The making of the Di Alpino visual identity

The concept and the brand name

First ideas.

We like the story of medieval scholar Prospero Alpini, who on his trip through Egypt discovered and described the wonderful qualities of coffee tree fruits. Some researchers believe Alpini to be the first man to introduce coffee to Europe.

Trying out other directions as well:
—cup-cup, cupsula—coffee in a capsule as a mark of a really speedy process (coffee in a minute, coffee on the run);
—caffeista—coffeeholic, coffee junkie (in Italian);
—coffee break—time for coffee, time for socializing;
—fuga—italian for fly-through, lightning-fast, no time wasted on coffee maker or french press.

The customer chooses Di Alpino

Logo

Starting the logo process with raw and green sketches.

Grinding and refining the cup concept.

Adding a splash of divinity to the blend and replacing mere “и” with holy “о.”

Stripping and shelling things to the core bean.

The grapheme is pretty decent, but needs some twist to bring it to steaming hot. Our hero-traveler comes back to the scene, conveniently originating from Renaissance Italy, and this is one place and time not at all short of inspiration.

Adding mosaics to the brew.

The solution seems found with the last piece of the puzzle falling into place and tying together medieval Italy, church and art Renaissance, and the Age of Discovery. The image of the holy cup of coffee is now complete.

Art director: it won’t work, it looks like a tile shop logo.

Refocusing on beautiful italian stained glass art.

Pouring it into the cup.

Trying the design on different media.

Figuring out the type design.

Presenting to the customer and moving on to the detail refining stage.

Visual identity

Building a pattern in stained glass style.

Creating a “light” version of the design to broaden its use horizons and trying it on.

Making the paper cups.

Constructing mock-ups and checking their vitals.