Brand Identity, Packaging and Web Design
OKITA - Awake and Create
Overview
OKITA is a Ceremonial Grade Matcha Brand founded by the model Merle Mila Heinemann. After years of working in the modeling industry, she got the closest understanding of the importance of balancing the inner and outer health.
On a personal perspective, Merle’s experience with ADHD motivated her to create a product that would increase focus, balance and foster concentration, that would be 100% natural and beneficial for one’s holistic health.
The Brand is rooted in the philosophy of mindful living, embracing wellness and reconnecting with nature.
OKITA is modern and conscious, therefore the Branding needed to reflect a minimalist aesthetic with a serene, bold look.
Challenge
Creating a Branding that embeds elements that offer similarities of the Matcha Market, and, at the same time, creating an identity that strikes through the multitude of brands by not trying to over-sell, staying elegant, minimal and bold as a boutique product.
Quality before all.
Currently the brand offers Pure Ceremonial Grade Matcha, as well as 2 different blends with Lion’s Mane and Tremella Mushrooms.
An important factor is considering the multitude of blends and collaborations planned for the upcoming years - therefore a flexible branding was needed to allow incorporation of different blends within the Brand Identity.
Solution
The solution was to create a brand fully focused on the idea of simplicity, that tells its story to the buyer with every single interaction - from packaging, to photography, to website, to social media. A type-focused branding with bold, aesthetically creative for a genderless audience between 25-50, passionate about purchasing products that are upfront, clean and natural.
New day. Awake & Alive.
Inhale possibilities. Exhale doubt
A powerful mind. A confident beauty.
A sip. A smile.
OKITA
Logo
The brand logo is a combination of the logotype, tagline and brand-mark.
For the brand mark, the idea of leaving a mark/stamp was fundamental. Therefore, when used together, the brand mark sits below the logotype.
The eye was inspired by the name of the brand “OKITA” which means “Awakened” in Japanese. Awakened as opening your eyes slowly.
Colours
Green serves as the primary colour to embody the brand’s ethos of sustainability and organic growth, symbolising the colour of young green tea leaves that serve for ceremonial grade matcha, the brighter the green, the higher the matcha grades.
It also stands for health, renewal, and a sense of calm.
By emphasising green, the brand establishes a strong position in the market, associating itself with nature, environmental consciousness, and the brightness of the green emphasises the quality of the product.
The complementary colours support the Branding by allowing to create individual looks for the Matcha recipes provided by OKITA.
Typography
For the Brand Typeface we went with Azo Sans Regular and Bold by R-typography.
Azo Sans is a new geometric grotesque that balances modern aesthetics with functional clarity. I decided to use this typeface as it was fitting the idea behind OKITA - a clean, functional, pure brand that speaks to every Matcha Enthusiast.
Azo Sans is upfront, clean and flexible, allowing the branding to seamlessly connect with collaboration and new blends.
Packaging Prototype
For the packaging, telling the Value Proposition of OKITA was the main goal.
A drink to start a new day, calm, confident, relaxed, grounded.
A sip full of motivation, connection.
Website Design - Online Store
To sell the OKITA Products, an online store was needed. The store was built in Squarespace and it serves as a place to visualise and learn more about OKITA, the blends, and purchase it to have it home.
The Online Shop was built on the idea of fusing selling the product with educating the customer on the benefits of Matcha and the blended mushrooms. It also offer the taste, smell and feel of the product for a holistic understanding of the consuming experience.
https://www.okitaklub.com/
Many thanks to Merle and everyone involved in OKITA Matcha for trust 💚
Product Photography by Harry Miller
Videos by Irina Madan