Five Roses Tea Re-Design

I’m originally from Johannesburg, South Africa and over these past Christmas holidays, I found myself thinking a lot about old-favorite comfort foods - one of which is “Five Roses” tea.

Everybody in South Africa has a box of Five Roses tea in their house.  It’s what you offer up when your aunt is visiting, what you share with friends during an overdue catch-up and how you mend a bad day. Tea is an important means to relax and connect back home and given that I couldn’t travel to South Africa during the pandemic, I thought about how I might feel in touch with that pastime.

As a personal project during the holiday break, I decided to re-imagine the classic red and silver tea box design in American traditional tattoo style. The tattoo style is something I have consistently used for inspiration in drawings….and so, I made the illustration was a way to combine the ~INK I lOVE~ from my current home with the ~DRINK I LOVE~ from my old home.