At work, we have Flavia coffee machines that make a single cup of coffee. You select the coffee blend you want, stick the packet in the machine, press a couple of buttons, and you get a freshly brewed cup of coffee (I don’t drink coffee, so I can’t vouch for the taste or quality).

The brewing machine (image from Flavia):

flavia brewer

I noticed this week, Flavia, a division of Mars (the M&Ms and Snickers people), redesigned their logo and their coffee packets. From an October 2008 press release:

After launching almost 25 years ago, Mars ® Drinks is proud to unveil a brand refresh for FLAVIA ®, its groundbreaking linke of single-serve beverage systems. With a new tagline – “Think Fresh” – as well as exciting new packaging, FLAVIA ® will make freshness, choice and convenience center stage to further solidify its role as a leader in workplace beverages.

Mars ® Drinks knows how important fresh, quality beverages are to keep employees’ workdays running smoothly and its FLAVIA’s unique 3-step process, Source. Seal. Serveâ„¢, does just that: ensures each delicious cup is fresh and full of authentic flavor. FLAVIA’s new brand elements showcase this dedication, highlighting the freshness of the beverages each and every time they are served.

“Our new packaging features crisp and modern designs, showcasing the authentic ingredients inside every FLAVIA pack,” said Nick Branden, General Manager, Mars Drinks North America. “We are passionalte about freshness and want our customers to know that only FLAVIA fresh packs are specifically designed to make sure that each beverage tastes as fresh as if it was brewed at the source of origin.”

Here are some snaps I took of the old and new coffee packets at work:

flavia coffee packets

flavia coffee packets

flavia coffee packets

flavia coffee packets

flavia coffee packets

flavia coffee packets

The logo is curious, mostly upper-case with a giant, lower-case ‘f’ at the beginning of the wordmark. The “lavia” characters go well together, even the check-mark-esque ‘v,’ but the ‘f’ seems tacked-on to the more cohesive remainder of the wordmark. Furthermore, the descender of the ‘f’ looks prematurely cut-off by the encasing oval. But with the slightly italicized and less-bold typeface, the new logo is less imposing than the old logo and is simplified by the removal of the wisp-like extensions on the white shape behind the text.

The new packaging is also less imposing and is far more attractive and elegant than the old packaging. Solid black has been replaced with an expanded color range to differentiate the several coffee blends and coffee bean photography that is as attractive as coffee bean photography comes.

For the coffee bean photography, having individual coffee bean photography for each coffee blend would have given the blends and their packaging a little more uniqueness. French roast, house blend, and Italian roast use the same bean photo.

Overall, the new packaging is a success. The product is more attractive and inviting, and the design is still clean and simple, which is always a winner in my book.