PROCESS
CONTENTS PLANNING
PACKAGING
Brain Dump . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Creative Brief. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Inspiration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sketches. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Coffee Beans. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cold Brew. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cold Brew 2.0. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $1 Coffee. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
RESEARCH Consumer Trends. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Pinterest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
ALL THE REST
ANALYSIS SWOT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Brand Pyramid. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Long Story Short. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Ad Campaign . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Website. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Merch. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
THAT’S A WRAP.
LOGO Inspiration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sketches. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Three Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Refinement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Final Marks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
27 28 29 30 31 33
Lessons Learned. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 17 18 19 20 21
COLOR Inspiration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Explorations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Final Verdict. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
3
PLANNING IT ALL STARTED BECAUSE I LOVE LOCAL COFFEE.
4
PLANNING: BRAIN DUMP BEFORE WRITING A CREATIVE BRIEF, I STARTED BY JOTTING DOWN MY THOUGHTS ABOUT THE PROJECT. QUALITY Incorporate the quality of local coffee into every format, for every “average joe” however they drink their coffee. You use a Keurig? Let’s give you the best Keurig coffee you can get. You’re into fancy pour over brewing methods? Let’s get you quality coffee for that. SIMPLE, EASY TO UNDERSTAND. Quality coffee can be confusing. The goal of Fine Cuppa Joe is to bring that quality to people who don’t have the coffee education of the hipster coffee community and probably don’t care to. COMMUNITY Bring the community aspect of local coffee into any environment. For the products themselves, this can be expressed visually in the packaging and verbally in the messaging and ads. Could also drive efforts like “One Dollar Cuppa Joe” explained below. →→ Coffee community in Louisville is pretty unique; not like this in every city →→ But it expands beyond the coffee aficionados. Lots of business people who couldn’t be called “hipster” frequent local coffee shops. All the customers benefit from this community aspect of the coffee business even if they are not “in” it per se. →→ Overall feel and pace in Louisville is more relaxed than in some other cities, and I think the local vibe has something to do with that although there are many other reasons for the slower pace and less stressed environment. →→ What if we could bring the coffee element of this kind of community into the consumer’s home and into other communities that don’t have it?
ONE DOLLAR CUP OF JOE →→ Just one promo idea based on the community value. →→ Coffee truck or trailer kind of like the Heine Bros airstream that would come to your town for a day and charge just $1 for a cup of coffee. →→ It would be something new for that community (I’m thinking especially business districts, like the grown up version of an ice cream truck). SOCIAL ASPECT →→ Not just a coffee shop but virtual community →→ This could be something to teach you about coffee too
SUMMARY Fine Cuppa Joe definitely exists to promote community around coffee. TWO GOALS: →→ Get you coffee FROM the community (that has the same quality, feel, style) →→ Make you PART OF the community (through promoting sharing a cup of coffee and through learning, education, and communication) HOW TO ACHIEVE GOAL 1: →→ Bagged coffee in three roasts in stores →→ Iced coffee in stores (individual and six pack) →→ Advertising/brand awareness so that you’ll buy the coffee HOW TO ACHIEVE GOAL 2: →→ Larger container to share? →→ Carafe or container that people can get coffee from at parties (comes with cups?) →→ Initiatives like One Dollar Cuppa Joe →→ Community platform (mobile website?) for education →→ Other products to help create community: t-shirts, stickers, mugs! etc. Good catch phrases are important for this.
