Karma Cola: Drink No Evil

Emails from old friends, normally a reason for some level of joy, an excuse for a catch-up but one email I received early in the spring of 2014 had a whole other great, fizzy, meaning.

The email in question was from Simon Coley, one of the founders of All Good, an NZ company which started imported fair trade bananas and now makes the very excellent Karma Cola. When I first knew Simon it was 1998 and he was a running a small design firm from his canal-side warehouse in Hackney, I was one of his freelancers. We designed together, had a laugh, generally got on.

17 years on Simon was saying "hi" but also seeking a bit of help with design work to help promote Karma Cola (and brand mates Lemony Lemonade and Gingerella Ginger Ale) here in the UK. The story of of these drinks is a great, a tale of great tasting pop (The Guardian said so), made using natural ingredients, entertainingly branded with profits being ploughed back into supporting communities in Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka and Sicily.

Karma Cola has been popping up in select cafés and bars across London and beyond for the last year now and this week launched a the Drink No Evil campaign to coincide with having take-out packs in Waitrose shops and a tie-in with top burger joint Honest Burger.

Here at OneAnother, also by the same canal in Hackney, we've been making books and zines for Karma Cola and are looking forward to spreading the word and brand of Karma Cola for years to come. It's also lovely to have an excuse to chat with an old mate.