Maple Café | Brand Design & Creative Direction

Maple Café is a playful, nostalgia-inspired café brand designed to feel equal parts familiar and fresh. The identity pairs bold typography, warm café references and unexpected pops of color to create a brand world that feels full of personality.

The goal was to create a café identity that could stand out in an increasingly design-forward coffee space while still feeling approachable and inviting.

Rather than leaning into traditional coffee shop aesthetics, we built a visual world that feels colorful, playful, and editorial: with enough flexibility to come to life across everything from packaging and menus to merch and the physical café experience.

Rather than leaning into traditional coffee shop aesthetics, we built a visual world that feels colorful, playful, and editorial: with enough flexibility to come to life across everything from packaging and menus to merch and the physical café experience.

The creative direction pulls from retro cafés, contemporary food brands and candid, social-first imagery. Nostalgic references are paired with unexpected color and playful styling to make the brand feel familiar but current.

Maple’s logo suite pairs bold, structured typography with a playful handwritten script, balancing personality with a sense of nostalgia.

The primary wordmark is supported by alternate configurations and a compact secondary mark, creating a flexible system that can adapt across different brand touchpoints.

A set of celebratory shapes adds an extra layer of playfulness to the identity. Inspired by confetti, bursts and retro graphic motifs, the elements can be used as accents across packaging, social and branded touchpoints.

The identity was designed to live beyond the logo, with each application adding another layer to the world of Maple.

From coffee cups and pastry packaging to signage, loyalty cards and merch, the system creates a recognizable experience across every brand touchpoint.