You can now make your house a coffeehouse with the hand-roasted coffee from Union. The independent small-batch roaster in East London is perfect for the discerning coffee lover, offering brews with outstanding taste. Union turned to Studio Output for a new brand identity, hoping to become more recognizable among the coffee enthusiasts’ crowd. The goal was to communicate the premium quality (Union won’t sell a coffee unless it scores 84+ on the SCAA sensory scale) and to also simplify visual elements.
“By really getting to know the people and the brand, we discovered that Union is not just about sourcing and small-batch roasting the highest quality coffee, but also helping everyone to prepare the perfect cup every time. This challenges the elitist perception of the industry, recognising the brand’s role as a friendly and welcoming ‘coffee pioneer’ that would live throughout the work.”
“To communicate quality and simplicity, we stripped the logo back to an elegant typographic device, with the ornamental ‘U’ representing the handle of an espresso cup. When contracted to a shorthand mark, this combines with the underline to create an iconic cup & saucer device.”
“Ensuring continuity, we retained the rich indigo colour of the previous brand identity, but used it more sparingly. A rich copper colour adds distinction to natural kraft packaging, through foil-blocking and a reusable metal clip. Consumer and trade bags are taller and more elegant, featuring only the brand information and story.”
“An outer ‘crash-tray’ creates on-shelf presence, identifies individual coffees through a colour system and introduces the brand’s more friendly tone of voice, teased out by our fantastic friends at Reed Words. As well as a strength and flavour guide, the tray also displays the ‘cupping score’, giving people a chance to judge a coffee’s quality objectively for the first time – a move which will undoubtedly raise the bar for the industry as a whole.”
Union Hand-Roasted is high quality—elegant and refined. A deep indigo hue almost feels like royalty, indicating the premium nature of the brand. The brand embraces a simple and clean layout, letting the product do more of the talking.
“Union is well-known for working ethically with its suppliers. For them, it’s a simple business decision that ensures they can consistently buy the best raw product for a fair price. But it was important to start putting the customer in the picture too, by showing the finished product in an appropriate setting. We worked with food photographer Steven Joyce to create a set of images that will be used across trade and consumer ads – again, increasing the sense of a quality product in an inviting environment.”
