Leaf Liturgy

Alternative made mainstream

What the company does
Run a specialty tea brand.

What designers did
Crafted a distinctive tea brand with sophisticated storytelling, positioning it as an alternative to both classic and modern competitors.

Verbal Identity

Naming

Leaf Liturgy

Brand Anthem

We bringeth to them tea, and they drinketh. And their bodies cherish the tea, and their hearts rejoice, and their spirits calm, and their minds open.

Tagline

Thirst, The Ritual

Supportive Copy

The Garden Mother
Ave Assam, the Garden Mother.
The morning leaves embrace you, and the dawn delights in you.
Calm our morn thirst with thy tender touch,
For blessed is the waking day in which you come.

‍Child of the Hairy Mountain
O, Baby Keemun, Child of the Hairy Mountain.
O, joyous flower, sweet plum in the belly.
Come down to us from the slopes of orchid and smoke,
That we shalt cherish thee as a vine cuddles their fruit.

‍Consort of Lord Grey
Lady Bergamot, consort of Lord Grey,
Bestow thy tasteful grace upon us.
Welcome us into the land of milk and honey that is your home.
Let the fruit of thy orchards be for our comfort.

The Sun Eternal
‍Holy Sencha, the Sun Eternal, daughter of Baisao.
Bless us with your strength, shine upon us on this day,
And rouse us from sleep onto the journey that awaits us.

The Eventide Spirit
Hear thy children, Genmaicha, the Eventide Spirit.
Hear thy children, and bringeth a great calm unto them,
And bringeth a sweet sleep unto them,
For they that rest, rest in the dusk.

Mistress of the Moon
Jasmine the Temptress, Mistress of the Moon,
Open thy flower to the midnight bliss.
Thus thy scent shall fill the craving vessel,
And fair virgins and young men shalt quench their wicked thirst.

‍

What's interesting

The working name of the brand, as specified in the client's brief, was 'Alternateave'.

What's interesting

Initially, the 'Mistress of the Moon' jasmine-flavoured tea was intended to depict a provocative young woman. However, due to a miscommunication, the graphic designer used an image of an elderly lady, now visible on the packaging, influencing interpretations.

What's interesting

The logo—praying hands inspired by the painting of Albrecht Dürer—was designed by our verbal designer in Keynote. It was then finalised by a graphic assistant.

What's interesting

While working on the brand language, the verbal designer explored niche websites and specialised dictionaries related to various religions and mythologies, including different branches of Christianity.

What's interesting

The collages are created using open-source and free-to-use materials sourced from various websites, including museum archives.

What's interesting

All the designed prayers on the back of the tubes represent factual data about the tea.

Designer's insight

“I devoured the Bible. Exploring countless peculiar religious websites to learn the language and check how to properly construct sentences and grammatical structure was an adventure in itself. I also studied other materials where I could find rules for Old English spelling. I wanted the brand to be not purely Christian, but rather to have an atmosphere culturally relevant to the market on one hand, while bringing something new and exotic in its own way on the other – hence the references to Asian cultures.”

— Mariusz Ruciński,
Brand Identity Architect + Verbal Designer

⁂

Some people say things you'd never believe

When considering the impact of Leaf Liturgy branding, it's remarkable how it catches people's attention wherever we take it. On the one hand, it's just tea, but when it's on a shelf, it becomes a sort of small cultural icon. But the most important thing is that the whole concept is consistent, clear to our customers and enthusiastically received by business partners.

Antonina Scipio del Campo

Co-Founder—Leaf Liturgy

Summary

What is the company's profile

A producer of high-quality specialised tea, targeting the mainstream audience with an alternative product.

‍

What is the extent of tasks

A Brand Personality (Market Landscape Analysis, Current Brand Analysis, Industry Analysis, Corporate Culture Analysis, Company Analysis, Product/Service Analysis, The Big Idea, Brand Positioning, Brand Strategy, Brand Story, Brand Character).

B Brand Language (Domain Naming, Slogans/Claims, Key Messaging, Descriptor, Tagline, Brand Tone & Voice, Brand, Brand Statement, Brand Storytelling, Brand Anthem, Brand Sales Writing).

‍

What are the objectives

A To design the brand identity for a specialised tea, with a primary focus on packaging as the main communication channel.

B To develop brand communication that portrays the product as an alternative, yet accessible.

C To work on a budget.

How we achieved the objectives

ad A To balance the alternative with the mainstream, we based the Brand Identity Concept on 'sacrum' and 'profanum' as an answer to ritualistic and casual tea drinking.

ad B The 'sacrum' part was addressed by developing a brand language based on religion and mythology, with a brand name reflecting the ritualistic aspects of tea-making, and custom 'prayers' describing facts about a particular tea. The 'profanum' part was solved by designing collages of deities representing certain teas. The visual style is humorous and satirical, often subtly mocking the product itself as well as its users.

ad C The cost of working on a budget is a longer schedule, but we managed to develop a successful brand with limited financing. Part of this success was due to limited client interference, which maintained high engagement and work quality while limiting alterations. Additionally, we utilised free-to-use visual materials.

Authors

Brand Identity Concept + Positioning
Mariusz Ruciński

Verbal Identity + Copywriting
Mariusz Ruciński

Logo Design + Art Direction
Mariusz Ruciński

Graphic Design
Jarek Dziubek, Grzegorz S.*, Martyna Kostrzycka, Natalia Bilska

Photography
Piotr Wilczak

Operational Management
Grzegorz Derlukiewicz

*For personal issues, the designer requested to remain anonymous.
**The following case study is published under a license from the copyright owners and reflects the authorship of our team in cooperation with another studio.

Results

2023
KTR
Gold—Packaging

2023
KTR
Silver—Brand Identity System

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Leaf Liturgy

Verbal Identity

The working name of the brand, as specified in the client's brief, was 'Alternateave'.

Initially, the 'Mistress of the Moon' jasmine-flavoured tea was intended to depict a provocative young woman. However, due to a miscommunication, the graphic designer used an image of an elderly lady, now visible on the packaging, influencing interpretations.

The logo—praying hands inspired by the painting of Albrecht Dürer—was designed by our verbal designer in Keynote. It was then finalised by a graphic assistant.

While working on the brand language, the verbal designer explored niche websites and specialised dictionaries related to various religions and mythologies, including different branches of Christianity.

The collages are created using open-source and free-to-use materials sourced from various websites, including museum archives.

All the designed prayers on the back of the tubes represent factual data about the tea.

Some people say things you'd never believe

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Tell us your story, and we’ll hype your audience

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Tell us your story, and we’ll hype your audience

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