I remember the first time I tried green tea. I wish I could say it was love at first taste, but that would be a lie. It was the most bitter and disgusting thing I had ever drunk. However, that all changed when I traveled to Japan for the first time. I learned that steeping green tea in boiling water for 5 minutes (as I did with black and herbal teas) was a one-way ticket to bitter, undrinkable tea. When properly brewed, this age-old Japanese infusion is a true pleasure. Once I mastered the proper way to brew Japanese green tea, I was hooked, drinking several cups a day.
My newfound love of Japanese green tea led me to take on a six-month internship at a small Japanese tea company in Kyoto. Kyoto Obubu Tea Farms was founded with the aim of bringing Japanese tea to the world through quality, community, and education. They accept interns from around the world and encourage them to use their unique skillsets to help the company achieve its mission. I used my background in design and my knowledge of Japanese culture to give the company a fresh new look that would attract foreign customers to expand their consumer base.
TEA TOUR BROCHURE
Kyoto Obubu Tea Farms's Japanese Tea Tour offers tourists with a passion for tea the chance to experience a guided field tour and tea tasting session. The company was looking for a way to get the word out about their tour so that more people could learn about the wonders of Japanese green tea firsthand. I designed a brochure that they could place at nearby hotels in the Kyoto and Nara areas to advertise their service and get people interested in the world of Japanese green tea.
This was an exercise in using fresh, modern, and elegant visual language to improve the company's brand image and attract new customers.
I created all photographic images used in the brochure myself.
TEA CATALOG
The company also needed a product catalog in English so that tea tour participants could purchase teas that they had enjoyed during the tea tasting. When I arrived, the company only had a Japanese catalog, so I designed an English version using the brand language I created for the tea tour brochure to add consistency and professionally to their brand.
Tea is a key part of the Japanese culture, having influenced everything from daily life to aesthetic principles. By contributing my design skills to this small tea company in the Japanese countryside, I hope to have played a role in helping spread the goodness of Japanese tea worldwide.
Learn more about Kyoto Obubu Tea Farms here.
