Eyes Wide Coffee Co.
An MXB Agency Project
Timeline52 weeks
Services
- Art Direction
- Brand Design
- Brand Guidelines
- Project Management
Coca Cola Hellenic approached our agency with a white label branding project at the end of 2022. Their target consumers including those in ‘at work’ spaces such as offices and universities. The coffee would be sold in vending machines and in office corners. We created a suite of naming and logo options, colour palettes, illustrations, print executions and brand guidelines. I helmed this project as Art Director and Lead Designer.
Research ✎
The discovery phase of this project involved workshopping with the wider team in MXB. Keeping the target consumers in mind, we aimed to deliver an initial deck, exploring different naming options, wordmarks and colour palettes. We showcased our ideas on takeaway coffee cups to provide further context for the CCH team. We worked collectively to come up with design and messaging rationale for 5 solid concepts.
Ideation ⌲
Following an initial feedback session, our client whittled down the options to my execution (Eyes Wide Coffee Co.) and my fellow Designer, Fintan Kerr’s option (Giorno). We were asked to make some Frankenstein options thereafter before moving to an internal testing phase. The next step, a slight curveball as we were asked ideate upon 3 further options, which you can see below. My goal with Eyes Wide was to lean more into the speciality coffee realm. Looking beyond the commercialism of vending coffee to play more into what young consumers are used to when they step into coffee shops in their cities.
Feedback ⌁
A further 2 rounds of feedback resulted in coming up with illustration and contextual application concepts for two of the brand names, before finally settling on Eyes Wide Coffee Co. The name and logo execution my own, whilst my fellow designer provided the ‘roasted’ palette and final illustration assets. The deliverables were ultimately much safer from a brand perspective, choosing to shed the illustration from the final vending and cup designs before going to market. Below, you can see our initial vision for the project rollout. Once in market, and seeing some success, a “Version 2.0” machine incorporating illustration has launched across the UK & Ireland.
Brand Guidelines ✎
Once we got sign-off from the CCH team on the suite of amends, it was time to deliver brand guidelines. My remit was to over-see the initial execution here, making recommendations on layout, usage rules, colour, typography and examples. My Creative Director looked at tone of voice, whilst my fellow designer, Hannah Faulkner worked on some illustration ideation. These guidelines were quite atypical in that some elements were simply conceptual.
Solution ✌︎
The brand guidelines documentation continued to develop beyond the initial launch of the project. We were asked to conceptualise a range of ‘at work’ and ‘on-the-go’ solutions including vending machines, kiosks and canteens. After spending so long on this project, it was a pleasant surprise seeing vending machine 1.0 at my local gym, as well as Belfast Central Station on my way to work during the summer. I’m looking forward to seeing how this brand comes to life even more over the coming months.
