Mohawk Blog

Materials Matter: Voilà — Instant Coffee, Sustainable Design

Words
Mohawk
Photography
DRY SKY Photography
Four Voila packages lined up next to one another

Craft and intentionality from product to packaging.

Voilà is a specialty instant coffee company based out of Bend, Oregon who has pioneered the new wave to create high-end instant coffee. They partner with the best roasters in North America and internationally using the roasters’ beans to expertly craft instant coffee. They’ve managed to make barista-level instant coffee to take with you on a flight, a camping trip, or to the kitchen table.

Voila packages stacked on a beige background

Kent Sheridan, Founder of Voilà, introduced his specialty instant coffee to the market in November 2017. Like many small businesses, the brand and packaging design was initially handled in-house for ease and economy. But after a year and half of growth, Voilà was ready to partner with an outside design studio to redesign both the brand identity and packaging. In essence, it was time for the packaging’s outside to match the quality of the coffee inside.

“[Loop's] uncoated, slightly textured surface was a perfect complement to the kraft material inside; it felt high-quality, refined, yet still natural.”
Jennifer James Wright
Design Director, Citron Studio
A hand holding a packet of Voila Coffee

Long before the rebrand began, Voilà was on a mission to change their coffee packets to a more environmentally conscious material. They ultimately landed on a compostable kraft and in doing so helped inspire the rest of the packaging’s material.

"We loved the high percentage of PCW recycled content in Mohawk Loop, not to mention the FSC certification and carbon-neutral aspect," says Jennifer James Wright, Design Director of Citron Studio. "And as for the tactile qualities, the paper’s uncoated, slightly textured surface was a perfect complement to the kraft material inside; it felt high-quality, refined, yet still natural."

“The marbled artwork has quite a visual texture to it already. We wanted to complement it rather than compete with it, and Mohawk Loop Antique Vellum did just that.”
Jennifer James Wright
Design Director, Citron Studio
Two hands passing Voila Coffee between them

"Loop gave us just the tactile quality we were after," Jennifer states. "The marbled artwork has quite a visual texture to it already. We wanted to complement it rather than compete with it, and Mohawk Loop  Antique Vellum did just that."

The boxes were printed CMYK with all 4 types up on the press sheet. The richness of color and some of the finer dots in the delicate marbled art came out perfectly.

Voila box printed in blue

"There’s such a high degree of craft and intentionality that goes into Voilà’s coffee, and they brought that same degree of intentionality into the packaging materials," Jennifer says. "Coffee comes from some of the most delicate parts of our planet, and it’s small but conscious decisions like these businesses can make that do, in fact, matter."

Client: Voilà Coffee, Bend, OR
Design: Jennifer James Wright, Citron Studio, Austin, TX
Printer: Premier Press, Portland, OR
Merchant: WCP Solutions, Portland, OR

Jennifer James Wright is the creator of A Better Source, a free and public directory of environmentally-conscious resources for planet-loving designers: print, packaging & branding. Currently in development and expected to launch November 2019. For features and updates on environmentally-conscious vendors, products & materials, follow @a_better_source on Instagram.

Production Notes

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Offset Printing Capabilities
4 Color
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PN-designer
Designer
Citron Studio

Materials Used

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