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Show Your Body Some Love With Zo Tea

by Casha Doemland on 02/21/2019 | 3 Minute Read

Zo Tea, a line of premium, organic loose leaf tea, entered the United Kingdom market earlier this year with a theme of wellness and a product with benefits that show love to your outsides just as much as your insides. The five teas deliver a variety of perks including stress relief, bone strength, a boost in metabolism, improved circulation and the promotion of skin health.

Better still, Zo crafts all of their teas without any senna, an FDA approved laxative known to relieve constipation, as founder Sharon Crowley believes the senna leaves are difficult to digest and rob your body of necessary nutrients required to stay healthy.

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Crowley sought out Leeds-based design studio Analogue to collaborate on the designs, branding and packaging that would not only reflect the brand’s ethos of wellness but would also deliver an unexpected and contemporary look that steered clear of anything too whimsical or clinical.

As the approach to the project was a very open and collaborative one, the two teams began by brainstorming a name for the line. Ultimately, they landed on Zo, an ancient word in Wu Chinese for tea, that also had a bold, geometric appearance that Crowley fancied. From there, Analogue drafted a series of visual storyboards where they brought the brand to life using simple fluorescent-colored designs in a graphical style.

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Additionally, each label gets printed on G F Smith’s Colour Plan Paper Label Stock, a brand new product, which was the substrate solution Analogue was seeking.

“G F Smith is regarded by designers as the pinnacle of papers and our rep for them was very excited to share the new color plan paper label stock,” begins Jo Pull, designer at Analogue. “When we shared our ideas with him, he absolutely loved the direction Zo Tea was heading. He even thought the project would be the perfect product to demonstrate this new substrate at G F Smith showcase launch as they were looking to highlight the versatility of the new label.”

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By choosing the perforated version of the label stock, Analogue minimized Zo's packaging and generated less waste. They also manufactured the tubes using 100% recyclable card and paper.

“The ethos of Zo as a brand is an all natural, no senna tea that is ethically sourced,” begins Pull. “The word Zo itself is very tranquil and zen-like, therefore keeping the design of the graphics and pack format simple and minimal reflects this. The use of clean geometric graphics, limited colors printed on a textured substrate, along with a compostable brown paper tube convey a sense of fresh, clean living and focus on the benefits of the product rather than the science behind it.”

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Reflecting back on the project, the greatest challenge Analogue encountered was perfecting the packaging perforation due to the airlock issue that would cause the loose leaf tea to explode in the customer’s face and fly everywhere. The solution, introducing an internal seal to the pack with an air hole at the top of the lid to counteract that vacuum effect while still keeping the tea safe.

But, now that it’s all over, and there's no more exploding tea satchels, Pull can enjoy a lovely cup of her Peach and Camomile tea, her favorite, to enjoy a good night’s rest after a hard’s day work.

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