THE DESIGN PROCESS

My inspiration for the design of this project were the colours associated with both matcha and hojicha powder. The colours easily communicate what the product is instantly. When you think of true ceremonial matcha powder, a bright and vibrant green appears.

I also drew inspiration from the current MATCHA MATCHA brand colour for the product packaging to translate cohesively with the brand. I’ve visited MATCHA MATCHA a few times now, and I chose to use a monospace font for this particular design to emulate the letter board seen in-store.

For the hojicha powder product concept - I chose a rich and deep brown. This brown pairs beautifully with the matcha green, and captures the colour and essence of hojicha powder.

The choice of design for the airbrushed circle was inspired by the birds-eye view of the chawan (bowl). For a lover of both ceremonial matcha and hojicha, this process is integral. I believe the design beautifully captures the dissolving of the powder into the chawan, and the feeling of warmth when the powder is met with water and a whisk.

I also designed a concept featuring a solid circle in the middle to pay homage to Japan, and their flag. While doing more research, I learned that the open circle (enso) is one of the deepest symbols in Japanese zen. This zen circle can represent enlightenment, strength & elegance.

When learning about the MATCHA MATCHA brand, they have said that “matcha is more than a beverage; it's a gateway to tranquility. Each sip is a step towards harmony, nourishing your mind, body, and spirit, and inviting you into a moment of serene contemplation,”. I believe that the enso symbol is an embodiment of this testimony and a great representation of beautiful Japanese culture.

When creating the branding for the products, I wanted to keep the same brand essence but also expanding into more fonts and colours.

The first font I chose is similar to the current MATCHA MATCHA font, a sans-serif and bold modern font. The second font is a monospace font, with a similar appearance to the digital letter board used in store. This font will also relay well for smaller text uses. Now that MATCHA MATCHA is expanding and developing M2, I believe the second monospace font would work great for their brand identity as well.

The colour palette chosen are a mixture of bright and rich greens, a deep warm brown, cream and charcoal. The greens represent matcha, the brown represents the hojicha, the cream represents the milk, and the charcoal represents the roast.

The MATCHA MATCHA logo that was created was developed to create a symbol that could identify the brand, (without using the full wordmark). MM symbolizes MATCHA MATCHA, and the organic shape was meant to represent the matcha/hojicha powder mixing. If the MM logo is rotated, it appears to look like a zig-zag, which is symbolic of the whisking direction used in the chawan.