Partner Coffee’s Visual Brand Identity
Partner Coffee is a coffee shop brand operating in Lawang, Kab. Malang. The philosophy and essence of the cafe’s brand name centers on the word partner coffee which literally means coffee friend, which can be interpreted as a friend who is invited to hang out on the porch drinking coffee to talk together or exchange stories so as to strengthen a sense of social or attachment. In one of Partner Coffee’s account posts on the Facebook page entitled Logo Design Concepts, the word “partner” is interpreted as an act of mutual need between two or more things or partners. As a brand, they position their brand to attract young people as a priority target user. Geographically, Partner Coffee’s location is quite close to one of the public high schools, SMAN Negeri 1 Lawang, so they take the opportunity of the lifestyle of high school youth who often like to do hangout activities as potential buyers of Partner Coffee. In addition, Partner Coffee also provides various segments of types of places that can be used, such as a place to do tasks supported by the availability of WiFi and power outlets, a place to hang out in large numbers, or just for two/three.
Target customers who are dominated by young people cause the Partner Coffee cafe brand to need the right and attractive visual branding to be able to steal the attention of young people around. The visual branding in question includes logos, social media posts, design implementation on posters, packaging, use on larger and smaller media such as billboards, banners, flyers, brochures, and merchandise, implementation of moving media such as videos or animations, to attractive interior and exterior design of the cafe.
In visual branding, forming a strong identity is the main goal that must be achieved by a brand, so that the brand identity can be easily recognized by customers, especially the target customers of the brand. To achieve a strong brand identity, there are several principles in visual branding that can be used as concepts to help build a memorable brand image, these principles include simplicity, consistency, versatility, originality, memorable, and timeless. These six principles can be implemented in various visual brand assets, such as logos (illustrations/icons), supergraphics, colors, or typography.
Logomark of Partner Coffee’s Brand
Previously, the Partner Coffee had undergone a visual conceptual rebranding of the same philosophy. These changes include the use of more conceptualized brand colors, changes in the type of typography style used, and the brand logomark icon. In this article, I will focus on discussing Partner Coffee’s visual branding concept after doing a new visual brand concept for their cafe brand.
This logogram form combines lettermark and wordmark types, both of which represent the Partner Coffee brand name. The lettermark in this logo uses two letter elements, namely “c” and “p” that form one shape, creating a silhouette of the symbol “&” (and) which provides a metaphor for the word “partner”. The lettermark also adds the visualization of coffee beans in a small oval shape to represent the Partner Coffee brand as a cafe business. This concept is also applied in the workmark of this logo. The ligature concept connects several letter elements, namely “r, t, and n” and “o, f, and e”. The ligature concept in typography is used to represent the word “partner” which is connected to each other.
The color palette of Partner Coffee is taken from two complementary colors, namely orange-yellow and blue. In color psychology, the blue color gives a calm and relaxed impression as the environmental atmosphere that Partner Coffee cafe wants to form. This impression is supported by the location of Partner Coffee which is quite far from the highway so that customers can feel calm while in the cafe. Meanwhile, the orange-yellow color has a warm and cheerful impression to describe the atmosphere created when customers talk to each other and exchange stories. This color can also represent young people who tend to be active and enthusiastic. In addition to colors that have enough meaning to describe the atmosphere that this brand wants to give, the color combination used (complementary) is a plus point to create a prominent and contrasting color so that it can quickly attract the attention of the customer’s eyes, but still gives a harmonious impression.
Visual Branding Principal Implementation in Partner Coffe’s Logomark
Based on the six principles in visual branding mentioned earlier, it can be seen that Partner Coffee’s logo has implemented these principles quite well. Starting from the simplicity aspect of the lettermark and wordmark, which are not only attractive in shape but also easy to recognize. Apart from being easily recognizable, the simple logo shape and contrasting colors help customers to be able to remember the Partner Coffee brand name easily. The use of hierarchical design principles used in wordmarks also helps customers remember the main word element, namely “partner” in “partner coffee”. Even so, the arrangement of the letters “c” and “p” in the lettermark logo form has the potential to cause errors in recognizing it due to the reverse order of the letters, this simple logo form helps the brand identity to be easily applied to various media and platforms. A design that is based on the philosophical meaning of the brand owner creates a work that is original and not too common so that the logo can stand out to the audience/customers.
The Partner Coffee logo concept sufficiently meets the principle aspects that can potentially represent the brand in the long run, ranging from original, simple, and easily recognizable design elements, the use of harmonious and striking colors.
Visual Branding Principal Implementation in Media: Sosial Media
In addition to a logo, a brand’s visual identity can also be seen through various media as a place to represent the image of the brand. Social media is one of the most popular media to quickly introduce a brand’s image, so the right and consistent social media design to the creation of relevant and interesting content has the potential to introduce the brand and become a large audience of potential customers.
On the social media page of the Partner Coffee brand (@partnercoffee), there is harmony in the Instagram highlight icon or photography style. However, the icon used does not adequately describe the minimal impression that has been created from the logo identity or photography style that tends to be minimal. Instagram highlights can use a simpler icon by applying the predetermined color palette, blue with orange-yellow accents. There are some inconsistencies in some posts by using the dominant green color which is less relevant to the color palette of the Partner Coffee brand identity.
It is necessary to adjust the color to the design style on social media so as to increase consistency which helps the brand to enhance the brand impression through color. Partner Coffee can also use relevant supergraphic elements to create uniqueness and add to the brand image through distinctive visual elements. Supergraphics can be implemented with the photos used, posters, or other media.
Conclusion
e principles of branding in terms of visuals to increase brand engagement with audiences after the visual rebranding. Even so, there is a need for consistency or increasing the number of supergraphics that can describe the “Partner Coffee” brand in various media.
References
[1]. https://www.facebook.com/share/p/FBWN7y433Np4q7GE/
[2]. https://www.zarla.com/id/panduan/jenis-jenis-logo
[3]. https://fastwork.id/blog/psikologi-warna/
By Russel Ezra Marvelinettou – 2702235172