5
PLANNING: BRAIN DUMP COPY FOR ADS/T SHIRTS/ETC: →→ Fine Cuppa Joe →→ I drink Fine Cuppa Joe →→ Ya wanna fine cuppa joe? →→ JOE →→ Fine folks drink fine cuppa joe →→ Grab a cuppa with Joe (maybe make a character called Joe! an animal!) →→ This is a fine mug. →→ This is a fine sticker. →→ This is a fine shirt. →→ Get outta bed for a fine cuppa joe. →→ Are you a monster without coffee? Try Fine Cuppa Joe. →→ Gotta getta fine cuppa joe. →→ Dollar Day →→ $1 Cuppa Joe →→ $1 Fine Cuppa Joe OTHER IDEAS: →→ Just make cool looking stuff like Johnny Cupcakes →→ Pop up shops? →→ Comic strips about coffee emergencies →→ Animations (try AfterEffects!) TO →→ →→ →→ →→ →→ →→ →→
6
DO LIST Logo Bags of coffee Iced coffee Website w/ mobile community Ads Spaces (airstream, pop up shops) Merch (shirts, stickers, mugs, patches)
PLANNING: CREATIVE BRIEF BUSINESS SITUATION The client is an imaginary coffee company called Fine Cuppa Joe. The brand will go by the same name, and the main product will be coffee, both beans and iced coffee products. They will require other products to be used for promotional purposes such as mugs, t-shirts, and stickers. Fine Cuppa Joe has a lot of competitors in the coffee industry. Because of its emphasis on community and quality, it competes indirectly with coffee shops as well as directly with other coffee manufacturers. Its most notable competitor would be Starbucks since it produces all of the same products. However, a strength of Fine Cuppa Joe is that it has a more local, small-business feeling than Starbucks and may cater to costumers who would prefer that type of product. Its emphasis on community could also set it apart, particularly because of the possibilities it will take advantage for virtual communities and coffee education through technology. However, its significant weakness and threat is that it is a new, small company in a highly saturated market. Reports on coffee consumption as well as the Mintel Consumer Trends report can help with specifics about the market Fine Cuppa Joe is entering. OVERVIEW The project is a line of products and a brand identity for Fine Cuppa Joe. I will be designing the look and feel of the brand as well as the products themselves and some promotional materials for the company. The project is needed because although there is a lot of competition, Fine Cuppa Joe wants to fill a gap in the market by bringing the quality and community of local coffee into a broader market with a fun and friendly style. OBJECTIVES The goal is to establish Fine Cuppa Joe visually as a player in the coffee market as well as an identifiable and relatable brand. The purpose of the project in a sense is the same as the purpose of the company: to bring people quality coffee and a community surrounding it. If I can do that visually, I have accomplished my goal. Specific objectives: →→ Designing a logo and brand system that reflects the values of Fine Cuppa Joe →→ Applying that system to Fine Cuppa Joe’s products →→ Through advertising, promotion, and web/mobile design, launching a community centered around coffee with the Fine Cuppa Joe name and values attached to it
AUDIENCE The strategic target would be people who love coffee. This can encompass the Maxwell House loyal customer all the way through the professional barista. However, the prime prospect would fall somewhere in the middle of that range: someone who enjoys good coffee and is interested in learning about it, but not necessarily the type that brews a Chemex from home-roasted beans every morning. The prime prospect would likely be a millennial, but the brand also consciously reaches to Gen-X-ers who may be less familiar with the local coffee culture but more apt to try something new than older generations. The need of this audience is simple: good coffee. Whether they want the caffeine to wake up in the morning, or the taste of a refreshing iced coffee, or want to be adventuresome and try something different, in Fine Cuppa Joe, they will get what they bargained for and more because of the emphasis on quality and community. DELIVERABLES →→ SWOT analysis →→ Brand pyramid →→ Set of three coffee bags for beans →→ Bottled iced coffee, both single bottles and a six pack →→ Iced coffee for a crowd (pitcher or similar container) →→ Logo →→ Website with mobile component for user interaction and learning about coffee →→ Series of ads →→ Sub-campaign for “One Dollar Cuppa Joe,” including airstream trailer graphics and promotional materials →→ T-shirts →→ Stickers →→ Mugs →→ Possible other promotional materials
7
RESEARCH CURRENT TRENDS AND PINTEREST INSPIRATION.
8
RESEARCH: CONSUMER TRENDS A CLASS ASSIGNMENT WAS TO LOOK AT MINTEL’S CONSUMER TRENDS REPORT AND OTHER ONLINE SOURCES. I saw a few connections to my project idea in the report from Mintel about consumer trends. The first is the way consumers are tending toward wearable technology and expectations for connectivity are increasing (in the “internet of things” that is forming). While coffee may not directly correlate with wearable technology, I the spirit behind this trend can inform my goals for the packaging and branding for “Fine Cuppa Joe.” I already know that I want the product to be about connecting around coffee, and I think I should take virtual connections into account when I do my designs. Tom suggested a virtual community where one could learn more about coffee, and I think that would go along with the demands consumers have for virtual interaction. Regardless of whether I go with that specific type of virtual community, I think it’s important to the product that I also design a website (suitable for mobile devices) that would relate the product to the consumer trend. This section also motivated me to make the tone and attitude of my company one that is forwardlooking and innovative, something that could follow future technology for coffee (like internet enabled coffee makers?). The trend that Mintel mentioned about online versus brick-andmortar shopping was also interesting to me and I think it could affect my project. The report mentioned that some brick-andmortar companies are incorporating online aspects to what they do, and some online companies are opening up brick-and-mortar locations. I’m not sure exactly how I want to account for this in my project, but I would like to consider how purchasing my coffee products might cross over between brick-and-mortar and online purchasing.
