Colombo Tea and Coffee Co.

An African classic gets a fresh new look by Durban based agency; The Hardy Boys.  More info and great detail following the jump.  

"Two years ago I was given the exciting opportunity to rejuvenate an historic South African brand, “Colombo Tea and Coffee Company” by its fourth generation Managing Director, Victor Richardson. Since 1917, Colombo Tea and Coffee Company has been a familiar friend to the people of Kwa Zulu-Natal, South Africa. The company has seen its fair share of ups and downs over more than 90 years of business, but in recent times the brand had lost value and image in the eyes of its patrons and new consumers.

We were lucky enough to work with 'The Hardy Boys', a Durban based packaging design agency. Our team decided on a new name with an old sound: 'Colombo Fine Beverage Co.' and they redesigned our logo in the likeness of an 80year old stencil that we once used to brand our cartons. Victor and I decided to go back to our roots, with a bias towards specialty, drum-roasted coffee, but we wanted to communicate our heritage to a selective retail audience. Together with The Hardy Boys, we created a retail brand in dedication to our founder that tells the story of his travels to Colombia, Brazil, Kenya and Java. This is what the design team came up with (please see below). special thanks go out to Nadja Oxborrow for the beautiful illustration and presentation case styling!"

 

Comments

[Terry]

Very innovative (and beautiful) illustration of the over-used coffee-cup-ring. Bravo!

[Scotty T]

Love what they've done with the coffee cup stain. It's definitely a welcome change to something used far too often.

[Yael Miller]

Really nice concept, but what makes it even better is how well it was executed.

[johanna]

love the subtle illustrations – you almost miss them on a quick glance, but they are so exquisite!

[amanda]

so beautiful!and i love the co-ordinates as well, great design work.

[Kyle Fraser]

I think thats exactly what the designer (Nadja) had in mind! To do something that has been done a million times, in a different light. Thanks for your awesome comments!

[Andy]

Excellent, excellent illustrations. I wonder if it's an actual coffee ring embellished with a tiny brush or if it was done digitally.

Also, I really like the signature, but the type used for voyage and the roast name leaves a little to be desired for me.

[Susan Schuppel-Paul]

A beautiful reinvention of the coffee-cup ring that's been used time and time again. Bravo!

[Brian Son]

The illustrations are gorgeous, thought I wish the same thought and treatment went into the type. The use of Helvetica, albeit Neue Extended, seems like an afterthought and goes against how detailed, expressive and the hand-crafted aesthetic of the illustrations.

[Brian Son]

The illustrations are gorgeous, though I wish the same thought and treatment went into the type. The use of Helvetica, albeit Neue Extended, seems like an afterthought and goes against how detailed, expressive and the hand-crafted aesthetic of the illustrations.

[clippingimages]

very innovative:)

[kalilooela]

The kind of pack I could stay one hour looking at in front of a shelf, just because the illustrations are soooooo wonderful. (The rest though...)

[Tracy Francis]

Wow. blew me away, well done guys!

[hendra]

good illustrations and innovative ideas, but I think buyers will find it hard to distinguish each type of coffee, all predominantly white, with a similar illustration.

[lit]

I really love the illustrations, they are very eye-catching, but I would probably get the wrong coffee every time I bought it..

[Paul Oxborrow]

Hi Andy, I'm the illustrator who created the coffee stains for Voyage. Firstly, thanks very much for your compliments and secondly I hope you won't be disappointed to learn it's all digital!

[Kyle Fraser]

Atleast you'll end up trying all of them!

[Kyle Fraser]

That was one of our worries before we launched the variants, but we haven't encountered any problems or negative feedback from our customers just yet *touch wood*. Thanks for your comment!

[Kyle Fraser]

Thanks Andy, the signature on the pack is Jas. B. Richardson's real signature!

[Roni]

At first glance I was disappointed to see another coffee cup ring, but the illustrations were a wonderful surprise upon closer inspection! In fact, the illustrations are so lovely that I like the nice suitcase carrier less because it is over-dominating. I got lost in the details of the design. Beautiful!

[mythsand]

That coffee's illusts are very fine! I want to get that so much...

[philippertl]

I really like the design and illustrations as well, very nice! The only difficulty I would see is setting the different blends apart since the differences are very subtle.

[gstn]

ahhhhhhhhhhhh noooooo muy bueno..!!! excelent.. woww muy bueno la idea..

[Hermis00]

LOVE IT!