10 Years of Teemaa
Tino Nyman• Date added
• Date added
Teemaa is a modern tea shop and teahouse located in the heart of Helsinki, born from the dreams of two Chinese entrepreneurs, Peng and Xinyuan. Their mission is to introduce and cultivate a new tea culture in the Nordic region. This contemporary tea shop fuses the essence of the Nordic lifestyle with the rich heritage of Chinese tea culture, and all reimagined in a modernised form.
Helsinki-based designer Tino Nyman collaborated with Teemaa to launch a tea box collection in celebration of its 10th anniversary in August 2023. This collection comprises two curated tea assortments. In addition to these limited tea collections, Teemaa aimed to narrate its story through refreshed brand imagery.
Client
TeeMaa Tea House
Year
2023
Art Director
Tino Nyman
Packaging Designer
Tino Nyman
Photographer
Aleksi Tikkala
Typefaces in Use
Teemaa is a modern tea shop and teahouse located in the heart of Helsinki, born from the dreams of two Chinese entrepreneurs, Peng and Xinyuan. Their mission is to introduce and cultivate a new tea culture in the Nordic region. This contemporary tea shop fuses the essence of the Nordic lifestyle with the rich heritage of Chinese tea culture, and all reimagined in a modernised form.
Helsinki-based designer Tino Nyman collaborated with Teemaa to launch a tea box collection in celebration of its 10th anniversary in August 2023. This collection comprises two curated tea assortments. In addition to these limited tea collections, Teemaa aimed to narrate its story through refreshed brand imagery.
The visual identity and typography aimed to convey the superior tea house's quality while infusing a human touch reminiscent of the essence of the tea world. Lateral, from the Schick Toikka type foundry, was chosen as the primary typeface for its clarity and subtlety. A secondary typeface, Cucina, modernised traditional aesthetics and added a contemporary charm while maintaining a consistent identity.
The tone shifted towards a brighter and gentler side in their 10th-anniversary tea boxes. Cucina played a more prominent role in the packaging design, and an italic style was introduced to emphasise the "ten" aspect, infusing the design with a playful and elegant touch.
Teema's mission to revitalise tea culture in the Nordic region moves away from the stereotypical visual elements associated with the world of tea. This philosophy extends to the colour palette of the visual identity. Traditionally, green dominates the visual identity of tea brands. However, in Teemaa's new visual identity, green has been discarded as the primary colour in favour of a broader, more diverse range of shades.
Teemaa's extensive colour palette, comprising ten distinct shades, is thoughtfully aligned with various tea categories, such as green and red teas. This presents a vibrant spectrum of colours that mirror the diverse offerings of the tea house, including nine different tea types, blending both vivid and muted tones. The anniversary campaign shifted the focus towards the brighter and more approachable shades within the colour palette; the red tea, for instance, transformed, with its characteristic colour brightened to evoke energy and a sense of joy. To maintain a harmonious packaging design, the vibrant magenta red was paired with a softer shade of purple, representing the Chinese "pu'er" tea type.
Tino Nyman
Tino Nyman is a Helsinki-based designer who specialises in creative direction and graphic design, with a passion for branding and culture. His practice spans both the commercial and creative worlds, focusing on printed publications, the creative direction of branding and visual identities, and the creation of captivating imagery concepts.
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