Verve Coffee Roasters approached us to design packaging for their first-ever coffee brewing product—a silicone coffee pourover dripper. Released in seven vibrant colors with a matching coffee scoop, the dripper is made from 100% BPA-free silicone for durability, ease of use, and travel-friendliness. Verve’s suspended coffee filter design is inspired by Japanese single-use brewers, and the bottomless brew feature results in a perfect cup of coffee every time. And such a well-designed product deserved a paper-based companion. In the packaging brief, Verve wanted to showcase the product on shelves to create a theatrical display while also ensuring protection during transit. These requirements would help to maintain cost efficiency for both production and logistics. Founded in Santa Cruz in 2007, Verve has steadily grown to become one of the most respected and sustainable small batch roasters in the coffee industry. They now have eleven café locations across California and seven in Japan and were named the 2024 Roaster of the Year by Roast Magazine. Now that they were ready to extend their coffee knowledge to brewing devices, we wanted to create packaging that would showcase the Dwell Dripper so that customers could interact with the product while waiting in line. Using only E-flute cardboard and printed SBS, we created a single-part dieline that folds into a triangle structure with an easy-grab handle. It’s a cozy home for the Dripper, designed as both stage and storage to highlight the product colors and features. There’s even a separate compartment for the Zenpack-designed coffee scoop. Freshly made drink in one hand, Dripper in the other, customers leave the store with the coolest new brewing device (and packaging). The project began with a general exploration of the packaging form. We wanted the packaging to feel like an accessory bag—something people could carry out of the store with pride, as if they were showing it off. Strong shelf presence, product reveal, protection, and a pleasant unboxing experience were the key pillars of our design approach. As the design progressed through various form factors, we landed on a triangular shape inspired by paper bag lunches. The form quickly evolved with unique yet functional attributes, including a large, sturdy handle, a side-locking mechanism, and a platform that not only served as a locking feature for the Dripper but also provided simple storage for the scoop. While the Dripper is sold online, we wanted to catch people while they waited in line at Verve. The extra bottom layer puts the dripper center stage, perched on the shelves like a freshly bagged lunch with the customer’s name on it. During the packaging design process, the Verve team approached us about designing the coffee scoop. While it crossed into product design, we treated it as an extension of the unboxing experience, expanding the overall branding from the product to its packaging and accessories. They initially wanted a metal scoop with a thin wire handle, but we continually returned to the curves and edges of the silicone dripper. The Verve product designers maximized silicone’s best features, so we matched their approach with a scoop with the same angles, shapes, and radii as the dripper. The packaging engineering process focused on production efficiency. We developed a single-part dieline to streamline the design into a few simple folds. The result was a flattenable die-cut structure, allowing for maximum shipping efficiency per container. Even though the dieline is intricate, the manufacturing team can layout the T-shaped dielines like puzzle pieces to minimize raw material waste during the printing and die-cutting process. The packaging is made using E-flute with white kraft and a 250gsm SBS facer, lithographically printed in CMYK with one spot color. We incorporated a slightly thicker medium liner to ensure the intricate cutouts were well-supported. The entire packaging was paper-based, containing approximately 60% recycled content, making it easily recyclable in curbside programs. The Dwell Dripper itself has received lots of positive reviews in the coffee world, with CNET noting that “coffee brew-at-home newbies and seasoned coffee snobs will both get a lot out of it.” As for the packaging, the Dieline Awards 2025 has awarded the Dwell Dripper packaging with a 1st Place Award in the Household Maintenance & Home Improvement category. The packaging was also named to the Pentawards 2025 Shortlist in the Household Goods category.
Dwell Dripper for Verve Coffee Roasters
A custom cardboard creation for the perfect cup of coffee
The Problem
The Outcome
Challenges
Solution
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