Dosa Coffee – Identity & Packaging

Dosa Coffee is a restaurant chain, offering unpretentious and tasty South Indian food. Studio Ping Pong partnered with them as they were on the cusp of expansion to create a branding that would do justice to their authentic taste and no-frills dining experience, while staying away from stereotypical imagery.

The chain had been serving authentic South Indian food in Kolkata since the past five years. Known for its no-fuss eateries, and with growing outlets and multiple kinds of offerings, it was struggling to develop consistent brand language. It needed an efficient branding system to work across different formats while retaining its original essence.

With Dosa Coffee, the solution was to keep it uncomplicated and the visuals familiar. As their primary audiences were families and older generations, the focus was to maintain its simplicity without compromising quality.

The result was a custom-type logo, brand colours paying homage to the original logo and as a nod to the dishes on offer, and clean, dotted lines representing motifs from South India. Boasting of two iconic dishes, the name of the brand was as fuss-free as its offerings.

The custom logo was a modified Rustica, inspired from South Indian languages without appropriating the letters themselves. Rustica and Basic Sans were used for the other text to keep in line with the simplicity of the identity.

Every element of the branding was made to complement the simplicity of the food. Stripped down icons; line art depicting an interpretation of local South India; heavy use of white with one prominent colour; and space design that clearly conveyed modern South India without being garish.