Brief
Design a brand identity for a café aimed at students who work and socialise late into the night, to early hours in the morning.
Primary Target Audience
University students aged 18–25 who study during the evening, night, or early hours of the morning. This includes night owls, creatives, and students who prefer quiet, low-stimulus environments for focused work rather than busy daytime cafés.
Secondary Target Audience
Postgraduate students and young professionals aged 22–30 who work late hours, freelance, or value calm social spaces. They are drawn to cafés that feel atmospheric and less commercial.
Requirements
Primary Target Audience
University students aged 18–25 who study during the evening, night, or early hours of the morning. This includes night owls, creatives, and students who prefer quiet, low-stimulus environments for focused work rather than busy daytime cafés.
Secondary Target Audience
Postgraduate students and young professionals aged 22–30 who work late hours, freelance, or value calm social spaces. They are drawn to cafés that feel atmospheric and less commercial.
Requirements
- Logo or wordmark
- Visual identity (colour palette, typography, graphic elements)
- Brand rationale explaining concept and design decisions
- Café applications (e.g. cups, takeaway packaging, menus)
- Digital touchpoints (e.g. website landing page or social media visuals)
Research
Some Known Coffee Brands
Open Late Cafés
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Caffe Bene
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Hatoya Shibuya
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Enchanted Café
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Sheer Coffee
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Other Café Branding Inspiration
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Other Branding
Figma Board
Design Development
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Reworking Weight and Mark
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Brand Restart
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After some discussion I decided to restart and make my own font for this project based on the original sketch I did for Owlchemy.
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Original Sketch in Procreate
Completed Font using Calligraphr
Colour Palette
Font, Logo and Mark Tests
Font Pairing
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The font New Spirit was chosen to pair with my handmade typeface due to its similar unsymmetrical shape.
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Special Drinks Posters
Illustration Development
After some feedback, the original illustrations I made did not fit the rest of the brand aesthetic so I redid their design in illustrator to match the typeface.
Poster Variations
Final Posters
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Owl Adjustments
After some feedback, the weight of the owl compared to the rest of the logo seemed too thin, so I adjusted the thickness around the owl to help it match more evenly.
Owl Variations
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Mugs and Menu
Cauldron shaped mugs match the alchemy vibe and add an option for hot drinks. Also a mini version for espresso cups!
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Adjustments were made to the mugs by reducing the roughness to not draw attention away from when it is paired with different assets - this helped mainly with the opening sign.
While designing the menu, I decided to embrace the whimsiness of the brand and name all the coffee after types of owls that best suit that drink. Then I names some pastries too!
Final Menu
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Open Sign
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I did not go through many variations for the open sign for the front of the cafe because I had so many assets and identity for the brand already created, I knew what I wanted to match. The tagline 'The Study Cafe for Night Owls' was perfect highlighting the fact that this cafe is open late and draws attention to people wanting to study.
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Other Brand Assets
Brand Pattern
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This final brand pattern can be used for anything from advertising and merchandise.
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Loyalty Card
Final Card
Uniform and Merch
Other Marketing Ideas
As I have illustrations of what the drinks look like, I found this image online of what it would look like to brew the coffee. This links to the alchemy theme and matches the colour scheme. I believe the version of the owl on the coffee grinder or the one with the Owlchemy logo can be used to advertise the Cafe.
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