EL CAFÍTO
About
El Cafíto is a fictional cafe located in Barcelona, Spain. It emphasizes authentically traditional coffee over the typical sugar-laden drinks found in America. El Cafíto seeks to educate as well as serve by offering a variety of brewing methods from around the world. The menu sections off these methods by various cultures and helps the patron with a pronunciation guide.
I began this project while relearning Spanish and wanted to push my boundaries by making this brand multi-lingual. All the branding and packaging is in Spanish and the various types of coffee are labelled with their language of origin.
Branding
I kept the branding fairly minimal, trying to keep the emphasis on the language and by extent, the coffee itself. Having worked multiple locations as a barista I knew what I would want in a cafe that specialized in traditional coffee. I focused on the typography and used imagery as a support system rather than a key player.
My color palette uses earthy colors to mirror the origins of coffee. I stayed away from any of the gimmicks I picked up on during my time in the industry and kept the brand as authentic as possible. The information displayed is simple and usually contained in thin-lined boxes.
Packaging
Each package of coffee beans comes with a unique abstraction of an animal native to its place of origin. I used a very angular design to contrast with the curvature of the text, but lowered the transparency to keep the imagery subtle. The packages, menus, and to-go cups all come with a hand tied message letting the patron know they have fair trade Arabica beans
Creating the physical packaging myself gave me hands-on experience in the difficulties presented by physically implementing an idea; for instance: I had to keep the angled curvature of a cup in mind while wrapping text around the middle.
Modeling
This is the imagined space for El Cafíto. It's open design parallels the minimalist brand by keeping the focus on quality over frivolity. Various greenery is spaced out on the floor to brighten up the room and remind patrons that coffee is born from nature.
While this particular example may not be the most realistic, I wanted to push myself even further by creating a digital rendering of the space I envisioned. Using architecture software I put together a quick example of a space I thought would best showcase the spirit El Cafíto.
