Pharmacvet. Herbal tea Botanical Illustration

During the Exp 1 Botanical Illustration class, we delved into the study of botanical illustration and experimented with materials and styles. We explored different approaches to depicting plants and the possibilities of placing them on graphic products.

A little background

When I was a little girl, I often spent summers with my grandparents in the countryside. There we often went for a walk in the field, bringing after a walk a whole bunch of wildflowers. Grandmother put some of the plants in a vase, and then she brewed some into tea. That's when my love for herbal teas began. I am fascinated by the idea of how flowers grown in the middle of nowhere can be not only amazingly beautiful but also useful for health.

Idea

I decided to make illustrations of field plants that are part of Russian herbal teas. I chose a real-life brand of tea Pharmaсvet, which is sold in pharmacies. Pharmacvet is a herbal tea collected from different parts of Russia. It consists of natural herbs that have a positive effect on health. It is generally used to support immunity but can be used as a healthy alternative to regular teas.

Moodboard 1

At the first stage of the work, I made a moodboard of photographs of plants that I would like to depict in the final illustration and tea packages.

Moodboard 2

Next, I made a moodboard of pictures that are similar in style to what I want to portray. I chose the style of detailed graphics.

Concept

The Pharmacvet tea illustration design project is designed to take herbal tea to the next level. The current generation is increasingly interested in their health issues. Unfortunately, the assortment presented in Russian pharmacies does not meet modern design trends and does not look attractive to the young part of the audience.

The current generation loves aesthetics. They would be pleased to put the aesthetic packaging on the shelf or take a photo on Instagram, instead of hiding the pack of tea in the cupboard after purchase.

Work process

Initially, I started my illustrations on paper. I used a gel pen and black liner to give thin and crisp lines. After that, I scanned the images and converted them to vector in Adobe Illustrator.

I tried many different styles and settled on detailed hand-crafted black and white graphics.