A neighborhood coffee shop that looked like a stock photo. We gave it a personality worth ordering from.
Timeline
3 weeks
Sketch to launch-ready files
Deliverables
4 pieces
Logo suite, brand guide, packaging, social templates
Category
Branding
Identity + packaging system
Project type
Concept
Studio sandbox — not a paid client engagement
the challenge
Citrus Cafe existed. That was about it. Good coffee, loyal regulars, and a logo that looked like fourteen other “sun and leaf” coffee marks pulled from the same template pack. Nothing on the cup, the bag, or the sign said this place has a personality — which meant nothing gave a new customer a reason to remember it walking past.
We set ourselves the brief the way we’d set it for a real client: build an identity punchy enough to survive a glance across a crowded street, warm enough to still feel like a neighborhood spot, and flexible enough to live on everything from a cup sleeve to an Instagram story — without turning into fifty disconnected assets nobody can keep straight.
the approach
We skipped the citrus-and-leaf cliches and dug into what actually made this place worth a detour — the corner-store energy, the regulars, the not-too-serious attitude.
A single, confident wordmark and sun badge that reads at business-card size and three storeys tall — no redraws needed either way.
Cup, bag, sandwich board, Instagram grid — every touchpoint got sketched together so nothing felt bolted on after the fact.
If a mark didn’t hold up printed on a single-color receipt printer, it didn’t make the final cut.
If it doesn’t hold up in black and white, it doesn’t ship.
the deliverables
what this demonstrates
This isn’t a case study with a sales chart bolted on — it’s a concept we built in our own sandbox to show exactly how we’d approach a real rebrand, start to finish.
A mark that travels
One wordmark and badge system that holds up on a cup sleeve, a sandwich board, and a favicon without redrawing anything.
A kit, not just a logo
Color, type, and pattern rules documented so anyone — our team or theirs — could extend it consistently.
Ready to hand off
Every file here is production-ready: the kind of handoff we’d give a real client on day one, not a mood board.
Tell us what you're building. We'll tell you honestly if we're the right fit — no sales pitch, just a real conversation.