The final category from the report that I think impacts my project is the section on consumer values and the way consumers like to support companies who support their goals and ideals. Again, I’m not sure what this would look like for my product, but I’d like to consider it. This section of the report also mentioned possible advantages for smaller businesses, which would be a good thing for my product idea. I also did some internet research into consumer trends in coffee in particular. I found out that 83% of Americans drink coffee and 63% drink coffee every day. That bodes well for my product— it’s something that a lot of Americans use! I also discovered that gourmet coffee consumption is on the rise, as well as single cup brewing mechanisms. The gourmet coffee stat is also a good thing for my company since I want it to focus on quality coffee. The stat about single cup brewing could drive me to make k-cups for my product line, but I don’t think I really want to go in that direction because of the product’s emphasis on community. I also learned that men tend to prefer local coffee shops when purchasing coffee outside the house, which surprised me. That could help drive my aesthetic—if I want it to mirror local coffee, it shouldn’t be overly feminine. SOURCES →→ Consumer Trends 2015 by Mintel →→ “ 2014 Consumer Coffee Trends Report: More Gourmet, Single Cups” and “Inside Zagat’s 2015 Coffee Consumer Trends Survey” from dailycoffeenews.com →→ “ Consumer Trends: 83 Percent of Americans Drink Coffee” from foodmanufacturing.com
The report also mentioned devices automatically re-ordering coffee. While my product wouldn’t go that far, maybe there could be a subscription element through the mobile-friendly website, or a service that automatically reorders your coffee on a schedule. I also liked what the report said about “unique service approaches.” That seems to fit with my idea for a coffee airstream that might show up in your town for a “one dollar cuppa joe.”
9
RESEARCH: PINTEREST I FOUND PINTEREST TO BE A GREAT SOURCE FOR VISUAL INSPIRATION. I explored branding design, logo ideas, and lots of packaging, including other coffee packaging. I was especially interested in examples of how brands showed the difference between flavors or varieties in their packaging, since I knew that would be an important aspect of making Fine Cuppa Joe a success. I was also drawn to type lockups as a direction for the logo, The directness and fun of some of the type-based logos I found on Pinterest seemed appropriate for Fine Cuppa Joe, and I wanted to explore that direction when I turned my attention to the logo design.
10
RESEARCH: PINTEREST
11
ANALYSIS THE COMPETITION AND THE MISSION.
12
ANALYSIS: SWOT ANOTHER ASSIGNMENT WAS TO COMPLETE SOME ANALYSIS CHARTS ABOUT THE PROJECT.
This one addresses strengths & weaknesses and opportunities & threats. It was a good way to think about how the project might do out in the real world.
EXTERNAL ORIGIN
INTERNAL ORIGIN
Everybody’s gotta love that small town feel, right? POSITIVE
NEGATIVE
STRENGTHS →→ Local, small business feeling →→ Emphasis on both the quality and community of local coffee →→ Offers ways for consumers to get involved in this community through online platform →→ Products are simple and easy for less coffee-educated consumers to understand
WEAKNESSES →→ Small and as-yet unknown business in a highly saturated market →→ Significant competition from both coffee shops and coffee product companies (like Starbucks)
OPPORTUNITIES →→ Chance to appeal to a fairly broad audience in the “coffee lover” →→ Intention to bring community feeling of local coffee to a broader market →→ Chance to create a group of loyal customers who are proud to use this product and even “advertise” it through merchandise
THREATS →→ Lower prices of competing coffee brands →→ Difficulty of promoting community in an environment tending toward individualism in coffee drinking (e.g. the move toward Keurig brewing) →→ Strength and recognizability of existing brands such as Starbucks
That is, customers proud enough to get a tattoo of the logo.
