Packaging and Merchandising Design - Project 1: Uncle Jeff Kombucha Label Redesign

TANG LILIN (0376668)

Packaging and Merchandising Design

Project 1: Uncle Jeff Kombucha Label Redesign

18/5/2026 - 1/6/2026 （ Week 5 - Week 7 ）

Bachelor OF DESIGN (HONERS) IN CREATIVE MEDIA

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LIST

• MI
• LECTURE
• PROCESS
• FINAL SUBMISSION
• FEEDBACK
• REFLECTION

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MI

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LECTURE

WEEK 5 - The Art & Science of Label Design

From this lecture, I learned that a label is not just a sticker on a product. It works like a mini poster, a brand ambassador, and a physical experience. A good label needs to attract attention, communicate information clearly, and support the brand identity.

One key point I learned is the importance of visual hierarchy on the Primary Display Panel. The most important information should be arranged clearly: brand name first, then product name or flavour, key selling point, and finally volume or weight. Since customers only spend a short time looking at products, the label must be easy to understand quickly.

I also learned about the wrap-around reality of bottles and jars. Customers can only see part of a curved label at one time, so the main brand message should be placed in the central visible area. The side and back panels can be used for secondary information, such as brand story, ingredients, barcode, and legal details.

The lecture also explained how materials affect the feeling of a label. Uncoated paper feels more organic, handmade, and premium, but the colours may look softer. Coated paper gives sharper text and more vibrant colours. BOPP film is more suitable for wet or chilled products because it is waterproof and oil-resistant.

Another useful point is that production finishes such as foil stamping, embossing, Spot UV, and lamination can make packaging feel more premium. However, they should be used carefully and only when they match the brand concept.

Overall, this lecture helped me understand that label design needs both creativity and technical planning. A successful label should have clear hierarchy, suitable materials, readable information, and proper production preparation.

WEEK 6 - Color in Packaging Design

From this lecture, I learned that colour is one of the most important elements in packaging design because it can quickly attract customers’ attention on the shelf. Before people read the product name or details, they may already form an impression through colour.

I learned that high-saturation colours can create a strong visual hook and make a product stand out quickly, while softer and muted colours can communicate calmness, safety, organic quality, or premium care. This helped me understand that colour should not only be chosen because it looks nice, but also because it matches the brand message and product category.

The lecture also introduced different colour harmonies. Complementary colours create strong contrast and energy, analogous colours feel more natural and gentle, and triadic colour schemes can be useful for product ranges with different flavours or variants.

Another important point I learned is that simple colour systems are often easier to remember. If a packaging design uses too many colours, the visual message may become confusing. A clearer colour palette can help customers recognise the brand more easily.

Overall, this lecture helped me understand that colour in packaging is not just decorative. It affects shelf appeal, brand perception, product personality, and customer decision-making.

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PROCESS

The task was to redesign the label for Uncle Jeff Kombucha, a Malaysian sparkling fermented tea brand that uses locally sourced ingredients, pure fruits and spices, and no artificial flavourings. The redesign aimed to make the label more professional, commercially appealing, and suitable for the modern beverage market while still communicating the brand’s local, artisanal, and natural identity.

The target audience includes health-conscious individuals, foodies, supporters of local brands, and consumers looking for healthier low-sugar drink alternatives. The final outcome required a design rationale, realistic bottle mock-up, to-scale label die-line, and Adobe Illustrator source file link.

I began this project by researching the Uncle Jeff Kombucha brand and its existing packaging. From my observation, the original label uses bright and vibrant colours, with the Uncle Jeff mascot as one of the main visual elements. However, the overall information hierarchy was not very clear, and the typography could be improved for better readability. Although the brand communicates handmade, natural, and no artificial flavouring qualities, the current packaging design appears slightly crowded and less refined. Therefore, I decided to focus my redesign direction on improving the label’s visual structure, readability, and natural handcrafted identity.

After that, I explored other kombucha packaging references to better understand the market. I found that many kombucha brands use bold typography, bright colours, and energetic visuals to attract attention. However, Krishi Cress stood out to me because of its clean botanical packaging style, soft cream label, delicate typography, and clear information layout. I felt that this kind of visual approach could help solve Uncle Jeff Kombucha’s existing design issues by making the label look more organised, natural, and commercially appealing.

