Kikwtu Kenya Coffee
Contribution: Design
The Ask
Kikwetu Coffee is a Chicago-based small business who was in need of a refresh of their visual identity. They were experiencing a lot of inconsistency in their branding across multiple touch points. This was keeping them from presenting a unified experience at all of the various events they were present at.
Breathing New Life
Early on in the discovery process, Martha and Lee shared that their employees often wear aprons. The aprons contained a unique pattern that isn’t used by any other brand. It was created by an artisan from their home town in Kenya, which made it that much more special. Once I saw the pattern, I knew it had to be a key element Kikwetu’s new visual identity. So I recreated the pattern digitally and sought out to infuse it into as many items as possoble.
Packaging
As you’ve seen above, Kikwetu’s branded experience wasn’t very consistent. It was also clear that each individual item was telling the same visual story. One sticker design was used on multiple products, and different patterns and textures were competing with one another. The plan was to create a sense of cohesion while still finding ways for each item to feel different from the other.