Oh Starbucks. Really?
Starbucks again. But you know, let’s just do this anyway.
13
ANALYSIS: BRAND PYRAMID THE BRAND PYRAMID MEANT GETTING TO KNOW FINE CUPPA JOE. KIND OF LIKE IT WAS A PERSON.
If Fine Cuppa Joe were a person, you’d want to hang out with them.
This exercise helped identify target audience and the product itself, which is always important, but it also addressed the “heart” behind the brand, what makes it different.
BRAND ESSENCE Sharing the quality and community of a fine cuppa joe.
That’s it in a nutshell. Or a coffee cup.
BRAND CHARACTER Fun, friendly, unassuming, relational, bold, educational, authentic
No need to make coffee feel like rocket science.
Nothing fake from Fine Cuppa Joe.
EMOTIONAL BENEFITS Relational connectivity, assurance of quality and support from the brand, identification with company values PRODUCT BENEFITS Quality, simplicity, ease of finding the right produce, options for sharing the product with others PRODUCT ATTRIBUTES Defined scope in product varieties, quality products, community awareness in the way the products are chosen, created, and marketed
BRAND TARGETS Anyone who loves coffee, from the connoisseur to the Maxwell House-loyal. Specifically targeted at millenials with the goal of reaching toward Gen-X-ers as well.
The Maxwell Houseloyal will be the most fun to convince.
14
Basically, they want to make something good.
ANALYSIS: LONG STORY SHORT FINE CUPPA JOE BRINGS THE QUALITY AND COMMUNITY OF LOCAL COFFEE TO A BROAD AUDIENCE OF COFFEE LOVERS WITH A FUN AND FRIENDLY STYLE. It all started when a Louisville, Kentucky transplant discovered the wonder of local coffee. It’s not just that the coffee in Louisville is really good. It’s about community. You go to the coffee shop with friends and meet new friends while you’re there (and the baristas are your friends, too). So, why not spread the love a little and give everybody coffee that is both good and brings folks together. Fine Cuppa Joe was born out of that vision and strives to represent both quality and community in all our products and resources. Because, for real, folks...doesn’t everybody just want a fine cuppa joe?
15
LOGO NEON SIGNS ARE COOL, BUT...
16
LOGO: INSPIRATION MOST OF MY LOGO INSPIRATION FROM PINTEREST CONSISTED OF TYPE LOCKUPS.
I knew pretty early on I wanted a fun, casual, typographic logo to represent the attitude of the brand. These have different styles, but they all have a combination of visual unity and a down-to-earth vibe. I wanted both those things for my logo.
17
LOGO: SKETCHES I STARTED AT THE BEGINNING WITH SKETCHES.
18
Some loose script styles started creeping their way in, and other ideas were more angular and geometric.
LOGO: THREE CONCEPTS MY SKETCHES LED TO THREE MAIN CONCEPTS. THE THIRD ONE WAS THE WINNER BECAUSE OF ITS CASUAL, FRIENDLY ATTITUDE.
The style was a done deal, but the mark had a long way to go before it was just right for communicating what was behind Fine Cuppa Joe.
The winner!
19
LOGO: REFINEMENT THE PROBLEM WITH THE DESIGN WAS THAT IT LOOKED KIND OF LIKE A NEON SIGN.
A little too... neon sign-ish
20
I guess that association is only natural because of the rounded type style and the rectangle shape. Not so much what I was going for. So, I went through several rounds of explorations attempting to keep the feeling of the type but get rid of the neon sign association.
LOGO: FINAL MARKS The final version lost the neon sign look and works well inside a circle, making it easy to repeat across my packaging and other items.
21
COLOR FINDING THE RIGHT COMBINATIONS.
22
COLOR: INSPIRATION I WANTED TO CHOOSE COLORS THAT WERE BRIGHT AND A LITTLE FUNKY.
Through my research, I was drawn to combinations of vibrant colors mixed with neutrals that were a little bit retro.
23
COLOR: EXPLORATIONS IT WAS A LOT HARDER THAN IT WOULD SEEM TOÂ CHOOSE COLORS AND NEUTRALS.