Based on this research, I developed my proposal around a modern organic minimalist visual direction. This direction combines a clean layout, natural textures, hand-drawn fruit illustration, and muted earthy colours to express Uncle Jeff Kombucha’s local, handcrafted, and refreshing identity.

Next, I selected the flavour for my redesign. While researching Uncle Jeff Kombucha’s Instagram posts, I found that the brand has a passion fruit flavour. Therefore, I chose Passion Fruit as my selected flavour because it has a strong visual identity and allows me to create a clear fruit-based colour palette and illustration.

Figure 1.1 Screenshot of the Passion Fruit Flavour I Found on IG 

According to the passion fruit flavour, I redefined my colour palette. The palette uses a muted earthy colour system, combining warm neutral beige, deep plum, burgundy, olive green, and soft yellow. These colours are inspired by the passion fruit itself, including its purple rind, yellow pulp, green leaves, and natural paper-like background. The palette helps create a natural, handcrafted, and organic feeling while still maintaining contrast and readability.

Figure 1.2 Colour Palette Finally I Choose

For the illustration, I was inspired by Krishi Cress’s use of botanical imagery to communicate natural ingredients. Therefore, I created a hand-drawn passion fruit illustration to highlight Uncle Jeff Kombucha’s use of real fruit, locally sourced ingredients, and handcrafted brewing process. While Krishi Cress uses a more detailed botanical drawing style, I simplified the illustration to make it feel more modern, approachable, and suitable for a minimalist label design.

Figure 1.3 Process of Drawing the Passion Fruit Illustration

For the layout, I carefully analysed the structure of Krishi Cress packaging. Similar to Krishi Cress, I adopted a centred composition by placing the product identity and passion fruit illustration in the middle of the label. This allows the illustration to become the main visual focus and helps customers quickly identify the flavour. The left section is used for the brand story and barcode, while the right section contains functional information such as ingredients, nutrition facts, storage instructions, and contact details. This creates a balanced and easy-to-read label structure.

Throughout the process, I experimented with different layouts, illustration sizes, typography hierarchy, and information arrangements. After several refinements, I finalised a label design that feels more organised, natural, modern, and aligned with Uncle Jeff Kombucha’s handcrafted brand identity.

Figure 1.4 Process of Making the Different Layout 

Below is my final work:

Figure 1.5 Final Layout

Later, I bought an Uncle Jeff Kombucha bottle to understand the real packaging size more accurately. After measuring the original label, I found that the label size was approximately 185 mm wide and 95 mm high. I then adjusted my own label design according to this measurement so that it would fit the actual bottle proportion.

Figure 1.6 Final Label Design in Correct Size

After that, I started creating the mockup. I first used ChatGPT to generate a clean blank mockup of two brown glass kombucha bottles, showing both the front and back label areas. Then, I used Photoshop to place my label design onto the bottles. I adjusted the scale, perspective, and curvature of the label to make it look naturally attached to the bottle surface.

Figure 1.7 Process of Making the Visual Mock-Up

The final mockup shows how my redesigned Uncle Jeff Kombucha label works on a real brown glass bottle. It also helps present the front visual design, back label information, paper texture, and overall premium modern organic direction more clearly.

Figure 1.8 Final Visual Mock-Up

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FINAL SUBMISSION

Google Drive link for Illustrator file：

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uM5JNpwCodTbWL81ZiYqfyb-a3lbAaiR/view?usp=drive_link

Figure 2.1 Final Illustration File

FINAL Label Die-Line

Figure 2.2 Final Label Die-Line

FINAL Design Rationale

Figure 2.3 Final Design Direction - PDF

FINAL Visual  Mock-up

Figure 2.4 Final Visual Mock-Up

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FEEDBACK

Week 6

General Feedback: This week’s class was conducted online. Mr. Shamsul gave us a lecture on Color & Label Design in Packaging, where I learned how colour, label hierarchy, and packaging layout can affect shelf appeal and customer perception. After the lecture, each student presented the progress of Project 1 and received feedback for further improvement.

