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Coffee Brand Packaging
Project Brief
The aim of this brief is to design branding packages for coffee beans, I’ve been assigned 5 different countries (Ethiopian Sidamo, Peruvian Machu Picchu, Kenya, Colombian, and Sumatra Mandhelin) along with their coffee’s strengths and flavours. In relation to each country, I’ve researched their flavours and strength and something that signifies their country and created a Mood Board, Colour Palette and High Fidelity mockups.
This project was created as a part of my university project for a specific module - Design Theory and Practice.
Preliminary Research
Initial research is conducted to gather basic information about the country and their coffee beans to get a better understanding while designing the packages
Ethiopian Sidamo - Floral and Apricot - Strength 01
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It has a Floral Aroma
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It is a Light Roast coffee bean
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It has a very low acidity level
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It is farmed from the Ethiopian Highlands at 1500 - 2200 meters above the sea level
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Ethiopia is the #5 largest coffee-growing country in the world.
Peruvian Machu Picchu - Caramel & Almonds - Strength 02
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It has Caramel and Almond Flavours
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It is a Medium Roast coffee bean
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Peru is known for its mountainous range and Alpacas
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It is grown in the heart of the Peruvian Andes.
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This coffee is considered to be organic and uses hand-picked Arabica Beans.
Kenya - Zesty and Citrus - Strength 03
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It has Zesty and Citrus Flavours
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It is a High Roast coffee bean
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Wine like Acidity. Kenyan coffee is considered to be very well balanced with lemony citrus flavours with tones of blackberry. The aftertaste is considered to be Lemony and Zesty.
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It is grown at 1700-1800 meters altitude
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Kenya is famous for its elephants and trees
Colombian - Smooth and Nutty - Strength 04
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It has smooth and Nutty flavours
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It is a Full Roast coffee bean
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It has sweet and cocoa aromas
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It is grown at 1200-2000 meters altitude
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It has a bright and citric level acidity. Since it is a full roast coffee, it is considered to be people’s favourite.
Sumatra Mandhelin - Rich and Spicy - Strength 05
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It has Rich and Spicy flavours
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This is a dark roast coffee bean and has a rich and complex strength.
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It has a very intense aroma and exhibits chocolate and liquorice tones.
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Grown at 2500-5000 meters above sea level.
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Considered to be grown organically.
Moodboard
Ethiopian Sidamo
Peruvian Machu Picchu
Kenya
Colombian
Sumatra Mandhelin
Colour Palette
In this design solution, I’ve used the 60-30-10 Colour rule where I’ve incorporated 3 main colours and used one colour for 60% of the design, one colour for 30% and another colour for 10% respectively. 5 shades of coffee strength is selected to use it as the base for the design and 5 different types of colours are selected for each country from the given mood board and they are used as secondary and tertiary colours.
Package Label Variations
I experimented with three different types of label designs and found that the first variation worked well with my design and my ideas, It helped me explore my design more freely and add more illustrations inside the label such as the Sidamo seeds used in the first variation.
Inspiration
During the design process, I went to the nearest Co-op store and explored different kind of coffee labels and packages and took notes to use the findings in my research as well as my design.
Design Solution and Output
Based on the initial research, mood board, colour palette and inspirations gathered a package design is created using Illustrator to design the package illustrations and Photoshop to incorporate them into high-fidelity mockups. The results of the package design are as followed :-
Ethiopian Sidamo
After experimenting with different styles I decided to go ahead with illustrative package design since I felt I had a grip over it. In this package design, I’ve primarily used Dark Green, Light Green, Orange and Yellow shades to denote the flavours of the coffee where as the light beige colour box in thecentrer is used to show the strength of the coffee. The background illustration used in this mockup is Apricot and Sidamo seeds that I’ve taken from the mood board. Overall, I feel the mix of green, yellow, orange and light beige displays the package in a more elegant way.
Peruvian Machu Picchu
The Peruvian Machu Picchu is a medium roast coffee with Caramel and Almond Flavours. The package I’ve designed uses a colour palette from Dark brown to light caramel colours which is a mix of Almonds and Caramel. During my preliminary research, I came to know that Peru is famous for its mountainous ranges and the alpacas. So, I decided to do an illustration of the Alpaca and the mountains which would give more relevancy to the country. I’ve also used almonds in and around the square to emphasize the flavours of the coffee.
Kenya
The Kenyan Coffee bean is a high-roast coffee bean with Zesty and Citrus flavours. The package design incorporates darker colour which signifies the strength of the coffee while the font colour and the lemon illustration in the centre is used to denote the flavours of the coffee. The use of elephants and trees shows the relevancy to the country. Just like the coffee beans, I feel the design is well balanced with the use of darker and lighter shades of brown and yellow. The ways lines in the centre are also used to denote the zestiness of the coffee.
Colombian
The Colombian coffee bean is a full roast coffee bean with exotic nutty and smooth flavours. Since the strength ratio is getting stronger as we progress through the design I’ve used darker shades of brown. I’ve illustrated nuts to show the nutty flavour and also the mountainous region from which they’re taken. On the top right, I’ve illustrated a keel-billed toucan, a famous bird in Columbia and it is used to represent the country.
Sumatra Mandhelin
The Sumatra Mandhelin coffee beans is a dark roast bean with rich and spicy. The colour palette used is a mix of black and red to show the strength of the coffee beans and the spicy flavours of the coffee. I’ve illustrated mountainous regions and Black and Red Broadbill a famous bird of Sumatra, the bird is a perfect example to illustrate the coffee’s strength and flavours.
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