Creative Imagery Personifies These Coffee Bottles
Aha Dear is a Chinese cold coffee beverage packaged in an easy-to-carry plastic bottle. And the imagery that lines these bottles make them jump from the shelves, unlike any other cold coffee drink you’ve ever seen.
Right off the bat, you see a face. There are eyes, the outline of a nose and a smile that sits like a happy, bubbly cartoon in the front. And this face is set against a bright white, clean background. So the dark lines definitely pop.
The face is created using the two As of the brand's name as well as the H for the nose that sits right in between. It’s a creative use of letters and one that actually embodies the brand’s logo as a whole.
This is a creative use of logo design, as it sits as the main element of the package that immediately grabs attention. It gives this bottle a personality that you can interact with — and want to interact with.
There’s also the addition of a black swoop at the top of the bottle underneath the cap that represents some hipster hair. It’s swooped to the side and very edgy and cool, appealing to a younger, more millennial audience.
This creates an image of a person that gives the bottle a human edge. It’s not something you normally see either, so it stands out and grabs your attention.
At the bottom of the cup, there is also the addition of an image that represents the flavor of the coffee inside. The hazelnut flavor gets a hazelnut while mocha gets a gooey, melting piece of chocolate.
This is a great way for packaging designers to show consumers immediately what flavor beverage lies within as it doesn’t require them to go searching and lose interest.
These images really make for an intuitive and engaging package design that answers consumer questions and get them involved as soon as it comes into view. Explore some of the best coffee and tea packaging designs.
A Clever Package Design Shape Gives These Bottles A Crafty Yet Useful Edge
Another cool element of this design is the overall shape. On the surface, it looks like a portable coffee mug — the kind you fill up at home and take to work with you. And that’s because of the additional cup that rests on top of the bottle like a hat.
This adds to the personification element of the design, creating an actual person in the place of a coffee bottle. But it also adds a durability and an added usability feature. Because people can use this cup to drink out of instead of drinking out of the bottle.
It’s a very clever choice, creating a two-part bottle system. But you can’t say it doesn’t look good.
The way this shape ties the personality together is fluid and strong, and the way it looks like a coffee mug also tells consumers immediately about what kind of liquid is inside. They don’t really have to search and read the label — it’s obvious from the moment it catches your eye.
Deliberate Coloring Enables The Visual Elements To Stand Out
Color also makes a statement in these coffee bottles. It’s used to differentiate the flavors and pop from the otherwise clean, monochromatic design. Branding professionals often leverage color psychology in their design strategy, fully aware of its potential to evoke specific emotions and behaviors.
At the bottom of the design sits a color — either bright purple or a golden yellow. Yellow is for mocha and purple is for hazelnut. The colors might not make sense immediately, but they really do work with the flavor imagery that sits inside them.
These colors let the pictures inside do the talking, while still adding a little bit of colorful flair to the overall design.
These colors also take on the form of a thought or text bubble above the logo design that includes writing within to reach out to consumers and provide more context and clarity about the brand and its product.
The Innovation Behind These Intriguing Coffee Bottles
Aha Dear is a Chinese cold coffee drink that’s geared towards younger, professional and fast-paced audiences. They turned to design agency Mousegraphics to create a packaging and a logo design to embody the bold and energetic brand and product, and the resulting packaging certainly jumps from the shelves.
It’s an innovative design that stands out — thanks to its creative shape and its bubbly face. And every element of this packaging was deliberate.
According to Mousegraphics, the agency behind their creation:
The Chinese name of the product translates phonetically as “AHA.” We decided to turn this fact into an aesthetics argument and used it to create a logo with anthropomorphic references. The specific coffee containers are defined by the use of this logo and, in the case where mousegraphics also designed a cup-like container, the logo became a decisive structural element. In this way the product logo animates the packaging with a friendly, memorable face.
The logo design is a major part of this packaging — one might even say that it is the focal point. And that’s a risky move in package design. Relying too heavily on a logo can leave the design lacking overall. But in this instance, the choice by the agency to focus on the creative face that comes from the brand’s phonetic name was a brilliant choice and was executed beautifully.
The Power Of Using Logos As A Signature Design Element
This isn’t the only brand utilizing a logo in such a fascinating and attention-grabbing way. Many brands opt for a logo on their packaging to serve as the main element of the design. This creates a cohesive and consistent brand identity that consumers can immediately recognize.
In this example, you almost don’t even know that this smiling face is that of the brand’s logo and its name. But the more you look, the more you can make out the two capitalized As with the H sitting right smack-dab in the middle.
This logo is made up of thick, flowing black lines. There are sharp corners but also smooth edges. It’s a very minimal logo design, and it’s one that fits easily on packaging, print materials and more.
Brands can gain a lot of praise and recognition for going with a logo design in lieu of a more intricate design. This shows that the brand is confident in itself and its services. It doesn’t need any additional bells and whistles. It’s a brand with a proud and powerful backbone that produces quality products for its consumers.
It also aids in a minimalist design that is on trend right now. Minimalism equals modernity in most cases, and choosing to go with a simplistic design reaches younger consumers more fluidly.
Other brands can learn a thing or two from this example. Packaging doesn’t have to be over-the-top. It can be simple. And a simple logo can be a great design element that helps your products fly off of the shelves.
What Makes These Aha Dear Coffee Bottle Packages So Unique And Effective
Design agency Mousegraphics created this fabulous packaging for Chinese cold coffee brand Aha Dear.
They created a logo with anthropomorphic references and added a cup-like container that gives this product a cute face. Underneath the cup, there’s a regular bottle cap, which resembles a man taking off his hat. The general idea imitates a regular coffee mug, but the fact that this is an actual plastic bottle is really unique.
Two colors represent each flavor -- hazelnut is purple, which makes for a great contrast against the brown and green of the hazelnut image itself. Mocha is complemented with a warm orange. The typography is also simple and modern, and paired with the logo makes for a clean, cool and cohesive brand identity.
The branding and packaging are very strong in this example. It differs from other iced coffee packages in stores, and has an element of surprise with a cup on top, ensuring this packaging is extremely useful and eye-catching. It’s simple and modern, with smart and memorable features that grab consumer gazes.
These packages are unique, fun and hip. The personification that comes from the clever logo design and the crafty shape shows that the brand understands its audience and wants to give them something to remember them by.
The added cup feature on top really seals the deal for us. Not only does it add to the overall cool and hipster look of the character created on the cup itself, but it also adds usability that can’t be ignored. You can pour yourself a cup of coffee instead of drinking from the bottle and that’s a feature many are sure to appreciate.
