Responses by Maxim Cormier, art director, ori.studio

Background: The purpose of the project was to design a visual identity for Teaspira, a contemporary teahouse located in Wuhan, China. We wanted to promote tea via visual communication—which was radically different from what other teahouses had done in the past. We hoped to inspire a new generation of people who may have had antiquated views on tea and tea culture.

Highlights: We designed a color palette directly inspired by the various shades, tones and colors we found in the teas Teaspira brewed. We also wanted to incorporate Teaspira’s Chinese heritage, working with the Chinese characters from its name to create a bold and distinct pattern, which blended well with the other elements found in the identity.

Challenges: The biggest challenge was the color. We knew that if we found the right color, it would be the perfect medium to portray tea in a visual way. The color palette changed frequently during the development process, as we constantly designed, scraped, tweaked and finalized each color until we finally felt that all the colors worked together.

Favorite details: Despite all the elements being varied and quite different from each other, everything blended into something harmonious—making the identity both rich and simple. This was the first time we had been able to accomplish that on such a scale, and something we hope to repeat again in the future.

Anything new: We learned a lot about ourselves as a practice. Having been previously based in Canada, this was our first major project since we moved our studio to China. Being tied to local traditions, this was the perfect opportunity to adapt our process and philosophy in our new home. This project was a great start to our journey.

Specific demands: The clients made the project much easier, as they were encouraging, open and willing to challenge us when necessary. Without their support, it would have been impossible to end up with the results we had.

ori.studio