2024
BRIEF
Asaawa is a Ghanaian drinks brand bringing a taste of home to the diaspora. Named after the Ashanti Adinkra symbol for sweet berry, representing sweetness, love, and generosity, it celebrates heritage through natural, preservative-free drinks made with Ghanaian ingredients in the UK.
The identity blends modern minimalism with cultural richness, creating a look that feels premium yet welcoming.
THE CHALLENGE
In a market where competitors often lack storytelling, Asaawa needed an identity that stood out, shared its origin story, and reflected its commitment to sustainability and authenticity.
THE CONCEPT
A minimalist logo inspired by the Adinkra symbol anchors the identity, supported by illustrations and a brand pattern for character and cohesion. Clean typography and a balanced colour palette bridge tradition and modernity.
THE LOGO SUITE
The brand features a flexible logo system, with each variation available in both a standalone format and an option that includes the tagline:
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Primary Logo: Full mark with slogan, ideal for packaging, signage, and hero placements.
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Secondary Logo: Compact version for smaller formats like social media avatars.
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Wordmark: Text-only variant for when space is limited.
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Logomark: Iconic symbol, versatile for stamps, merchandise, and subtle branding.
TYPOGRAPHY
The font pairing was chosen for contrast and clarity:
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Auster (Medium): A modern, confident primary typeface used for titles, headers, and key statements.
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Noto Sans (Condensed Light): A simple, legible secondary font for body copy and supporting text.
This combination balances warmth and precision, ensuring the brand feels consistent and at home on an event banner as it does on a bottle label.
PALETTE
The palette reflects ASAAWA’s dual identity:
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Primary Palette: Black and cream, representing timeless elegance and minimalism.
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Secondary Palette:
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Red for Sobolo
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Gold for Palm Wine
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Green for Pito
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APPLICATIONS
The identity was designed to work across both digital and physical platforms - from bottle labels and shelf displays to event backdrops, merch, and social media graphics. Mockups showcase the brand in real-world contexts, emphasising its versatility and premium feel.
BOTTLE LABEL DESIGNS
This created design concept for the labels designs are simple, illustrative and abstract shapes attaining characteristics of each product and it’s flavour profiles. This is a way of showing synaesthesia in the concept. Each product has it’s own colour linking to the Ghanaian flag, chosen based on what each colour and product represents. The label designs should work as a standalone concept but should also look cohesive as a range when next to each other and as if they are representing the Asaawa brand.
Sobolo is a refreshing drink made from roselle hibiscus flowers, steeped in hot water and infused with fruit and warm spices. Deep purple-red in colour, its flavour sits between grape and cranberry juice.
The illustrations draw from its sweet warmth, spice, floral notes, and juiciness, captured in a simple yet expressive style.
Pito is a fermented beer made from sorghum millet, popular in Ghana, Nigeria, and other regions where it’s also called chibuku. Amber to dark in colour, it has a subtly sweet yet slightly sour flavour.
The illustrations reflect this balance, capturing the contrast between its two defining tastes.
IMPACT
Asaawa is more than a drinks brand, it’s a story in a bottle.
The brand identity captures nostalgia, cultural pride, and the warmth of sharing something meaningful with others. Every detail, from the typography to the colour accents, was chosen to represent the brand’s promise: bringing a taste of home to the diaspora
