Description:

Dilmah Tea is a household name in New Zealand, ever since founder Merrill J. Fernando invited us to ‘Do Try It!’ over 30 years ago.

With a firm hold as the number 1 tea brand in the country and the most trusted Tea brand for the last 8 years, Dilmah still needed to stay relevant to a new generation of tea drinkers.

Never resting on their laurels, they developed 3 new ranges of products to appeal to this new audience. The strategy rested outside of traditional ‘Cuppa Tea’ moments. Entering a new RTD beverage category, new formats, new flavours, made right here in New Zealand.

More occasions meant more reasons to enjoy their Sri Lankan Single Origin Ceylon Tea.

Our brief was to develop a compelling brand that not only visually looked different to the competitors but to deliver a product that was stronger tasting, healthier and ready to drink. But that wasn’t all, we also needed it to represent the exoticness of Sri Lanka and the impact that Dilmah has on the world.

Dilmah is known as an Ethical Brand with 15% of pre-tax profits going to those who need it the most, their people, wildlife and the environment. Merrill’s philosophy was "Business as a Matter of Human Service".

Our design systems needed to convey these messages and themes in a way that allows the brand to be codified with real meaning.

First, we threw caution in the wind by breaking convention, freeing the Dilmah wordmark from its current housed identity and pairing it with a heart to symbolise their care for the people and the planet.

We then explored a loose, cutout, collage style. Influenced by the beautiful colour of Sri Lanka, we set off to create bespoke layered illustrated art pieces. Carefully curated compositions of elements that represent meaningful parts of the Dilmah brand.

Elevated tea fields, from where they nurture and grow their tea. Elephants and native birds and plants represent their commitment to the native environment, and fruit and spices like Grapefruit & Cardamom showcase natural flavours. All anchored with a nurturing arm to show the care in selecting only the best parts of the tea plant by hand.