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Background

Bringing over 50 years of Japanese-inspired design innovations to consumers, Takeya Corporation prides itself on providing cost-saving, eco-friendly solutions to products that promote a healthy lifestyle.  Takeya Corporation is a housewares company in Japan that has been selling food and beverage containers since 1961. Taking Takeya Corporation’s fresh approach to the housewares market, John Lown, former CEO of Snapware Corporation together with Hiroshi Taketani, president and CEO of Takeya Corporation, formed Takeya USA that caters to American consumers.  Their products include heat resistant and dishwasher safe pitchers, stemless wine glasses, and reusable glass water bottles.  Takeya USA is well known for using AcraGlass ™ for their products, which is a clear and durable acrylic material that can withstand high temperatures.  Having established an innovative line of products, Takeya USA partnered with Speck Design’s Communications Design group to develop a brand identity for their company that reflected their simple and elegant design combined with practical and intuitive functionality.

Challenge

Seeking to reflect Takeya Corporation’s innovative thinking, Takeya USA needed a new brand identity with a Japanese influence and modern American flavor.  In creating this new brand identity, Takeya USA sought a look and feel that evoked a sense of beauty, efficiency, and balance, which would be applied to their company collateral, product packaging, shipping packaging, tradeshow materials, website, PowerPoint presentations, and business cards.

Solution

In order to gain an initial understanding of the different target audiences and the types of features they look for in food and beverage containers, our Communications Design group teamed up with a brand strategist who conducted a consumer analysis. This led to the development of a brand platform that served as the foundation for building Takeya USA’s brand.  Starting from the existing Takeya Corporation logo and using the information presented in the brand book, we conducted a color exploration of the logo focusing on incorporating bright colors.  The result was a bright green logo with a fresh and modern feel that is now used in in Takeya USA’s products.

In developing a visual style for Takeya USA, we integrated certain modern Japanese elements, including creating a stacked circular pattern, which is often seen in the Japanese culture.  This pattern, which represents growth, became a significant element of the imagery on Takeya USA’s website.  With the help of a website programmer, we created an informational website for Takeya USA, which reflected the company’s new brand identity.

For the packaging portion of the project we conducted a competitive analysis of similar products.  From the research, it was concluded that most packaging designs for houseware products use a utilitarian approach, capture an embellished look, and tend to focus on the products’ ingredients.   We worked closely with a photographer to create a series of images showcasing the versatility of the products.  Our approach was to depict a story around the products through words, images, and a rich palette of colors, with the intent of creating awareness of Takeya USA’s brand and products.  This story concept was reflected in all of Takeya USA’s collateral and was also featured in Takeya USA’s exhibit materials at the International Home and Housewares Show in Chicago in 2009.

Results

The final packaging concept incorporated bold geometric shapes, and lifestyle and action photography showing the consumer’s enjoyment of Takeya USA’s products.  We thereby focused on evoking emotions to better connect the consumer with the brand and the experience around the product.  The packaging included full-bleed and close up textures of the product ingredients.  In addition to including the Takeya USA logo and tagline, the packaging featured a message from the CEO, testimonials, and a bar code, which was created by our Communication Design group.

All of the design elements were translated into a handbook that showcased the brand evolution and included detailed descriptions of the company’s color palettes, visual assets, photography, and fonts.  Working closely with Takeya USA’s team, we created a friendly, approachable, and innovative identity for Takeya USA, whose products have been featured in numerous publications including HomeWorld Business, Gourmet Insider, Oprah magazine, GQ, and Shape.

PROJECT INFO

• Client:

  Takeya USA

• Project:

  Brand Development

• Industry:

  Consumer