Great Circle came to market with the goal of leading the craft coffee industry and design agency Pilot partnered with the company on a cross-functional role, from polishing the brand story to naming the business – all the way to crafting their packaging and building the web presence.
The team at Pilot strategically set out to build the brand from the foundation up. During the naming generation process, the name Great Circle quickly rose to the top. “It spoke directly to their ‘high tide lifts all boats’ philosophy, while also being a geographical reference to the earth’s equator and coffee belt that parallels it. It was a natural fit. The tagline ‘Roasted with Care’ enforced their mission statement while also bringing context to them as a roastery.”
“A heart was a natural concept for the identity. It spoke directly to their passion for the product and compassion of their mission. The construction was also designed to incorporate a “G” for Great Circle while overall reflecting the forms of the cross section of a coffee bean. We paired the heart icon with a palette of typography that pulled its inspiration from times when handcrafted goods were the norm.”
“The final packaging solution was a dynamic label system that utilized one common label size for both singleorigin and blend roasts to simplify logistics and lower the required packaging inventory. As a small roastery, the single product label allowed Great Circle flexibility to bring a small run of products to market. We paired a bright colour with the utilitarian typography to easily communicate different product segments. Over-arching brand information was fit into one label on the back of the packaging to succinctly communicate Great Circle’s mission.”
A well thought, powerful and well-crafted brand identity package that differentiates Great Circle from the competitors.
Creative Direction: Erik Weikert, Bill Concannon
Design: Sean Morse
Copywriting: Chris Antonowich, Marcelo Urjel, Sergio Boppel
