Cafe Seventy Two | Brand Identity for a Coffee House

A brand identity for a coffee house, told the way the cafe lives it: from doors open at 06:00 to last call at 23:00.

Scope: Logo, Identity System, Packaging, Signage, Motion.

Seven, two, then a cup. The name is a number, so the mark writes it. One monoline draws the 7, loops into the 2 and finishes as a cup with its handle: a signature you can read at a glance and draw in one breath.

Beside it, a tall gold tab holds the word CAFE, like the label on a bag of beans. Ink for the line, roast-to-crema for the tab.

Three strokes, one pour. The seven, the two and the cup are one continuous line at a single weight with round terminals. Nothing is filled; everything is drawn.

The mark sits on a strict grid: the tab is 1:3, the proportion of a bag label, with CAFE centred in four equal steps. The top of the tab meets the centre of the 7, the foot of the cup sits on the base of the tab, and clear space is half the tab width on every side. From there it becomes five ways to sign, four colourways, a brass sculpture of the line, an app icon and small sizes that stay legible, and a motion signature where the line draws itself stroke by stroke.

Six colours, sized by how much each one is used: Espresso Ink for line, type and night; Roast and Crema Gold for the tab, highlights and foil; Travertine and Steamed Milk for stone, paper, cups and space; and Morning Sky for photography and digital.

Takeaway cups, bags and the barista's apron carry it into the morning rush. Archivo (variable width) does the working voice: condensed for times and prices, regular for menus, expanded for labels. Instrument Serif Italic is the human voice for headlines and greetings.

At the table the identity slows down. An all-day menu, ceramics and sugar sachets, a mural painted large on the wall, pastry boxes and iced cups. A repeat pattern built from the monoline wraps tissue, cup sleeves and napkins, so the line that draws the logo also draws the room.

Beans to take home, a tote and cap, and a loyalty card that counts in sevens: seven stamps, two on us. The same system carries into Instagram, an order-ahead app and a loyalty wallet, then into cards, letterheads and envelopes.

When the light goes, the line keeps going: in warm neon over the counter, in brass on the facade at blue hour, on a bus shelter down the street, and across a campaign of posters: Drawn in one pour. Every hour has a cup. Seven stamps. Two on us.

See you at 06:00.

Brand identity, art direction and motion by Theepa Studio, Dubai. Let's talk about your project: theepa.studio