Karma Tea
Karma Tea
Good karma in every blend
THE STORY
Karma Tea started with a dual mission: bring premium South Asian teas directly from gardens to cups, while ensuring better livelihoods for tea pickers. By cutting out middlemen and working directly with gardens that prioritise worker welfare, they're proving that better tea can create better lives. After successfully establishing their core and botanical ranges with this ethical approach, they returned to us with a new challenge – creating a Blend Series that would expand their offering while strengthening both their brand architecture and their mission.
THE CHALLENGE
How do you introduce a new product range that stands on its own while maintaining family resemblance? We needed to create a design system that would distinguish the Blend Series from existing lines, improve shelf navigation, and reinforce Karma Tea's commitment to authentic sourcing – all while building on established brand equity.
OUR APPROACH
We built on Karma Tea's existing design foundation, using their iconic stamp label as our starting point. By introducing a tonal frame around this familiar element, we added depth while maintaining recognition. The wood print tea icon, a nod to traditional South Asian crafts, remained as a mark of authenticity.
The key differentiator came in colour strategy. While the core range uses kraft brown pouches and the botanical range features white pouches, we chose sleek black packaging for the Blend Series. This deliberate choice creates clear range navigation while elevating the brand's premium positioning.
THE IMPACT
The Blend Series successfully expanded Karma Tea's portfolio while strengthening their brand architecture. By maintaining core design elements while introducing distinctive features, we've helped create a system that can flex and grow with the brand – proving that good design isn't just about aesthetics, it's about building long-term brand value.
Karma Tea started with a dual mission: bring premium South Asian teas directly from gardens to cups, while ensuring better livelihoods for tea pickers. By cutting out middlemen and working directly with gardens that prioritise worker welfare, they're proving that better tea can create better lives. After successfully establishing their core and botanical ranges with this ethical approach, they returned to us with a new challenge – creating a Blend Series that would expand their offering while strengthening both their brand architecture and their mission.
THE CHALLENGE
How do you introduce a new product range that stands on its own while maintaining family resemblance? We needed to create a design system that would distinguish the Blend Series from existing lines, improve shelf navigation, and reinforce Karma Tea's commitment to authentic sourcing – all while building on established brand equity.
OUR APPROACH
We built on Karma Tea's existing design foundation, using their iconic stamp label as our starting point. By introducing a tonal frame around this familiar element, we added depth while maintaining recognition. The wood print tea icon, a nod to traditional South Asian crafts, remained as a mark of authenticity.
The key differentiator came in colour strategy. While the core range uses kraft brown pouches and the botanical range features white pouches, we chose sleek black packaging for the Blend Series. This deliberate choice creates clear range navigation while elevating the brand's premium positioning.
THE IMPACT
The Blend Series successfully expanded Karma Tea's portfolio while strengthening their brand architecture. By maintaining core design elements while introducing distinctive features, we've helped create a system that can flex and grow with the brand – proving that good design isn't just about aesthetics, it's about building long-term brand value.
A change is brewing
THE STORY
When Alison Tran came to us, she wasn't just looking to sell tea – she was on a mission to change how people think about South Asian tea. No more treating it like a commodity, no more murky supply chains. She wanted to create something that would celebrate both the craft of tea-making and the people behind it, ensuring fair wages for pickers and a fair price for proper tea. Basically, putting the 'good' back in 'good karma'."
THE CHALLENGE
How do you transform tea from something people mindlessly dunk in hot water to something they actually care about? We needed to create a brand that would tell the story of tea's origin, make sustainability sexy, and turn 'direct from source' into something people could actually see and feel. All while paying respect to South Asia's rich craft heritage.
OUR APPROACH
We found our inspiration in the journey these teas make – creating labels that look like postage stamps, complete with perforated edges (because details matter). Each one gets its own vibrant colour palette inspired by its home region, and a hand-applied franking stamp that makes it feel like it's come straight from the tea maker's hands to yours.
But here's where it gets really special: we wove in traditional Asian block printing techniques, adding woodcut illustrations that celebrate South Asia's craft heritage. It's not just about making tea look good – it's about honouring where it comes from.
THE IMPACT
Karma Tea is now proving that doing good tastes good too. The range is growing, showing that people really do care about where their tea comes from when you tell the story right. Each pack doesn't just deliver great tea – it delivers a message about transparency, fair trade, and the art of proper tea-making. Sometimes good karma comes in a tea bag.
When Alison Tran came to us, she wasn't just looking to sell tea – she was on a mission to change how people think about South Asian tea. No more treating it like a commodity, no more murky supply chains. She wanted to create something that would celebrate both the craft of tea-making and the people behind it, ensuring fair wages for pickers and a fair price for proper tea. Basically, putting the 'good' back in 'good karma'."
THE CHALLENGE
How do you transform tea from something people mindlessly dunk in hot water to something they actually care about? We needed to create a brand that would tell the story of tea's origin, make sustainability sexy, and turn 'direct from source' into something people could actually see and feel. All while paying respect to South Asia's rich craft heritage.
OUR APPROACH
We found our inspiration in the journey these teas make – creating labels that look like postage stamps, complete with perforated edges (because details matter). Each one gets its own vibrant colour palette inspired by its home region, and a hand-applied franking stamp that makes it feel like it's come straight from the tea maker's hands to yours.
But here's where it gets really special: we wove in traditional Asian block printing techniques, adding woodcut illustrations that celebrate South Asia's craft heritage. It's not just about making tea look good – it's about honouring where it comes from.
THE IMPACT
Karma Tea is now proving that doing good tastes good too. The range is growing, showing that people really do care about where their tea comes from when you tell the story right. Each pack doesn't just deliver great tea – it delivers a message about transparency, fair trade, and the art of proper tea-making. Sometimes good karma comes in a tea bag.
