Like Matcha, this whole ideia started in Uji. I was wandering through the beautiful ancient streets of the city, where everything in tea related. And then I came upon a charming and unique Shinto shrine, that venerated the bunny figure. So when brainstorming motifs that symbolized Uji to me, I remembered this shrine, and made it the central point of the project.
In one of my first adventures inside of Japan, I was kind of lost in the city of Nara looking for a famous book shop. Then I saw a really beautiful cafe, that when inside I could read any of its menu. Then I just pointed to a random item of the list, that I soon would find out to be Hojicha, a really delicious tea.
Hojicha uses the deer as its mascot because of the characteristic shika deer of the Nara city.
USAGI TEA - うさぎ
This project originated from a desire to create something different. I always saw Tea and Matcha as these really refined and serious things, which they are. But I’m always trying to reimagine concepts around me. So by observing many Japanese coffee shops, and their messy drawing like aesthetic, I had the ideia for the Usagi Tea Brand. Everything is inspired by my own experiences and observation from the everyday Japanese life.
The project starts with matcha. There are many ways of preparing this tea, depending of the quality. Drinks from coffee shops and the ones that have milk in the middle tend to use a lower quality Matcha, which wouldn’t be the case of this brand.
The purpose of Usagi is to provide a premium experience for its clients, in a fun and modern way. The mascot for the Matcha is a green leaf from the tea trees, making an homage to the city of Uji where matcha was born.
The inspiration came directly from the city of Himeji, located on the Hyogo prefecture. I visited the city because of its castle, one of the well preserved castles in all of Japan. In one of my explorations I stopped by an shy house that was also a library, in which they served me some Sencha.
The drawing of the bird symbolizes the structure, that In Japanese is called the White Heron Castle.
Motion Design
Label Design
Mockups
