Halcyon

2021

A hip coffee shop, full-service bar, and lounge that provides locals with a cool, relaxed vibe where they can either spend hours doing work or homework throughout the day and lounging and having fun with friends through the night.

Project Scope

• Visual Identity

• Branding

Competitive landscape

All of the companies below are local coffee shops that also provide restaurant and bar services. They are all special in their own way and have strong followings locally.

Through this research I was able to find a Neutral color palette is dominating amongst local coffee shop logos except by an occasional bright orange toned red (seems like an up and coming color) most coffee shops in Austin seem to be aiming for either that tattoo artist vibe or a more artisanal boutique like feeling. Rad illustrations and minimalistic lines seem to be trendy

Halcyon’s current logo

Halcyon’s logo is a simple san-serif type in a very heavy font that gives you the name of the company. It’s simple and contrasting but lacks the eclectic vibe of the company.

Through the pictorial research, I was able to find images that embodied the Halcyon essence. Bringing that flirtatious bar and cigar shop essence and mix it with the nostalgic coffeeshop. Images that bring the vibe of the place to life. The image of Cher in the 70’s smoking particularly gave me that feeling... it’s nostalgic, sexy and timeless. I also gathered images of eclectic-looking coffee shops and people walking around since one of the biggest aspects of Halcyon it’s the people and all the faces they get to see.

Some of my type and color solutions were inspired by a modern eclectic feeling. I thought to refine Halcyon’s original color palette keeping their signature orange and including new complementary colors to add depth and personality to the brand. For the type, I selected Morit as the display type because of its soft edges. The type is sharp and smooth at the same time and brings a warm nostalgic ambiance to the brand.

I thought of keeping a sans-serif for body text and bringing the timeless element to a new classic feeling.

Logo and color variations

Color variations have grown in popularity in the last couple of years. One of the reasons I wanted to try multiple color solutions with the logo was the versatility and diversity of halcyon’s clientele. When developing the logo, many things came to my mind. I thought about a sleek outline, a 70s ad, an old pack of cigarettes, and vintage playboys.

Reflection

The Halcyon re-brand is a project that is very close to home. I’ve been the social media consultant for the store since 2018, and when they were considering re-branding, I was glad to be included. Because of my time working with Halcyon, this is one of the branding projects where I can say I really got to know the brand to its core, and it’s a project that has taught me a lot about working with real clients and stakeholders and that the path to a re-brand has more to it than just great design.

Project status

This project is currently on hold with Halcyon’s owners and investors. Because of budgeting issues post the covid-19 lockdown, they’ve decided to keep their current branding but want to stay open for the possibility of a re-brand in the future.