Cafe Guardiao Packaging Redesign

The inspiration emerged from a deep immersion in the cooperative and its values. The starting point was the name of the city itself: São Gabriel da Palha. Saint Gabriel is an archangel, a guardian. From that single observation, a whole system of meaning unfolded: the concept of a guardian watching over the beans, the farmers, and the consumer became the soul of the brand. Conilon coffee carries a historical stigma of low quality; the design sought to overcome this through visual nobility, celebrating the unique characteristics of this 100 percent pure and genuinely Brazilian coffee variety.

The main focus was repositioning. The Guardião line already existed but carried negative brand memory from a prior launch that had not worked. We needed a complete visual break from that history while remaining authentic to the cooperative origin. We wanted the packaging to open doors to retail chains that had previously been closed to the brand, and to communicate premium quality convincingly at the point of sale, alongside competitors with far greater communication investment.

The project has already delivered concrete results: revenue doubled. Café Guardião is now ready to take flight across Brazil and beyond.

The concept crystallized when we understood that Saint Gabriel was not just a religious reference, but a powerful symbol already connected to the name, the territory and the emotional meaning of the coffee. Cafe Guardiao is produced in São Gabriel da Palha, a region where coffee is one of the main sources of livelihood. The name had been chosen by a priest to express the belief that this coffee, and the people behind it, were blessed and protected by the Archangel Gabriel.From that point on, the guardian became the soul of the brand. The wings were not used as decoration, but as a visual metaphor for protection. They watch over the farmers, the beans and the consumer within the same narrative. For Tipz, the challenge was to transform this cultural and spiritual reference into a commercial packaging system capable of working on the shelf.Personally, it was meaningful because we were not creating a fictional story for the brand. We were giving visual form to a truth that already existed in its origin. The best part of the project was turning this invisible feeling of protection into something consumers could immediately see, understand and trust.

The research showed that the problem was not only visual. It was about perception, confidence and purchase intent. During our immersion at Cooabriel, the shelf audits across Greater Vitória and the interviews with directors, cuppers and retail partners, we understood that Conilon coffee had strong quality and regional relevance, but the previous packaging did not communicate that value clearly enough.The redesign translated those insights into direct visual decisions. We created a stronger shelf block, a more organized information hierarchy, a distinctive color system for each line and a visual language that combined accessibility with greater perceived quality. The cream pack for Traditional and the deep teal pack for Extra Forte helped differentiate the products clearly while maintaining the same brand universe. The archangel wings, the seal, the typography and the cooperative signature worked together to create trust at first sight.The first documented result was a 45 percent increase in sales volume for the Traditional line. In a later assessment, that growth reached 100 percent, meaning sales had effectively doubled. For us, this confirms that packaging design is not only about making a product look better. When guided by research, it can change perception, open doors in retail and generate measurable business results.

Conilon coffee often carries a perception challenge, especially when compared to Arabica. Our intention was not to disguise Conilon or make it look like something else. The goal was to reveal its own value with dignity, craft and confidence.The engraving-style illustration brought a sense of heritage, detail and permanence. It helped connect the product to agricultural tradition and to the idea of something carefully protected. The matte lamination created a more refined tactile experience, inviting consumers to look closer and handle the package with more attention. The deep teal substrate moved the brand away from generic category codes and gave it a distinctive, premium presence on shelf.Together, these elements created visual nobility without losing the product’s regional truth. I believe design-led repositioning can help agricultural products change the way they are perceived when it respects their origin instead of hiding it. In this case, design helped Conilon speak with more authority, proving that a regional product can carry cultural depth, commercial value and international design relevance.