Coursework, 2019
A renamed, rebranded café that serves as a hub for artists and the community and supports local farmers with each order
Research, Strategy, Branding, Web
Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, XD
Adventure and Exploration, Conservation and Sustainability, Kindness and Positivity
Linnaea’s Café is a San Luis Obispo, California staple. They’ve been serving up made-to-order café drinks, vegetarian meals, and house-made treats and goodies for decades, and are a gathering place where all different kinds of people—community members, students, families, businesspeople, and everyone in between—come to relax, work, and connect with one another.
They’re small in size but large in heart; and with new coffee shops popping up more and more frequently around them, it’s sometimes hard to distill what makes Linnaea’s different amid all the noise. This project came about as a result—a new brand that helps Linnaea’s lead with their values and intimately roots them in the community and art scene, plus supports the local businesses and farmers that have helped them grow all these years.
Hearth takes Linnaea’s founding values and leads with them to create a warm, welcoming space with great food and drinks made with care.
The new brand needed to help Linnaea’s showcase who they are, what they serve, and what they stand for. First and foremost, they’re a café and coffeehouse, but they’re also an integral part of the San Luis Obispo community and a space that is welcoming, warm, and open to all. I dug into researching where they are now—their history, customers, and what they stand for—and built out three goals to help them get where they’re going.
We want to become a larger part of our customers’ lives by providing a warm, comforting place where all feel welcome.
We want to become a more integral part of the San Luis Obispo creative scene, serving as a space for local creatives and makers to connect with other members of the community and showcase their work and talents.
We want to encourage the expansion of sustainable and locally-sourced food, as well as promote a more conscious lifestyle focused on connection, creativity, and nature.
Conveying their values—creativity, connection, and sustainability—loudly and clearly was paramount, as was leaving the impression that this is a place where guests can see themselves belonging, no matter who they are, and that Linnaea’s means quality. They make sure their food and drinks not only taste fantastic, but are also made with locally-sourced ingredients that support farmers and create a stronger, more resilient community. All of these qualities needed to be reflected in any new brand identity.
Hearth leads with its values on all its platforms, from the café itself to printed promotions, merchandise, and the Hearth website.
A lot changed during the rebrand, including the name, but the spirit and values of the café stayed constant throughout. The new name itself—Hearth—was chosen to reflect those values, just like the warm, comfortable gathering space around a fireplace where conversation, laughter, and sharing between friends and strangers happens. In its entirety, the new brand spanned logos, a business system, a new website, print promotions, café cup designs, and a revised strategy for the business as a whole.
You can take a look at the brand in its entirety in the Brand Standards Manual PDF below, or check out the Creative Brief above that started the whole project in the first place.
Hearth’s new brand brings a consistent, cohesive look across all of its print pieces, from a branded letterhead to business cards, posters and flyers. Hearth’s Brand Standards manual, shown in the top-left, details all aspects of the new design system, like typefaces, colors, and graphic elements, as well as imagery, writing guidelines, and usage examples.
Hearth’s take-away packaging, like to-go cups and coffee pouches, now reflects the same playful warmth as its print and digital collateral. And you can brew your favorite cup anywhere with all-new bagged coffee blends inspired by the wild places in San Luis Obispo County.
We’ve always featured local artists, authors, musicians, and other creatives through live shows and displays in our gallery—now we’re promoting them too, with event posters, postcards with details on upcoming live shows, and an online ticketing option for paid events.
Since Hearth’s values and close ties with the San Luis Obispo community are so central to its identity, the Hearth story is featured front and center on its website. Explore the menu, learn about upcoming events, and hear first-hand from Hearth’s employees on its new blog titled, appropriately, Hearth Stories.
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