BrandingDirection Artistique

Artisanat de Saba

Brand identity

Artisanat de Saba is a brand of Ethiopian artisanal products: oils, spices, tea, honey. It had to hold two promises at once, rarity and authenticity on one side, a quiet elegance on the other, without ever falling into decorative exoticism. The principle is set on the first page of the brand book: luxury and tradition are not opposites, they meet in selection, precision and sincerity.

Client
Artisanat de Saba
Role
Brand identity
Year
2025
The starting point

The original brief was about packaging. On opening the file, the existing logotype proved too weak to carry it: it lacked legibility and character, and dressing dozens of references with it would only have spread the problem. The studio therefore proposed widening the scope to the identity itself, rather than executing a brief whose limit it could see. It is a textbook case of what vdb creation often does: answer the brief that was set, and flag the one that should have been.

Artisanat de Saba logotype, monogram and name in cream on a terracotta background
Typography page from the Artisanat de Saba brand book: Lora and its alphabet on terracotta
Four Artisanat de Saba nigella oil bottles, arched labels in four different colours
The approach

The name written in Amharic becomes the icon

The logotype pairs an elegant typeface with a symbol drawn from the Amharic alphabet. The icon is the joining of the two characters that read Saba: the brand's name written in the script of its own country, not an abstract shape loosely inspired by it. It can also be read as a dot, standing for the journey. Everything else follows the same logic of rootedness. The primary colour is warm and mineral, it evokes the soil; ten tertiary tones carry the real diversity of the range, leaves, seeds, bark, oils and natural pigments; and Lora, a classic, warm serif, carries the brand's steady voice.

Artisanat de Saba icon: the two Ge'ez characters of the word saba interlocked, outlined in cream on terracotta
Artisanat de Saba palette in arch shapes: terracotta primary, its dark shade, cream secondary and ten tertiary tones
Two kraft pouches of Artisanat de Saba Ethiopian Classic Chai, with sea green and olive arch labels
Jar of Artisanat de Saba clover honey, cream label with a terracotta arch and a metal lid
Three Artisanat de Saba packs: a spice shaker with a black cap, a windowed spice pouch and a chai tube

The ten tertiary tones find their use on the packaging, where each product family gets its own: the oil bottles, the spice and tea pouches, the honey. That is what tells one reference from another on a shelf without multiplying logos, and lets a new product be added later without reopening the guidelines. The shop window applies the same restraint: the mineral colour holds the background, the Amharic logotype stays the only sign, and the products do the rest of the work.

What was delivered
  • Full brand identity modernisation
  • Logotype and icon drawn from the Amharic alphabet
  • Dozens of packaging designs, across every range
Results

A brand system that produces labels

labels generated from a single product spreadsheet
72
products labelled, from spices to honey
34
pages of brand guidelines
15

Counted on 28/09/2026 in the project files

How we work

Before, during, after: the same method on every project

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  1. Before

    Discovery

    We get to know the project, ask our questions and talk it through with you.

  2. Before

    Inspiration and direction

    We gather inspiration and set a direction with you, before anything gets created.

  3. During

    Creation

    The heart of the project, paced by regular back and forth with you.

  4. After

    Delivery and testing

    We deliver, then check with you that everything works.

  5. After

    Handover and adjustments

    We train you and help you get to grips with the material. Your feedback is taken on board to fine-tune it.

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