ARCHITECTURE & INTERIOR / HONG KONGMOTHER PEARL
A pioneering advocate for the healthy teahouses in Hong Kong, Mother Pearl encapsulates the deeply immersive bubble tea drinking experience through its magical concoctions, serving as a vessel for the sensations that emerge from sipping bubble tea, the negative space in its icon evolves with seasonal and flavour changes.
Words by:
A Work of Substance
Photography by:
Mother Pearl
Social:
https://www.aworkofsubstance.com/en/
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“When sipping bubble tea, the spring-loaded pearls of tapioca instantly demands our attention. Confronted by the unapologetic chew of the pearls, we unconsciously transcend into a state of unexpected satisfaction.”
The challenge of this project Mother Pearl was to create a new brand identity for a vegan bubble tea shop, a pioneering advocate for healthy teahouses in Hong Kong. During our research for this project, we recognised that bubble tea drinkers drew an immense amount of delight and happiness from bubble tea. Unlike coffee, there is an element of surprised and an expected reaction based on the interactions with the wide variety of drink choices. For many, drinking bubble tea is an indulging ritual, a momentary escape from the world.
With an opportunity to revolutionise the traditional bubble tea landscape in Asia, our approach was to create a simple and memorable brand identity system that resonates with its ambitions to scale globally.
Thoughtful, eco-conscious and innovative, Mother Pearl encapsulates the deeply immersive bubble tea drinking experience through its magical concoctions. Driven by Asian heritage ingredients, Mother Pearl’s flagship store embodied the brand’s vision of providing a cleaner, more sustainable beverage option for today’s savviest of consumers through its branding and interior design.
Serving as a vessel for the delightful sensations that emerge, the icon’s negative space evolves with seasonal and flavour changes. The humanist sans-serif in the logotype reflects Mother Pearl’s handcrafted teas, mimicking the imperfect nature of human process in the contrast of its strokes and counters.
Highlighting the beauty that lies within raw materiality, the sand blasted glass menu and terracotta brick walls reflect the clean and pure ingredients that make Mother Pearl’s drinking experience an indulgent yet guilt-free pleasure. Within the 350 sq. ft shop, we used glass and raw materials to bring dimensionality to the space and to reflect sustainability aspect of the brand, while ensuring that the brand had the ability to scale globally.
From the cloud of pearl-shaped lights floating above, to the dark olive green façade that opens a portal to a mystical universe, Mother Pearl expresses dimension through its organic materiality, drawing the consumer deeper into the sweetness of the present.
