Katie's Kombucha

Katie’s Kombucha is a healthy probiotic drink – good for the gut and immune system. It is a delicious, refreshing vegan soft drink range, made with love by Ballymaloe-trained chef, Katie McCann.

When it comes to health, the gut is a key focus. Known as the body’s ‘second brain’, it fuels health, happiness and wellness.

Some key factors Katie wanted to communicate with the brand was her passion for creating kombucha, how it is a healthy product that’s good for you and that it’s wholesome and natural. She also wanted to ensure the packaging was environmentally-friendly, leaving a low carbon footprint to support a circular economy.

She had some existing basic labels, but had reached the point in her business development where she wanted to invest in the branding in order to take it to the next level and to ensure the packaging communicated her ethos, values and brand personality effectively.

As Katie and the passion she has for what she does is the essence of the brand, the design outcome created for the brand packaging design uses the silhouette of a woman, representing Katie. The silhouette of the woman (Katie) has the fruits which the kombucha consists of intertwined into the shape of her hair, in a natural and organic style.

Katie’s Kombucha is naturally fermented in small batches and is a naturally functional food. There are two flavours launched to date – ‘Raspberry’ (flavoured with 100% Wicklow raspberries) and ‘Apple & Dandelion’ (flavoured with 100% organic apples). It is unpasteurised, sustainably produced, vegan, gluten-free and has recyclable packaging. Katie’s Kombucha refreshes, rebalances, replenishes the body.

To make the word ‘kombucha’ easy to read for those unfamiliar with it, the three syllables are in a stacked block reading ‘KOM-BU-CHA’ to make up the brandmark. The hand-tailored font in the logo is earthy and rustic, communicating the natural ethos and ingredients used. A texture with a subtle grain has been integrated with the typography and silhouette to further accentuate the wholesome qualities of the brand.

Each flavour is differentiated by colour (guided by the fruits each contains), along with it’s own fruit icon. There was a third flavour ‘ginger’ created, to be launched at a later date. A hand-written font is used for the flavour descriptions, further emphasising the hand-made and personal touch to how Katie’s Kombucha is created. An additional detail is the unique barcode, showcasing a silhouette of leaves and berries. A hand-drawn heart highlights the important feature that the kombucha is 100% Vegan.

Another key factor to consider when designing this Universal Design was Katie’s highly conscientious nature regarding being sustainable and the environment. Therefore, we chose an easily-recyclable bottle and earthy, recycled paper stock ‘Shiro’, to make them easily re-usable and recyclable.

Katie loved how the results communicate her brand essence and values, with strong visual impact on shelves in stores and has received much positive feedback on the new packaging from her customers. It’s sales have grown to a wide range of stores throughout Dublin and Wicklow.