Packaging system · 2025

One box, eleven teas, no confusion

A packaging system built on one box and one grid: a color band that tells you the time of day, a large number for steep time, and a shape on the side that stacks into a pattern on the shelf.

Client: Fieldnote Tea
By: Hana Lindqvist
Timeline: 12 weeks
Year: 2025

A row of tea boxes in three band colors on a pale green wall — Fig. 01 / 05The system on the shelf: morning, afternoon, evening.

The problem

Fieldnote sold eleven teas in eleven unrelated boxes. Shoppers could not tell a calming blend from a breakfast tea at arm's length.

My role

Packaging designer, freelance

Constraints

One dieline for every tea, to cut tooling costs.
Uncoated recycled board, which dulls bright inks.
The founder's hand-drawn illustrations had to stay.

Decision 01

Sorted the teas by when people drink them

Morning, afternoon, and evening, each with its own band color.

Why

Shoppers in our shelf tests looked for "something for the evening" far more often than for a specific ingredient.

A flat dieline of the single box with panels and fold lines — Fig. 02 / 05The single dieline every tea now shares.

Decision 02

Put the steep time where the eye lands

A large numeral for minutes, set in the top third of the front panel.

Why

It was the question customers emailed about most, and it doubled as a strong graphic anchor.

A chart of three band colors mapped to times of day — Fig. 03 / 05Color by time of day, numeral by steep time.

Decision 03

Turned the side panels into a shelf pattern

Each side carries a quarter of a shape, so boxes placed together build a continuous band.

Why

Retailers face boxes sideways when shelves are tight. The pattern made that a feature instead of a loss.

Boxes placed side by side forming a continuous pattern across their sides — Fig. 04 / 05Side panels that build a pattern when the boxes stand together.

A round tea tin and a box standing next to each other — Fig. 05 / 05The tin and the box, sharing the band and the numeral.

The outcome

In stores from April 2025. Hana says the founder reported sell-through at their two largest stockists up about 20% in the first quarter after the change.

Next: Tallyfield, fintech app redesign

An illustrative case study. Hana Lindqvist and Fieldnote Tea are fictional, and so are the numbers, which stand in for figures a real designer would supply. Casepanorama never invents them.