Lookout Coffee | Brand Identity Program
Drinking coffee is more than just an energizing elixir. Through a charming brand identity program Lookout is making its mark as a hospitality-first café.
Client
Lookout Coffee
Disciplines
art direction • branding • user interface • spatial design
Logo
Cafes are everywhere, making it crucial for this brand—especially its logo—to stand out. The wordmark is complemented by a window or door frame element, drawing attention to the two stacked Os designed to resemble glasses. The first two Os in "Lookout" were intentionally avoided to prevent the design from feeling too obvious and cliché.
Environmental Design
While the logo was a crucial piece, the overall customer experience at the cafe was paramount. I assisted in selecting furniture that complemented the space, including ambient lighting for each table. Additionally, I collaborated with the client and a third party to create and install vinyl signage on the windows. The client trusted me and my partner to ensure the cafe felt welcoming and memorable.
Iconography & Illustrations
Fifty icons were designed to facilitate future marketing opportunities. The client desired psychedelic imagery, so I focused on creating characters and visuals featuring an ominous eye. Among the client's favorites were a character in a cup named “Mort,” a three-eyed figure with a coffee cup, and a cyclops snail.
The snail played a significant role, representing the brand's core message: slow down and look out!
Print Collateral
At the penultimate hour the client needed a few final touches to complete their brand. I suggested a poster that I knew would fit perfectly on one of their walls. Because the snail icon was well recieved I wanted to create a funny “where’s waldo” poster.
The best part of this project was creating the promotional card. It started off as a gift to the client with only the back design as a tease for a potential future project, which was to create a whole deck of playing cards inspired by the Lookout branding. However since the cafe was almost ready for business the client and I had an idea to create a promotional card to get more people through the door.
A Lesson Learned
People loved the premium look and feel of the promo cards so much that they did not want to redeem them.
Through this experience, I learned that good design is not always about how it looks, but also how it functions.
Web Design
Hiring a team of photographers to capture candid moments of baristas making coffee was instrumental in portraying the café's hospitality-first approach. Given that the website would serve as customers' first introduction to to Lookout, it was crucial to ensure the brand voice heard loud & clear.
