AHA looks like a coffee that’s as busy as you are. Designed by mousegraphics, AHA Dear Coffee Series gives a fun, playful personality to your morning cup of joe, creating a unique experience for caffeine lovers. We spoke with mousegraphics to learn more about tapping into the core of the brand, the heart of good design, the power of addressing the consumer directly, and more.
Walk us through the design process that you went through for this project.
mousegraphics: Learning from the local language (in sound and meaning)—translating this lesson into visual communication—stripping visual into its most simple, core qualities
Why did you choose to give the drinks a personality?
mousegraphics: Good design is always about ‘personality/ties.’ In this specific case, the name of the product translated phonetically into AHA, a human sound-as-expression of contentment, joy. The anthropomorphic properties of the design emerged as a logical conclusion, the best possible solution. If the product wished to address the consumer (‘Dear Hazelnut,’ ‘Hey Cool’) we had to give a face to this gesture.
What was one of the biggest goals you set out to achieve with AHA Dear Coffee Series packaging and how did you accomplish it?
mousegraphics: Good, earnest communication is always the goal. As our client had decided to make this communication playfully open we had to give it substance, a body, characteristics. I think we have achieved, through the container as whole, to make the coffee experience a kind of personal greeting.
What was the most challenging part of this project?
mousegraphics: To not flatter the consumer with oversimplification.
How did you keep the design playful and fun while still appealing to adults?
mousegraphics: By not flattering the consumer. By keeping the humour quirky.
If you could pick one aspect of the finished design that you like the most or feel especially proud of, what would it be and why?
mousegraphics: This type of design is a body that you cannot cut in pieces or admire in parts
Share one lesson that you learned while developing the finished product.
mousegraphics: I am still and always learning