24
I chose the colors while thinking about the four varieties of coffee I planned to have, and I knew it was important that each variety be different from the next.
COLOR: FINAL VERDICT BLUE, GOLD, AND RED SEEMED TO STRIKE THE RIGHT BALANCE.
The original four.
One would stand for each roast of coffee, and decaf would rely solely on the neutrals, which seemed to make sense.
When I revisited the project, I added a dark blue.
25
PACKAGING MAKING IT ALL REAL.
26
PACKAGING: INSPIRATION I FOUND GREAT COFFEE PACKAGING INSPIRATION.
It was helpful to look at multiple ways different products showed flavors or varieties. That was a significant problem to solve in my project.
27
PACKAGING: SKETCHES MY MESSY SKETCHBOOK EXPLORED DIFFERENT WAYS TO PULL TOGETHER THE PRODUCTS.
28
I brainstormed the package form itself, the graphics on the package, and ways to differentiate between coffee roasts.
PACKAGING: COFFEE BEANS THE COFFEE BEANS ARE THE CENTRAL PRODUCT FOR FINE CUPPA JOE.
The linen bags and bright, fun labels correspond with the laid back and upbeat attitude of Fine Cuppa Joe. The unique bag is also meant to stand out against other coffee packaging.
29
PACKAGING: COLD BREW THE COLD BREW COFFEE PACKAGING WAS A FULFULLING CHALLENGE.
30
My concept for the cold brew coffee was to use some of every brand colors since there wouldn’t be different roasts of cold brew. The hardest part was putting together the six pack carrier— but I’m glad I made it work in the end.
PACKAGING: COLD BREW 2.0 A YEAR LATER, I REVISITED THE COLD BREW PORTION OF MY PROJECT.
I realized that the cold brew packaging needed some help. The dark gray labels weren’t as exciting as the rest of my packaging, and they wouldn’t contrast well against coffee inside the bottle. Here are some in-process shots of the packaging.
When everything was blue, it felt like too much.
The original bottle compared to a new idea.
Cold brew needed its own color. Enter: dark blue. The cream colored wrap seemed to different from the blue label though.
31
PACKAGING: COLD BREW 2.0 I’M SO MUCH HAPPIER WITH THE FINISHED NEW VERSIONS OF THE COLD BREW.
32
I chose to use both cream and blue on the neck wrap, which I think makes it coordinate well with the main label and with the six pack carrier. I think that having full bottles goes a long way in making the project look real, too.
PACKAGING: $1 COFFEE FINE CUPPA JOE’S AIRSTREAM WOULD SHOW UP ON YOUR STREET AND SERVE COFFEE FOR $1.
I designed a mockup of the airstream graphics, and also wanted to make coffee cups that would be used in the airstream. Originally, I wanted to stamp the logo onto the cups, so my friend and I attempted to make acrylic stamps using her die cut machine. No success there—the process isn’t all smooth sailing!
I tried to make a stamp, but that obviously failed. Vinyl cutouts and stickers worked out so much better.
33
T S E R E H T L AL APPLYING THE BRAND.
34
ALL THE REST: AD CAMPAIGN WHEN FINE CUPPA JOE GETS SASSY.
I started making an ad that asked “are you a monster without coffee?” My inspiration was simply that I am pretty monstrous if I don’t drink my morning coffee. However, my professor noticed that Monster is also an energy drink, and he thought of some other energy drink names that could become a fun campaign. Of course Starbucks had to be included too.
35
ALL THE REST: WEBSITE THE WEBSITE IS A SIGNIFICANT PART OF THE FINE CUPPA JOE BRAND BECAUSE IT HELPS FACILITATE COMMUNITY.
36
I designed both a desktop and homepage version of the website which both highlight the three main functions of the website: learning, community, and shopping. The homepages also feature a social media feed of Fine Cuppa Joe fans’ comments about the products and brand.
ALL THE REST: MERCH FOR LOYAL FANS WHO REALLY GET IT.
Since community is important for Fine Cuppa Joe, they needed some apparel and products for folks who love their coffee.
37
. P A R W A S ’ T THA LESSONS LEARNED: I LOVE BRANDING. I LOVE COFFEE. PATIENCE PAYS OFF.
38
CARRIEADONOVAN.COM