Paper & Tea

Paper & Tea is more than a tea brand—it's an ecosystem of thoughtfully crafted experiences, born at the heart of Europe's cultural landscape. The first time I stepped into one of its stores, I didn't feel like I was entering a retail space. It felt more like a boutique of rituals, where tea exists not as a product, but as a carefully curated experience. For me, that place was the store on Alte Schönhauser Straße 50 in Berlin. One autumn afternoon, over a cup of hot tea, I experienced something I hadn't felt in a long time: a rare sense of stillness. Surrounded by warm aromas and an atmosphere that invited you to slow down, the first spark of this project quietly emerged.

Only later, after immersing myself in Paper & Tea's philosophy and product strategy, did I fully appreciate the depth of the brand. Every collection, every package, and every design decision contributes to a coherent system where values become tangible experiences, and tea becomes a medium for beauty, mindfulness, and moments spent entirely in your own company. It was also then that I recognized an opportunity for a new story. Over the following two and a half years, that initial idea evolved, layer by layer, until it finally became the concept presented in this case study.

More than anything, this project reflects what I love most about my profession: identifying opportunities that don't yet exist, imagining products the market hasn't seen, and transforming them into complete brand worlds with their own logic, emotion, and identity. The collection presented here is, in many ways, the tea experience I always wished existed as a customer. And one day, I would be genuinely honored to bring it to life together with the team at Paper & Tea.

Housecoat Society

In the autumn of 1844, a young Doctor of Philosophy named Friedrich Kleist made his way through the streets of Jena toward yet another gathering of the university society. Those evenings almost always followed the same familiar script: red wine, spirited debates, and an unspoken competition to become the most convincing person in the room.

Kleist, however, had a rather unusual habit. Just a few streets before reaching the university, he would quietly turn down a narrow side lane where a small tea merchant kept his shop. There, he would buy a modest portion of smoked Darjeeling before returning home, lighting a few candles, slipping into his favorite housecoat, wrapping himself in a heavy plaid blanket, and watching the winter evening slowly disappear beyond the window. He believed that the finest ideas were never born in the middle of an argument, but in the quiet pauses between thoughts—when the fireplace crackled softly, porcelain met aged wood, and the tea had cooled to exactly the right temperature.

Over time, his friends stopped waiting for him at university gatherings and began visiting him at home instead. No one interrupted anyone. No one tried to win the argument. The most memorable conversations unfolded somewhere between the second and third cup of tea. And so, a quiet tradition was born—one that would later become known as Housecoat Society. The only dress code was a housecoat. The only beverage was tea. And the only rule was simple: never be in a hurry.

Perhaps Friedrich Kleist never existed. Perhaps the society itself never existed either. But the best stories rarely require historical proof. They endure because we want to believe them. That is precisely what Housecoat Society became—a collection born somewhere between the aroma of smoked black tea, delicate notes of almond, and an autumn evening that felt far too comforting to ever come to an end.

It is not really about tea. It is about the state of mind tea can create: the rare opportunity to slow down for a while, to enjoy your own company, and to remember that life's most meaningful discoveries are almost always made in silence.

LOGO SYSTEM

The visual identity of Housecoat Society is built upon the very same principles that define the collection itself: respect for history, obsessive attention to detail, and a desire not to imitate the past, but to recreate the feeling of its authentic presence.

For that reason, the logo design process did not begin with sketching attractive shapes. It began with researching the visual language of the nineteenth century. Throughout the development process, I collaborated with Century Library—one of the world's largest archives of digitized historical ornaments, engravings, and typographic references. Rather than recreating a vintage aesthetic, the identity draws directly from genuine visual artifacts of the period, allowing every design decision to remain rooted in historical context instead of stylistic imitation.

The primary mark takes the form of a hexagonal seal, inspired by the wax impressions once used to secure personal letters, university documents, and private correspondence. It feels as though it has just been lifted from an envelope that spent nearly two centuries resting inside an old archive drawer.

More than a decorative emblem, it represents trust, belonging, and a quiet invitation to become part of the Society.

At the heart of the entire identity, however, lies the monogram.

It serves as the primary carrier of the brand's character. Its construction is based on the historical typefaces CL Antique No. 9 and CL Antique No. 28, both carefully restored from authentic nineteenth-century lettering. It is important to understand that these are not modern interpretations of vintage typography, nor contemporary designs made to look old. These are letterforms that genuinely existed more than two hundred years ago.

They once appeared on university notices, local newspapers, private correspondence, book title pages, and printed catalogues. They were unlikely to have belonged to celebrated typographers. More likely, they were practical typefaces commissioned by ordinary European printing houses for everyday use. Two centuries later, they have been painstakingly restored—stroke by stroke—preserving the subtle imperfections that only hand-crafted typography could possess.

Those imperfections became the very reason for choosing them. Completing the closed composition of the monogram is Paper & Tea's signature teapot icon—an instantly recognizable symbol that has become one of the brand's most distinctive visual assets across Europe. Its inclusion subtly connects the fictional world of Housecoat Society with the real identity of Paper & Tea, allowing both narratives to coexist within a single mark.

👉 [Discover the full Housecoat Society case ]