Overcast Coffee, brand identity, environmental design and merchandise for a Capitol Hill coffee shop
Brand Identity · Environmental Design · Merchandise
Overview
The owner of Overcast reached out about merch for their upcoming season. After our first meeting we agreed to build a brand system first, then make the merch and packaging from it. I found inspiration in their website and social media.
Brown and blue are used throughout the branding to create a strong association with the Overcast image. Blue always leads, brown is a strong second primary color, and cream is a contrasting secondary color when needed.
The coffee packaging above is a proposed concept to show the brand system in use. Conversations with the owner have led us to use the designs for future coffee bean packaging.
The logo mark will be stamped onto the cups the same way it’s applied now, with the color, logo and type updated to the new branding. The sign was designed to attract passersby to the shop. It started as four different styles and ended with this playful use of typography and hand-drawn illustrations.
The tees and totes are being produced to sell in spring 2027. I hand-drew the illustrations in Procreate in a simple style.
The first poster started as concept work to get an understanding of the design system I’d established. After we reviewed it, the owner decided to use it for an event he was organizing. I formatted the concept into a poster and used it for social media. The next poster was created with the established design system. I made a motion graphic for social media ahead of the event to help boost interest.
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Problem
During our onboarding meeting I asked about brand guidelines. There weren’t any, so I suggested a system that would make it easier for Overcast to work with artists and graphic designers in the future. Set typefaces and colors give every creative the same starting point and keep Overcast looking consistent. The goal was to keep the look and feel Overcast already had, but make it more confident and more like the brand itself.
Since 2020 the branding had been consistent and minimal: a logo mark and a roughly cohesive photography style on their social media. Past merchandise came from collaborations with local designers and artists, but followed no guidelines that would align with consistent brand identity. Only one of the two locations had directional signage, and the styles that turned up seemed seasonal but never stuck.
Research & Audience
The existing brand colors on their website became the starting point. Blue, green and yellow were the primary colors, but together they felt cluttered, so I kept blue as the base and paired it with brown. Instagram showed me the brand’s voice through its captions and imagery.
Illustration showed up in every season of past merch. The copy in their promos had its own voice too, which told me the branding needed to be playful and fun.
I asked the employees individually what they thought of Overcast and what it’s like working there. They said they enjoyed it and loved interacting with the customers.
Overcast’s customers are younger and mostly local, from students getting work done to regulars reading on the couch with a coffee. Many of them have become friends and talk to each other and the staff. That helps make it a friendly, welcoming place.
Building the System
The green and blue combo didn’t work because it didn’t embody the personality of the brand. Both are cool colors and would contradict the playful, personable, and welcoming traits I’d set for the identity. I replaced green with brown because I needed a neutral that could also act as a warm color to offset blue, which is the real color of Overcast. Green is now reserved for special occasions.
I used Swiss721 because it’s an updated version of Helvetica, which Overcast used previously. It also gave the brand flexibility across marketing and signage: extended for dramatic effect, condensed for tight layouts.
Overcast went from minimal branding to a system that can carry a third location, a roastery, or both in the future.
Overcast Coffee Co. Direct commission from the owner.
InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, Claude, Figma.
Brand identity, brand systems, environmental design, merchandise.
Solo. Research, art direction, design, and brand guidelines.
5 weeks.