TORONTO—Tetley recently partnered with design company AmoebaCorp to redesign the packaging of its cold tea line. “They had previously launched something that wasn’t working,” says Mike Kelar, partner and co-creative director at AmoebaCorp. “It felt really heavy, static and sort of artificial.

Tetley cold tea packaging before (above) and after (below) AmoebaCorp's redesign

To find a solution, AmoebaCorp drew inspiration from the packaging designs of other industries. “We looked at boutique style health products from shampoos, to fragrances, to candles… different ways people were packaging in a modern, approachable, natural way.”

The company also had to keep the brand of the drink in mind, Kelar says, and wanted to make sure the new package didn’t look artificial or chemical in any way. White space helped to clean up the look. “That was a big thing that we sold into Tetley,” he says. “White space is a good thing and you need white space for things to stand out. That was a new thing for them but when we started showing them what we were working on, they totally embraced it.”

AmoebaCorp also designed the packaging for a completely new liquid tea mix product called Tetley Infusions, which proved a bit of a challenge. The two designers who worked with Kelar were under a tight deadline of less than two months to design packaging for the two different products. “They needed to work by themselves but also work together,” says Kelar. Another challenge the team faced was in trying to bring the Tetley brand to the forefront. “Tetley stands for tea first,” Kelar says. “So we didn’t want to minimize that in any way – we actually wanted to work with it. That was a bit of a challenge but I think we were able to do it.”

According to Kelar, companies are sometimes hesitant to hire boutique companies such as AmoebaCorp for packaging, preferring instead to go with experienced packaging companies. But that isn’t necessarily the right solution. “I find when you’re working with packaging companies, designs start to look the same – they become cookie-cutter. I think that’s what made [the redesign] different – a fresh take on packaging. And they were super-pleased with the result.” Tetley’s fresh design is hitting shelves now. Contact: www.amoebacorp.com