Studio Brief 02 - Practical - Research

Coffee Merchandise (products currently available) - 

Square Mile - Sigg Flask:

Uses minimal branding of the coffee roasters printed on to a metal flask, that allows a coffee lover to take their coffee with them wherever they go. This is a unquie product I can't see many places doing something like this, although the price is rather high but you are paying for quality and as I have previously highlighted the target audience likes quality.

Department of Coffee and Social Affairs - Tote Bag:

Uses a simple design including the logo and also is being offered in two colours. The benefits of selling tote bags is that they are very easy to produce and can also be cheap as are not very expensive to buy. The thing about selling tot bags is that the target market will but they becasuse again it fits with the values and interests of the audience, a tote bag is sustainable, cheap and trendy three things that the target market are all for so there for it is a very good idea to sell this product. Not only will people buy them to support the coffee shop, it is free advertising as people will be walking around with them all over the place.  

Other examples: 

Goodhood Store:

Belgrave Music Hall & Canteen:

Grind Coffee London:

North Star Coffee roasters - Cupping Spoon:

"An absolute essential for any home coffee enthusiast" It is products like these that can really help to stand out, if the product is locally made and has a limited batch the customer in the case, the coffee enthusiast will really feel part of the brand and it will give them a good connection with the business. These are the sort of products that I should consider scouring for the merchandise I am designing.  

T-shirts and designs - 

Due to the target audience being fashion conscious and also they like to think about where their products are coming from (made in England) and the sustainability of the product. These are all things that would make the product sell to the target audience, as for the design I feel that the design needs to be simple but interesting (almost informative). I have looked at some possible styles of design that I could use as the inspiration for a t-shirt design for a Leeds based cafe.   

I would be able to take this style and create a design that would speak to the target audience and also link very well to the local coffee scene. This sort of design could also be applied to a tote bag making it seem like a collection of clothing. The other thing about doing clothing for a coffee shop is that the designs can be renewed every season and people will continue to buy the new designs. 

Studio Brief 02 - Idea / Prototype Feedback

Idea 1 - Coffee packaging for Leeds based coffee shop (Laynes or Stories) 

• Adds the personal touch to the brand
• Consider sustainability - reusable packaging 
• Subscription service but collect only 
• Think about fair-trade (community)
• Makes people feel part of something
• Local coffee roasters could get involved

Idea 2 - Merchandise 

• Make it unique 
• The coffee industry gets a lot of stick for not thinking about the environment so make sure that the products are locally scoured this will also appeal to the target audience.
• It works well with the target audience, they will invest merch that links closely to their interests 
• Offer something different 

Idea 3 - Loyalty Scheme (Leeds Indie Food)

• Good partnership 
• Make sure you don't loose touch from the points made in your essay, how does this communicate how design works for small businesses
• It would be a a great idea but how relevant is it to the key points

Going into this feedback session I was thinking very strongly about considering the merchandise, but after the feedback I want to reconsider coffee packaging as I feel that it has a lot of scope and links very well to the essay. But at the same time the merchandise also helps to connect with the target audience and can offer something that non of the Leeds coffee shops currently offer as they already do offer coffee from local roasters. 

The idea that I will be taking forward is the merchandise as I feel that this will link to my essay the best as it shows how design can make the customer interact with the brand and therefore make the brand more sucessful as the customer is advertising the brand, without them really knowing. 

Studio Brief 02 - Study Task 07 - Idea generation / prototypes

After coming up with a wide range of possible ideas for my practical investigation I was able to use of the study tasks to figure out which ideas would be the most relevant to my question. As my essay references back how the consumer wants to feel part of a brand and community I picked three ideas that best fit this theme. 

Idea 1 - Coffee packaging for Leeds based coffee shop (Laynes or Stories) 

As mentioned in my essay that the power of banding can be so strong that people buy into it to feel part of something, I thought about how people could interact with the brand on a more personal level. As a coffee lover myself I know how important it is to have good coffee at home as well as from coffee shops, and what better way to do that than buying coffee from your favourite coffee shop. Many places are doing this already and it has been a great success as people are able to take the coffee home with them and this helps them to become a little more interested in the community it also the sort of thing that is reusable and the customer can come back again and again to get their coffee fix. 

The idea is that by using a well established coffee shop in Leeds for example Stories, Laynes or Mrs Atha's which currently don't offer an in-house coffee brand that people can take home. I can design the packaging bean or ground coffee, this could also be in partnership with local coffee roasters. I feel that this would be very popular as many people that go to these particular shops go on a regular basis and would appreciate being able to buy coffee from their favourite cafe to take home and then use at home. 

Idea 2 - Merchandise

Again a big part of the coffee culture is what sort of person you are, a lot of the costumers have similar interests for example fashion is a big part of the coffee culture and I feel that this is something that most customers have in common. 

Some coffee shops are offering merch, but are they offering the right sort of merch. Barista/creative culture is often referred to as "hipster" and there is a certain look that people that go to coffee shops have (tote bags, big beards, MacBooks, selvage denim) but I thin I could use this to make some unique merch for a coffee shop in Leeds. 

Many places offer t-shirts, tote bags and coffee mugs but I feel that these are the most common things that people would want but you could achieve much more by having more innovative products like denim aprons, coasters and posters all of which helps the customer to become more invested within the part and show the support for the brand. 

Idea 3 - Loyalty card scheme for independent business in Leeds (Leeds Indie Food)

From living in Leeds for the past 2 years I have noticed that there is a great appreciation for independent eateries. But I feel that people will certainly pick their favourites we should make an effort to go to make use of these independent business that mostly have design conscious customers. Leeds Indie Food is a festival that is highlighting these places but it only last for 2 weeks in May, using these as a client I am proposing that a loyalty scheme in collaboration with them and the independent business in Leeds. 

By using the image that they have created, I want to create a card that can be used in all independent eateries in Leeds to encourage people to go to the many shops that are there. Hopefully this will encourage people to think about the brands that they are investing themselves into and will help the brands grow, it is benefiting everyone. 

Studio Brief 02 - Practical - Idea Generation

I am now at a stage where I am able to think about what my design response could be for my cop project. I planned/wrote my essay with my design process at the forefront of my thinking as I wanted the project connect as easily as possible. My question How does good design add value to independent coffee shops in Leeds?  has made me think about how this can be put into practice by highlighting the my key points of my essay I have been able to produce a number of possible ideas that all help to solve the problems that I have bought up. 

Key points from essay - 

• The value of design in small coffee shops 
• How to achieve good design for a small business
• How design benefits any business 
• Design culture within Leeds 
• How people want to feel part of a brand/community 

Problems - 

• Harder for small brands to have impact on a large audience 
• Some independent coffee shops aren't using good design
• Design is not being utilised enough by some shops 
• Not enough support for the small brands   

Solutions/Ideas - 

• Unique coffee packaging for a independent coffee shop in Leeds
• Updated promotional print collateral for a coffee shop
• Rebrand a coffee shop that has not made use of good design (bean & bud) 
• Look at how a coffee shop can improve their use of design 
• Packing - use it to connect with the customer 
• Prints about coffee for café's to sell
• Merchandise - making people feel part of the brand/community 
• Loyalty scheme for independent businesses in Leeds - link to Leeds Indie Food
• Leeds Coffee Festival (maybe include north of England)
• Visual Guide to coffee in Leeds
• Social media content for a Leeds coffee shop
• Publication/zine on coffee culture in Leeds
• Branding for a new coffee shop in Leeds 
• An music/food/drink event at a café in Leeds (branding)
• Website redesign
• App guide to the best coffee in Leeds
• Design branding a new coffee shop