BRAND:
CAFE LA
https://www.shinsaibashicafela.com/
Instagram: @shinsaibashi.cafe.la
Project Duration:
APRIL 2022 // 1 MONTH
PROJECT ROLE:
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
PROJECT DETAILS:
LOGO CREATION
BRAND STYLE GUIDE
BUSINESS CARD DESIGN
SOCIAL MEDIA IMAGERY
Challenge:
Create a brand design system that encompasses American heritage traits while maintaining familiarity with the Japanese audience, construct a guide for social media imagery and business operation focus, and infuse a piece of the brand owners background from Los Angeles.
Outcome:
Professionally refreshed the brand personality and appearance to match the vision of the brand owner resulting in a cohesive brand identity across collaterals, social media presence, and products. Increase in customer transactions and engagement with target audience. Established a consistent brand experience for all CAFE LA hosted events.
impact by numbers:
50% increased foot traffic
Held 3 new pop-up events
Increased product line to 10 items
Increased demand for hosting events by 200%
Strategy & Approach:
Understanding the Vision For
Cafe LA
Through the means of discovery phase with the brand owner, we discovered the nucleus to the opening of CAFE LA. The founder wanted to created a brand that encompasses an essence of Los Angeles—being that the owner relocated to Japan. During this phase, it was communicated that the brand wanted to go towards a rugged American heritage theme to compliment the serving of alcohol and coffee under the same roof. Further, it provided a slight Latino influence similar to what would be seen in LA. This became the direction for the brand to meet its goal of representing Los Angeles in Japan.
defining the brand
After interviewing the CEO on the brand beginnings, we were able to extract what the brand meant personally and the vision of where it hoped to reach in the future. After already agreeing on pursuing the American Heritage theme, it was established that the brand personality wanted to relaxed and causal ambiance and deviating away from bustling coffee shops and rowdy bars. This gave an even strong grasp of the brand identity in which the owner felt more confident on what to do for his next steps.
Understanding the User
Since the owner was an Asian American based in Japan, the CAFE LA brand wanted to cater towards the Japanese audience that is internationally friendly and foreigners who have decided to live in Japan. We created user personas that would fit within both of those communities to help us visualize what type of customer would walk through the doors of CAFE LA. This provided a stronger direction on what visual elements and imagery that would connect with target audience.
Creating the Position
With a strong coffee and alcohol culture existing in both the US and Japan, CAFE LA wanted to reach a position in which foreigners in Japan can feel the ambiance of LA while still appreciating the Japanese culture. This gave us insight on what elements of LA were known internationally as well as what elements of Japan had to be present. Overall, CAFE LA was meant for the slow paced “west-coast” personality in the bustling city of Osaka, Japan.
Brand Refresh:
Updating The Cafe LA Brand Logo
Without having the professional design experience, the brand owner attempted to tackle the design sector on his own. Without a proper design philosophy, the logo could not stand out against neighboring establishments. We injected the desired American Heritage theme as well as elements of Latino Los Angeles to construct a logo mark that would present well on both a coffee bag and beer can. Being that the logo had more of an American influence, it was able to stand out against its Japanese neighboring competitors and was clear that it was a coffee bar. The logo became scalable and flexible for all marketing materials and collaterals.
Branding Application:
The Cafe LA Brand Design System
With CAFE LA receiving a refreshed brand logo, design system, and a clear direction on where to go with future brand endeavors, we constructed an imagery guide to help the owner sculpt his social media platforms and continue to create the LA influenced coffee bar. Since the desired personality was to be relaxed and casual, we suggested to keep community and casual as keywords on the forefront when considering images and to present what it means to “sit and relax.”
What was the outcome?
CAFE LA became one of the top visited international establishments within the Shinsaibashi area of Osaka and developed strong connections with the international audience existing in Japan. The cohesive brand identity was able to eliminate confusion for the brand’s audience and increase foot traffic for the shop. Further, that led to the increase in hosted events by CAFE LA and expansion of branded products as well as the beginning of coffee bean sales. Due to strong understanding on the visual branding, the owner was able to host pop-ups around Japan with confidence.
