Designer as Author, Patrick Dooley A special thanks to my brother Neil, whose camera I borrowed & my friend Kelsee for accompanying me to photograph locations
SOURCES Quotes from Twin Cities Tea Club https://sites.google.com/site/twincitiesteaclub/tea-talk Tea Culture: History, Traditions, Celebrations, Recipes & More by Beverly Dubrin Tea with Jane Austen by Kim Wilson and Tom Carpenter The Salmon of Doubt by Douglas Adams http://twinings.co.uk/about-twinings/history-of-twinings http://bonteavant.com/about-american-tea-culture.html http://www.crazyfortea.com/history-of-tea.html http://theteaspot.com/tea-traditions.html