Bobaboca, a family-owned business with over 20 years of experience in Taiwanese milk tea, has established itself as Costa Rica’s premier importer of bubble tea ingredients, utensils, and machinery. Originally a cozy Mom-and-Pop boba store in Minneapolis, the brand expanded into an import company, bringing their expertise to a growing market. Bobaboca needed a visual identity that reflected the warmth and playfulness of bubble tea while standing out in a competitive wholesale environment.
As a budding business venture, Bobaboca wanted a versatile branding solution without overcommitting resources to highly curated designs for each product line. They required a single, adaptable label design that could serve as a unifying visual element across their diverse range of wholesale products. This label needed to function as the brand’s face while being flexible for multiple applications.
To gain insight into Bobaboca’s roots, I spoke with the founders about their original bubble tea shop in Minnesota. They fondly described a large chalkboard menu, adorned with hand-drawn illustrations and custom typography, which had been a focal point of the store’s identity. This piece served as a key reference point for the brand’s aesthetic.
I also examined leading bubble tea brands globally, analyzing how they used playful designs to evoke the joyful nature of boba. Additionally, I reviewed branding strategies of large-scale wholesale competitors in the U.S., focusing on how they balanced professionalism with visual appeal.
Drawing from the chalkboard menu’s charm, I aimed to create a playful, custom-letterform logo that encapsulated the happiness bubble tea brings. This approach emphasized an approachable design to attract customers while maintaining a sense of fun and energy. The logo would be complemented by botanical and boba-inspired elements to fill negative space, symbolizing the organic and vibrant nature of the product.
After several iterations, I developed a bold, saturated color palette to give the label a striking presence on shelves. The logo design featured playful, rounded typography reminiscent of the handcrafted charm of Bobaboca’s original chalkboard art.
To tie the branding together, I created a series of botanical and bubble tea-inspired graphics, which could be used as background elements or to fill negative space on the label. The client requested consistency across their product lines, so I designed three cohesive label variations, ensuring all maintained a unified aesthetic while remaining adaptable for different applications.
The final design included a custom logo that embodied Bobaboca’s personality—playful yet professional. Paired with bright, saturated colors and whimsical botanical motifs, the branding exuded the joy and energy of bubble tea while appealing to a broad audience. This unified label design became the face of the brand, seamlessly integrating across all wholesale products and establishing a strong visual identity.
Bobaboca’s new branding successfully conveyed the company’s roots and values, helping them stand out in a crowded market. The cohesive design reflected the warmth and happiness that bubble tea represents, resonating with both wholesale buyers and casual consumers. The flexible label system allowed Bobaboca to scale their product offerings without compromising their visual identity, setting them up for continued growth in the Costa Rican market.