Milky Way Tea Station

Case Study ·

Branding ·

Lettering ·

Product Design ·

Packaging Design

Role

Product Designer

Timeline

Apr 2025 - May 2025

Tools

Illustrator, Photoshop, Pinterest, Milanote

Overview

From logo design, copywriting, packaging, and more, in this project, I designed the visual identity for a space-themed boba shop called Milky Way Tea Station.

Concept

Embark on an intergalactic adventure—destination set for the coziest place in the galaxy. Milky Way Tea Station is a space-themed boba shop and café where every drink is an immersive experience leading to uncharted worlds.

So grab your spacesuit (and a straw). It's time to take a sip beyond the stars.

Mission Statement

At Milky Way Tea Station, we welcome every customer who has a heart for exploration. Whether you’re here for a cosmic caffeine boost or just passing through on a flavor-fueled space quest, one thing’s for certain: every walk of the galaxy is welcome aboard.

Ideate

Every design journey starts with an idea. I knew I wanted to create a space-themed restaurant, but the challenge was determining how to capture that extraterrastrial feeling. Should it feel sleek and futuristic, or nostalgic like classic sci-fi?

Eventually, I landed on a funky, retro vibe that felt both playful and timeless, setting the tone for the moodboards that followed.

Moodboard

While assembling my moodboard, I explored how other designers integrated text and layout to inspire my logo composition. I gathered typography references that captured the groovy energy I envisioned. Knowing I also wanted to create a mascot, I researched iconography from existing bubble tea brands and space-themed visuals to inform my design direction.

Sketches

With my moodboard assembled, I began drawing some initial sketches.

Iterations

I explored several directions before finalizing a name for the brand. My first concept, Astronotea—a play on "astronomy" and "tea"—was a fun pun, but the more I said it out loud, the more I felt it lacked readability. I also considered Orbit Tea House, which felt more straightforward. Ultimately, I chose Milky Way Tea Station.

I also went through several mascot designs and poses, experimenting with different astronaut and rover concepts. With boba shops being such a saturated market where I'm located (San Fernando Valley), developing a unique and memorable personality felt essential. I looked for imaginative ways to incorporate bubble tea, leading to ideas like a boba-fueled jetpack.

Branding

After narrowing down what I liked and didn't like during the ideation phase, I chose my favorite designs and brought them into Illustrator to make more polished versions.

Using these assets, I then put together the finalized branding for Milky Way Tea Station, including a primary and secondary logo, wordmark, icon, and pattern. Here is how it turned out.

Color Palette

Lettering

The primary typography was made using a custom, hand-crafted font. Building on the design direction established during ideation, I aimed for letterforms that felt bubbly and youthful—alluding to the bubbliness of tapioca—while still capturing that retro, groovy feel.

Storytelling

To give the brand more life and personality, I created a fun backstory where each drink at Milky Way Tea Station represents a different region in a fictional galaxy. This narrative helped build a sense of adventure and discovery beyond just visuals. Here's a sample body copy:

Long ago, in a distant corner of the cosmos, a curious crew of intergalactic tea brewers discovered a swirling star system overflowing with flavor—the Bobalaxian Cluster. Each planet, moon, and asteroid was steeped in its own unique essence, from the lush matcha jungles of Verdantha, to the sweet, sun-kissed mango groves of Solara. The crew set up a humble outpost at the heart of it all: Milky Way Tea Station, a spaceport café where travelers from every corner of the universe could stop, sip, and swap stories.

Mascot

Say hello to Orbit the Boba-naut, the cheerful astronaut at the heart of Milky Way Tea Station. Always ready for adventure, Orbit invites fellow explorers to join him on his flavor-filled journey across the tastiest corners of the galaxy.

Rendering

To get a glimpse of how this brand may exist in real life, I made several conceptual renderings, including packaging and promotional items.

Packaging

Extending the brand experience beyond the restaurant, to-go carriers feature playful, space-themed farewells ensuring that the cosmic vibe stays with customers even after they leave.

Promotional Items

Rather than discarding earlier design iterations, I revisted my initial sketches and repurposed them to create merchandise, as seen with these stickers. For every order, a customer can collect an accompanying sticker, creating an interactive and rewarding experience for returning customers.

After a customer has collected enough stickers, they can redeem rewards like discounts, free drinks, or a postcard commemorating their successful "exploration" of that drink flavor.

For any customers who use Milky Way Tea Station as a cozy spot to study or get work done, these branded notebooks and mousepads offer the perfect functional keepsake.

Takeaways

Reflection

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed designing the visual identity for Milky Way Tea Station. Bringing my initial sketches to life through storytelling and mockups was a deeply fulfilling process. Because this was mostly a solo project, I was allowed to fully explore my vision without constaints and indulge my creative preferences. It would have been interesting, however, to see how outside feedback could have pushed the concept in new and unexpected directions. What would change if there was a client telling me "no"? Or a team member offering a different perspective?

Still, I am proud of how this project developed and believe it has more design potential to explore. If I were to continue expanding on Milky Way Tea Station, I would love to do it with more creative collaboration.