Copy of Matchpoint, LLC

Matchpoint, LLC

Matchpoint is a small batch tea powder business venture that offers authentic tea powders and education of the tea industry in a fun and exciting way, marrying asian caffeinated products with our long time love of racquet sports.

Role: Branding, Product design, Web design

Timeline: December 2023-Present (est completion 6/2023)

Problem

With so many matcha powders out there, we wanted to connect matcha lovers with quality, ethically sourced, and thoughtfully designed matcha brand. We wanted a company that would reflect our personal interests and beliefs while challenging ourselves with the task of building a brand with a strong aesthetic vision.

Objective: To build a successful tea powder business with a strong brand identity, quality products, effective marketing, efficient distribution channels, and to have fun with an end to end process.

Discover

In the initial stages of this project, we first completed competitive market research to find existing competitors and their respective markets. This provided insight about existing trends and consumer preferences which helped inform a unique direction of our product.

Competitive Analysis

	Chamberlain coffee	Portal Tea	Tea Dealers	Flowerhead Tea	Nekohama

Perceived target audience	Teens-mid 20s, influencer's fanbase, animal theme	Late 20s+, Portland based, mystical theme	Late 20s+, NY based, merchant theme	Teens-late 30s, LA based, groovy floral theme	Mid 20s-40s, micro-influencer fanbase, Japanese and health focused theme
Products	coffee, organic matcha, flavored matcha, latte mix, chocolate, gift set, merch	tea leaves, matcha, and teaware	tea leaves, matcha, and teaware	tea leaves, matcha, hojicha, and teaware	matcha powder, chocolate, gift set
Pricing	1.06oz/30g tin $23	1.08oz flat tin $18.25	1.8oz tin $30-235	1.06/30g tin $30 matcha $20 hojicha	40g bag $60
Strengths	graphic and bold design, variety of products, quirky, subscription, gift sets, well reviewed	variety, tasting notes, gift sets	different matcha grades, maobi cultural design, b/w, gift sets, recipes/guides	groovy/fun bold graphic, simple UX, fun UI	copywriting, subscription, recipes/guides, well reviewed
Weaknesses	no hojicha	dated graphics, no reviews, no hojicha	no reviews, no hojicha	no reviews	no hojicha

Define

Next, we explored our target audience to create a user persona, Emily, to gain a deeper understanding of the needs, wants, and desires of our target consumer. This clarified our goals and values for our company and brand.

Needs:

Quality- reliably sourced high quality products
Transparency- to establish trust, honest information and knowledge about the product's origin, processing methods, and health benefits
Sustainable and ethical sourcing- she seeks products from businesses with environmentally conscious values

Wants:

Unique- Emily wants to experience unique flavors and to see unique designs, the overall product experience should appear and feel unique

Desires:

Personalized experience- responsive and attentive customer service and additional content beyond the product would make Emily feel special
Community and connection- Emily desires a brand that aligns with her lifestyle and community. Using a product that connects her to an extended community would help with brand loyalty
Limited Edition Offerings- collaborations or limited edition/seasonal designs can add to a sense of excitement and collectability

Using this research, we meticulously created a strong brand identity to inform our design that matched the needs, wants, and desires of our target consumer.

How might we...

How might we build a brand, product label, website, and social media presence through thoughtful design to share our love for racquet sports and tea powders.

Guiding principles: Fun, witty, disciplined

Design

To kickstart our brand design, we created a mood board that evoked feelings of fun, wit, and discipline.

Label Iteration- Set 1

We mocked up 4 label directions with lid stickers acting as logo designs. We tested our concepts with five qualitative surveys to record first impressions.

This allowed us to narrow our colors, logo, and font that best represented our brand, prioritizing preppy, approachable, and unique elements.

Visual Identity

I presented a strong visual identity that effectively reflects Match Point’s racquet sport inspiration, mission, and values. We picked the graphic from design #1 for a unique logo that would draw curious customers to its abstract interpretation of a net and ball to convey the energy and playfulness of racquet sports. We opted for a bold serif type face to evoke fun, and paired it with a semibold sans serif typeface for a nostalgic aesthetic, setting our brand apart from its competitors. With this feedback, we finalized our visual brand identity before a second label iteration set.

Label Iteration- Set 2

Using our visual identity, we mocked 2 new iterations for the product label. For our second set of designs, I presented designs that evoked a more feminine vibe. After testing (n=12) found a 75% preference for option B.

Website Design

For the final phase of design, I designed a landing page for our website, which will later be transferred to Squarespace's platform.

Low Fidelity Wireframes

High Fidelity Wireframes

Landing page, designing for a fun online shopping experience

For the final phase of design, I am designing a landing page for our website on Figma, which will later be transferred to Squarespace's platform.

Low Fidelity Wireframes

Deliver

Results

To create a clear brand image, we engaged in brand identity and web design project that aligned with the brand’s mission is to provide consumers with a quality, ethically sourced, and thoughtfully designed product for their daily activities.

This project aimed to visually represent Matchpoint’s values of fun, playfulness, and authenticity. I designed a lively and approachable visual identity that highlights familiarity and racquet sports with a unique, abstract interpretation of a net and ball to convey the energy and playfulness of racquet sports.

While there are still more opportunities to design (see below), next steps would involve increasing our marketing efforts and upscaling the business to a larger online presence, wholesale to boutiques, and table at markets to gain more visibility and share our quality product with racquet sport lovers and beyond.