Tino Nyman’s identity for TeeMaa conveys the Helsinki-based tea room’s subtlety and sophistication

After finishing their academic studies in the early 2010s, Peng Luo and Xinyuan Sui decided to make their stay in Helsinki permanent after falling in love with the Nordic country. A decade later, the duo have founded TeaMaa, a boutique tea room that combines their adoration for Nordic culture with their interest in traditional Chinese tea practice. Looking to shape their unique story whilst conveying the delicacy and expertise of their practice, Helsinki neighbour and graphic designer Tino Nyman took to crafting TeeMaa’s visual identity – working in tandem with the development of the tea room’s interior design led by interior architecture office Yatofu. Partnering typographic subtlety with an understated approach to composition, the resulting graphic system embodies the quality and sophistication of TeeMaa; drawing on themes of organic forms, raw materials and space found within its interior. This earthly sense of honesty and tactility is conveyed in the contrasting wordmark; which is primarily constructed from Boulevard LAB’s BL Arctic, with the tea room’s initial instead taking the form of Typefaces of The Temporary State’s Panama Italic. “It was also important to bring a delicate and humane tone of voice from the tea world into the logo’s visual appearance,” Nyman tells us, “without going too soft and cliche;” allowing the wordmark to stand out without straying too far away from the ambience of the tea room and surrounding identity system. Typographically translating this ambience, Nyman opted for Schick Toikka’s Lateral and Bretagne’s Cucina as TeeMaa’s accompanying typefaces; elegantly pairing them with the wordmark. Discussing as much, Nyman explains, “I wanted the main typeface to be very clear and discreet, with small and fine details,” adding, “the Lateral font family met all of those properties,” balancing character, consistency and functionality. “I choose Cucina to highlight information and create a more personal tone of voice,” he recalls, noting its shared characteristics with the wordmark. “It’s elegant in a contemporary way,” Nyman adds, “where old-fashioned aesthetics have been modernised,” bringing with it a softness and unique detail.