Design Feature Series: The White Tiger Custom Mailer for Netflix

The Story & Inspiration

This is the third installment of our promotional mailer series. Last week we shared the beautiful mailers we designed for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and the previous week we gave you Dick Johnson Is Dead. Our next project with Netflix was a custom promotional mailer to launch the film, The White Tiger. This multicultural film is based on the novel of the same name by Aravind Adiga. She tells a story about how a rickshaw driver’s son becomes a chauffeur for a rich Indian family, and uses the connections made on the job, plus wit and grit, to become a successful businessman and entrepreneur 

Our ultimate goal with this mailer was to create a celebration of Indian culture and this magnificently diverse country. 

The Design Process

We were first inspired by the bright and bold color palette of the novel, as well as the marketing material for the film, so the exterior of the box boasts a beautiful jeweled blue hue. Inside the box we covered the custom foam insert that was holding the gifts in a delicate cane paper. This special paper is reminiscent of real wood caning which added texture and was a subtle ode to the number of intricate woven materials in the film. 

As intentional designers, we carefully curate a selection of products that are chosen in part by where the item comes from and who makes it. For this project, we wanted to use as many Indian vendors as possible and were able to partner with an Indian-owned tea company, as well as an Indian-American chocolatier to create the contents for the mailer. We wrapped both the teas and the chocolates in a printed sleeve to create a cohesive look and add pops of traditional colors featured in the film. 

The Netflix team also included an UberEats gift card so recipients could order dinner while watching the virtual premiere of the film. We created a custom paper vessel with a gorgeous gold foil treatment to house the ‘premiere ticket’ to the film as well as the gift card. On the paper, the gold foil featured a title treatment, as well as the New Delhi skyline (where the movie takes place) to add a pop of shine. The final item we included was a delicate gold tea strainer as an ode to the tea shop the main character worked in to start his journey at the beginning of the movie! It was a fun little surprise when recipients lifted up the marketing materials. 

Celebrating diverse cultures and elevating minority-owned businesses is a true passion of ours at Savvy Events, so creating this mailer was an honor, to say the least.