Tetley Tea

The brief from Bold-inc was to refresh the packaging for global tea giant Tetley’s Chai range. They specifically wanted to move away from staple cup shots and generic steamy background tones and infuse the packaging with an ethnic flavour. 

But rather than stick to well-worn hot drinks themes, illustrator Samuel Sakaria looked to the art of henna tattoos for inspiration. It turned out to be just his cup of tea. 

‘I loved working on this project with the designer Jarrod Robertson as he gave me a lot of creative freedom, while also guiding me when he felt the illustration was moving away from the feeling they wanted to capture,’ Samuel says. 

‘The illustration flow was to be based on the existing packets, while the style was to encapsulate freshness, vibrancy and smoothness,’ says Samuel of the brief.  

‘The development of the sketches was very smooth as we sketched the flow of the overall shape first,’ says Samuel. ‘We also began hinting at elements that could be created while we were working on the overall flow.’ 

Once the flow was resolved, Samuel added more specific elements the client wanted to portray to finish off the overall design.

So successful was the result that Tetley Global has adopted the look for all upcoming Chai products.