The Coffee Gentleman
Visual Branding and Webpage Case StUDY
This project that was fun and appealing on many different levels. The client, Johnny Perona, has been a guru on the Chicago coffee scene for over a decade, and we’ve become friends through our shared love of coffee shops and music. Perona had been looking for new ways to explore his brewing knowledge and educate others on quality brewing techniques. He set himself a mission of "empowering coffee enthusiasts with personalized home brew experiences” and to “elevate their daily rituals”. And so The Coffee Gentleman began to brew.
Goals
The client appeal for The Coffee Gentleman would come from the urban professionals that Perona had already established a network with through his years of brewing in the Loop. The newest market for The Coffee Gentleman would be expanding beyond that community to other areas of the Chicago, work-from-home professionals, and the suburban market. This meant building an online marketing strategy that presented Perona’s vision as the “warm, rustic, yet urban” personality of brand across several demographics.
Project Needs
Brand Identity
Develop a brand identity that combines urban sophistication with rustic charm, resonating with the target audience of working urban professionals.
Webpage Design
Design a webpage that not only serves as a platform for booking appointments but also provides valuable content and tips to enhance the home brew coffee experience.
Marketing Strategy
Utilize social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram Reels to showcase demo videos and engage with the audience, establishing "The Coffee Gentleman" as an expert in home brew coffee.
Building the Brand
There is no shortage of coffee-themed logos out in the wild. While researching the trends within the coffee industry, it was quickly proven there is no end to the variety and scope that coffee can take. In the end I had to make Perona’s unique take on coffee consulting inviting and comfortable for the customers that would be inviting him into their home for the personalized homebrew experience.
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Brand Essence
"The Coffee Gentleman" encapsulates the essence of urban sophistication and rustic charm, offering an immersive home brew coffee consulting experience. It’s designed to transform the everyday ritual of brewing coffee into a personalized, engaging journey, akin to enjoying a pop-up coffee shop in the comfort of one's home.
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Brand Personality
"The Coffee Gentleman" radiates warmth and invites users into a world where urban chic meets rustic allure. The brand embodies a sophisticated yet down-to-earth vibe, symbolized by the playful integration of a coffee cup and a gentleman's top hat in its logo. The color palette of dark earthy tones reinforces this blend of elegance and approachability.
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Audience
The primary audience for "The Coffee Gentleman" comprises working urban professionals, particularly those who work remotely. These individuals are coffee enthusiasts who aspire to elevate their home brew skills and value personalized, high-quality experiences that enhance their daily routines.
Refining the Vision
The basic identity of the brand had to be clean, simple, but unique to be used on social media while also seeming friendly to the working professional. I made sure to really explore all the possibilities of cup, bean, and mustache iconography during the development stage. There were many interesting variations on the logo idea, but initially none captured the balance of rustic and urban, or felt respectfully original to the brand.
After a round of feedback, Perona wanted to develop the icon of the bust of the gentleman. I took the sketch into Adobe Illustrator to develop it further.
While the bust had a charming sophistication, the logo needed to be easily recognizable as social media icon. In order to simply the logo, we decided to combine the top hat imagery with a coffee cup as the primary logo, and save the more complex bust logo as a tertiary option after the word mark and pictorial logos.
the Final Drip
To wrap off the branding stage of the project, I selected colors that capture the rustic, but urban goal; mixing subdued earthy tones with the an elegant, charming iconography. Two typefaces were selected to pair with the imagery. Cristofo captures elegance and emphasis and the subtle Helvetica was selected to offer a consistent visual note throughout the visual identity.
Customers feel a sense of accomplishment, satisfaction, and confidence through their interactions with "The Coffee Gentleman." This logo aims to provide a respectable and fulfilling feeling about their day with each personalized coffee brewing session.
Making a Homepage
Balancing vision with business
The webpage took many stages and iterations during this stage of the project. Perona selected WIX as the platform to host his site and business suite. Initially, the project goals outlined educational content, detailed tiered services, and consultation booking. Not all of these features would make it to the active site, but were saved to be introduced as The Coffee Gentleman’s clients became for active in the new community.
The site was wire-framed and refined as the services, tips, and booking schedules were finalized. The site was built using the WIX design platform, so that Perona could build his business in that platform.
As the site was ready to launch, user feedback lead us to simply the site to basic function, to give Perona time to build his clientele.
Wrapping it up.
Combining urban sophistication with rustic charm resonated well with the target audience, creating a unique and memorable brand identity.
Considered the integration of booking functionality, content management, and responsive design for seamless user interaction across web platforms on devices.
Social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram Reels offered effective channels for showcasing The Coffee Gentleman’s expertise and engaging with the audience through demo videos and engaging content.