Backstage Coffee

ABOUT THE PROJECT

Backstage is a unique roastery that values and nurtures relationships with everyone in its coffee network – from farmers to exporters and customers themselves. They are explorers, whose exploration extends beyond just the coffee itself. To offer the most interesting flavors, Backstage travels to the farthest and most exotic corners of the world, searching for new recipes and coffee varieties to expand the circle of specialty coffee lovers in Lithuania.

CLIENT NEEDS

Everyone knows Backstage of their impeccable coffee discoveries, one of the most complex and interesting processes that involves a lot of time for searching and tasting. Hence, it requires presenting a lot of information to the coffee lover – including taste notes, roast, processing, region, altitude.

For this reason, when they opened in 2017, they fully focused on the quality of their coffee and representation, rather than their overall identity. Hence, they built it purely on the coffee shop’s hero, Bakara – a dog often seen in their cafes. However, now, after gaining growing momentum, it has become difficult for one symbol to clearly define their identity and values, as well as provide a smooth transition from cafes to the digital environment, where they have started offering new services.

DESIGN VALUE

Backstage’s travels have connected them with farmers, emphasizing the importance of their relationship, transparency, cultural immersion, and understanding the entire process of bean cultivation. Hence, the idea of a new identity naturally arose from the desire to showcase that Backstage Roasters are curious travelers. The identity became a blend of adventure, exploration, and storytelling. During our research, we found inspiration in 1960s film posters, particularly those depicting intrepid adventurers venturing into new lands. These posters, along with travel stamps, which are widely featured in the identity, resonated with the essence of Backstage, now reflected in an earthy color palette, eclectic typography styles, and the incorporation of vintage photographs.

Ten distinctive stickers, each bearing a captivating symbol representing the coffee’s origin, serve as a stronger emphasis on the general Backstage look as explorers. These separate stickers are seen as tangible links to the coffee’s diverse cultural heritage, much like travel stamps collected as souvenirs from visited countries. A masterfully combined trio of unique fonts effectively brings out crucial information, ensuring that coffee lovers can easily identify Backstage’s coffee and discover new flavor profiles. Finally, the logo—a stylized ‘B’—serves as a subtle yet powerful symbol, alluding to the backstage where the magic of coffee preparation unfolds. This and each identity element represent Backstage’s eagerness to share their story from the bean to the first sip.