Specific Feedback：Based on the lecture, I realised that I needed to reconsider and refine the colour palette of my label design. Mr. Shamsul commented that my modern minimalist visual direction was suitable for the Uncle Jeff Kombucha redesign. However, he suggested that I should include a clearer USP to better communicate the product’s unique selling point.

For the typography, Mr. Shamsul mentioned that my font choice was workable, but I still needed to think more carefully about how to display the words “Uncle Jeff Kombucha” and “Sparkling Fermented Tea”. This means I need to improve the typographic hierarchy so that the brand name, product type, and supporting information can be read more clearly.

After I showed my draft design, Mr. Shamsul said that the design was nice and the layout arrangement was okay.

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REFLECTION

Experience

Through this project, I experienced the full process of redesigning a beverage label from research to final mockup. At the beginning, I studied Uncle Jeff Kombucha’s existing packaging and tried to understand the brand’s identity, target audience, and product values. I found that the brand focuses on locally sourced ingredients, pure fruits and spices, and no artificial flavourings, so I wanted my redesign to still preserve its natural and handcrafted identity.

After that, I explored different kombucha packaging references and became interested in the clean botanical style of Krishi Cress. This reference helped me understand how a label can look natural, premium, and commercial at the same time. Based on this, I developed a modern organic minimalist direction for Uncle Jeff Kombucha, using muted colours, a hand-drawn passion fruit illustration, clean typography, and a clearer information hierarchy.

During the design process, I also bought an actual Uncle Jeff Kombucha bottle and measured the original label size. The label was approximately 185 mm wide and 95 mm high, so I adjusted my own design to fit the real bottle proportion. This made the project feel more realistic because I was no longer only designing on screen, but also considering the actual packaging size and bottle shape. Finally, I created the mockup by generating a blank brown glass bottle mockup and applying my label design in Photoshop.

Observation

From my observation, the original Uncle Jeff Kombucha label has a friendly and playful personality, but the visual information appears quite crowded. The typography, illustration, and information arrangement are not very clear, which makes the product look less refined in the modern beverage market. Although the brand has strong values such as handmade quality, natural ingredients, and local identity, these strengths are not fully communicated through the original label design.

I also observed that many kombucha brands use bright colours and energetic visuals to attract attention. However, for my redesign, I wanted to create a more premium and calm visual direction. By using a warm cream background, muted plum, olive green, and soft yellow tones, I was able to connect the colour palette to the passion fruit flavour while still keeping the overall appearance natural and elegant.

Another important observation was that packaging design is not only about making the front label attractive. The side and back label information is also important. Ingredients, nutrition facts, storage instructions, barcode, and contact details need to be arranged clearly so that the packaging looks professional and trustworthy. Therefore, I separated the label into three sections: the front visual identity, the brand story, and the product information.

Finding

From this project, I found that a good redesign should not completely change the original brand identity, but should improve it in a more suitable and professional way. For Uncle Jeff Kombucha, I did not want to remove its natural and local feeling. Instead, I refined the visual direction by making the layout cleaner, the colour palette more controlled, and the illustration more ingredient-focused.

I also learned that real product measurement is very important in packaging design. Before measuring the bottle, the label design only existed as a flat digital artwork. After measuring the actual bottle and adjusting the artwork to 185 mm by 95 mm, I understood how scale, proportion, and label placement affect the final appearance of the packaging.

Another finding is that mockup presentation can strongly influence how the design is perceived. When the label was shown only as a flat file, it was difficult to imagine how it would work on the bottle. After applying it onto a brown glass bottle mockup, the design looked more realistic and complete. This helped me evaluate whether the colours, typography, illustration, and paper texture worked well with the actual bottle.

Overall, this project helped me understand that packaging redesign requires both creativity and practical thinking. The final design needs to be visually appealing, but it also needs to communicate the product clearly, fit the real packaging format, and reflect the brand’s values. Through this process, I became more aware of how colour, typography, illustration, information hierarchy, and mockup presentation work together to create a more professional and commercially suitable label design.