TAZO Tea Rebrand and the Minor Mental Breakdown

While away on holiday in central Washington, I was at a grocery store with my mom cruising the aisle for new interesting packaging. In San Francisco, the options are limited because stores are so much smaller so it's hardly ever stocked with new gems. As we wondering through the tea section, I noticed in the TAZO section new, awful packaging for only the Earl Grey tea. What follows is my inner monologue for the next 15-23 seconds after seeing the terrible new branding:

Panic. Oh no, they have done a terrible, terrible "yoga modern" rebrand. Shit, shit, shit. Think, think, think. Maybe it's just this one package. They wouldn't do this to me. They understand how much beautiful color-coordinated packaging means to me, right? Right?! Shit. Fuck. They are really doing this. What do I do? What do I do? What if all the tea in San Francisco has already turned yoga mod? This might be your last chance to purchase the good packaging before it's gone. Gone forever. Quick load them all in the cart. I'm Noah, and this cart is my Arc! Quick, everyone on the arc, except you Earl Grey. It's too late for your Earl Grey; you've already turned. Wait, how will you explain all that tea to your family? Maybe it's just better if you get one box. Let's not let anyone know exactly how crazy you are about color-coordinated teas. Yes. Okay, just act cool. Just grab your favorite flav... damn you Earl Grey. Okay, just pick the prettiest colored box. Oooohh! Berry Blossom White. You love that. Remember how much you love that light blue box? Okay, act casual. Pick up the box. Inspect it like you're looking at it for the first time. Say "hmmmm" like this tea is quite an interesting find. Toss the last of its beautiful kind into the cart. Gently though. That could be the last one ever made.

Now a week after my mini supermarket mental breakdown, my speculation have been confirmed. My beautiful TAZO packaging is slowly dying a transitional death. The nail on the coffin comes this morning when Brand New posted about the re-brand. While I can say I do like the new logo, I love nothing about the packaging.

Photo: Brand New

Photo: Brand New

Isn't it great that the new packaging lets you know you can drink breakfast tea at any time of day?! Thanks for opening up the possibilities for what I was only reserving for before 11:59am. And oh my gowsh, tea is made of leaves? Who'da thunk it? Now I want to drink it, and lots of it.

Look what TAZO (or should I say Starbucks as of 1999) has done to me. All I have left are sarcasm and a flattened Berry Blossom box that now hangs on my design wall as an obituary to the old goodness that once was TAZO.

Golden Typestaches

 Along with the lovely Lauren and Joel over at Old Tom Foolery, I've created Volume 2 of the Field Guide to Typestaches. It's printed with metallic gold ink on 80lb black paper for all you fancy folks. It's a limited-edition so get yours while they're hot off the press. And even better news, for the whole month of November we'll be donating 10% of the sales to Movember.

Camellia / Tor Weeks

Foliage Series / Tor Weeks

Untitled Foliage 01

Untitled Foliage 02

Untitled Foliage 03

Untitled Foliage 04

Untitled Foliage 05

My Dream The Other Night

Running in Leaves

We're getting our first and last week of summer in SF this week so naturally I'm preparing for all the goodness that fall has to offer. And of course the only thing that really matters to me right now is how my toes will be covered. Here are my favorite shoe picks for the fall:

1// Madewell h by hudson 2// Madewell old town boot 3// TOMS wine cordones 4// Frye Carson tab short 5// Jcrew cece ballet flats 6// Frye Dorado short 7// Hunter wellies 8// Anthropologie 80%20 pony printed hidden wedges 9// GAP calf hair loafers

Brimfield

I just got back from a trip to Massachusetts where I got the chance to go to Brimfield Antique and Collectables Show. If you aren't familiar, it's a massive triannual antique show in Brimfield, MA and this final show of the year didn't disappoint.

It was my first time at Brimfield so I can't say how it compared to previous shows but because of the threat of rain the first 3 hours of the show seemed much more empty than I thought. For a while, I just assumed my sisters and I were in an unpopular part of the show but the vendors were quick to chatter about how slow the morning was starting off. We got to Brimfield at 6:30am after reading many guides and tips on blogs suggesting that the early bird gets the worm and they were right. It was great for us newcomers to get our bearings without crowds around us because there was so much to see and people to meet.

My sisters and I don't exactly come from a long line of hagglers so bartering isn't exactly our forte. We tried with all our might over the course of the day to learn this ancient technique but mostly we just ended up buying things we already thought were great deals. My sister found an amazing vintage sled for $20. I ended up with a few treasures myself and I'll post them soon once I find some nice light to snap a photo of them.

Speaking of photos, I got so overwhelmed by Brimfield's vast awesomeness that I forgot to snap photos of the show until the last half of the day. Here are some of my favorite shots after I remembered to actually use the 5 pound camera dangling from my neck: