Project
Overview
Karla Kahvi is a local business owner looking to open up a coffee shop in a great, new neighborhood. She is looking to serve coffee, loose leaf tea, baked goods, and sandwiches. These offerings will include gluten-free and vegan options. She is an expert in all things finance and management, and needs someone to create her brand identity. This will include a color scheme, typescale, collection of brand images, logo, icon pair, and social media headers. To bring it all together, she wants it all packaged in a brand style guide.
My role in the project was to design a brand that compliments her products that her neighborhood will love. I was responsible for communicating with Karla directly. She was happy to completely hand over the reins for the design portion of her company’s brand. I checked in frequently for Karla’s input. This style guide will inform the branding of Midnight Brew’s website, printed menus, flyers, business cards, and promotional coffee cups and t-shirts.
Roles
- Brand Designer
Deliverables
- Color Scheme
- Type Scale
- Collection of Brand Images
- Logo
- Icon Pair
- Social Media Header
- Brand Style Guide
Goals
- Create Community
- Incite Inclusiveness
- Facilitate Coziness
- Spark Creativity
- Inspire Intellectual Collaboration
Mission and Target Audience
I began my research for this project by spending time in some of my own favorite coffee shops. I found that a cup of coffee is not the biggest product being sold. Buying coffee from a coffee shop is simply a toll we pay to be in the presence of others, or simply not be at home. I asked my own community of young professionals and found they yearn for a third space in their lives. A place that is not home and not the office to socialize, create, and work. I wanted Karla’s coffee shop to be a third space for a community of students, professionals, friends, and creators alike. This inspired this ethos:
“Where creative and intellectual minds gather to cultivate a more vibrant community, day and night.“
“We want to give neighborhood locals a place to thrive. Great ideas are born in creative places. Coffee is a staple for creating innovative ideas fostering a more well-rounded and vibrant community.“
Approach
Color and Typography
To create a color scheme that fit the brand of Midnight Brew, I tried to find colors that were artistic, cozy, creative, and intellectual.
The main colors of blue and gold mesh both the whimsical and intellectual sides of Midnight Brew. The accents of mocha brown and mauve give the brand the relaxing vibe of any coffeeshop.
I wanted the brand font to be something that might look like cursive handwriting or drawing sketches. I settled on Fredrick the Great because it was readable and has the essence of something hand drawn. I chose a serif font for other large texts because of its readability and allusions to a text book or newspaper.
User Persona
Karla was interested in having the shop open in the evenings for more business opportunities. This supported the brand I wanted to create to be inclusive of the folks who conjure their most creativity at night. Eventually spurring the name of the coffee shop: Midnight Brew.
Based on this criteria, I created a user persona for a young student who might study with his friends at Midnight Brew on the regular.
Design
Logo Design
The logo was created using a series of artificial intelligence prompts in Adobe Illustrator. I experimented with more flat designs that did not bring the vitality that Midnight Brew will bring to its community. I ended with an intricate moon design that gives both whimsy and sophistication to the logo. This AI-assisted design is a vector image and therefore can be used at any size. The logo can be used on light backgrounds like coffee cups as well as dark backgrounds for menus and flyers.
Iconography
Do's
- Use brand colors
- Use light gradients to avoid flatness
Dont's
- Use off-brand colors or black
Icons Used For
- Menus
- Navigation
- Promotionals
- Business Cards
- Posters
Site Images
I compiled images to illustrate different aspects of the Midnight Brew brand including collaboration, community, coziness, late-night creativity, and of course, delicious coffee!
Social Media
In this day and age, every company advertises on social media. I created a few templates for banners that could also be easily converted to flyers or other ads for Midnight Brew.
Conclusion
After 3 months of collaborating with Karla, Midnight Brew is ready for business! This project was a convergence many Adobe Suite products. I used Adobe Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop and Figma to bring this brand to life. Karla is ready to get her brand out there to create a space her community has been looking for.
