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Case studyBranding

IdentityColourPatternPackaging

Café

52 Cafe

Opening frame of the 52 Cafe brand film

52 Cafe brand film. Motion film made from the original 52 Cafe identity boards and brand applications.

Overview

An identity for 52 Cafe built on a monogram where the 5 and 2 mirror each other, inspired by two people sitting face to face.

The presentation sets out an orange-and-charcoal palette and a pattern, then applies the monogram to boxes, a paper bag, a food tray, cups and a pizza box.

BriefA numerical café name offers the chance to create a compact identifying mark. The design task is to make those two numbers feel like one place, with a connection to the face-to-face encounter in the original inspiration board.

Services

Scope

  • Monogram and wordmark
  • Colour palette and pattern
  • Packaging range
A barista in a charcoal apron slides a charcoal 52 Cafe cup with an orange lid across a wooden counter to a customer's hand, with a 52 Cafe kraft bag beside it.
A cup across the counterThe 52 Cafe identity in a lifestyle photograph of a cup handed across a cafe counter.

How to read this deck

The deck pairs the client’s original presentation boards with new application scenes that show the identity in use.

Some of the older boards have been redrawn. Each one sits where the original stood, with the real original design in its corner and a View original button to open it in full.

Chapter 01

Concept and inspiration

52 Cafe: Inspiration
Inspiration"No. 52" beside an illustration of two people seated face to face, labelled "Mirror Sitting".
52 Cafe: 52 Cafe mirrored-seating inspiration
52 Cafe mirrored-seating inspirationThe client board pairs mirrored café seating with the number 52 on an orange field.

Chapter 02

How the logo was formed

The 52 Cafe logo shown large on a pale paper ground with thin construction lines, circles, a modular grid and a clear-space frame built from a unit x.
Logo constructionConstruction study of the 52 Cafe logo, showing its geometry and clear space.

Chapter 04

Logo variations

52 Cafe: Logo on dark and light
Logo on dark and lightThe monogram on black and on white.
The mirrored 52 monogram in charcoal, enlarged and cropped off the edge of an orange field.
Symbol on orangeThe 52 Cafe identity as the mirrored 52 monogram cropped large on its orange.

Chapter 05

Colour

Orange on charcoal, everywhere

The palette board leads with charcoal and orange, supported by creams and greys. The boxes, bag, tray, cups and pizza box keep the orange monogram on charcoal or kraft.

  • Accent#E58F22
  • Surface#222222
  • Ink#FFFFFF

Colours sampled from the original identity boards.

52 Cafe: Colour palette
Colour paletteCharcoal and orange lead, with creams and greys.
Four vertical panels of orange, charcoal, cream and white, each with the 52 Cafe logo in a readable colour.
Logo on colourThe 52 Cafe identity on four panels of orange, charcoal, cream and white.
52 Cafe: 52 Cafe colour-palette swatches
52 Cafe colour-palette swatchesThe PDF board arranges black, orange, grey and warm neutral swatches with colour values.

Chapter 06

Typography

52 Cafe: 52 Cafe typography presentation
52 Cafe typography presentationThe client typography board identifies Quatro Slab and displays uppercase and lowercase alphabet samples.

Chapter 07

Pattern and graphic elements

52 Cafe: Brand pattern
Brand patternA light pattern built from the monogram.
The mirrored 52 monogram tiled edge to edge in orange on charcoal, with a small 52 Cafe label.
PatternThe 52 Cafe identity as a repeat pattern built from the monogram, with a small logo label.
52 Cafe: 52 Cafe repeat-pattern presentation
52 Cafe repeat-pattern presentationThe 52 motif repeats across a pale background beside the small identity on orange.

Chapter 08

Packaging

Two black 52 Cafe burger boxes and a kraft paper bag being folded closed by two hands on a clean stone counter.
52 Cafe: Boxes and paper bag
Boxes and paper bagCharcoal boxes and a kraft bag carry the monogram.
Burger boxes and bagThe 52 Cafe identity on burger boxes and a paper bag.
52 Cafe: Food tray mockup
Food tray mockupA charcoal tray with an orange label on a wooden board.
The 52 Cafe takeaway range on an oak table in a bright cafe: a kraft bag, three cups with orange lids and charcoal boxes with the 52 Cafe logo.
Packaging rangeThe 52 Cafe identity across the takeaway packaging range.
Three charcoal 52 Cafe cups with orange lids in small, medium and large on a stone ledge in morning light.
52 Cafe: Cup mockups
Cup mockupsThree charcoal cups with orange lids in different sizes.
Cups in three sizesThe 52 Cafe identity on coffee cups in three sizes.
An open black 52 Cafe pizza box with a pizza inside and a closed black box beside it on a dark table.
52 Cafe: Pizza box mockup
Pizza box mockupAn open charcoal pizza box with the monogram on the lid.
Pizza boxesThe 52 Cafe identity, remastered from the original board of pizza boxes, as a photograph of the pizza boxes.
52 Cafe: 52 Cafe cup application
52 Cafe cup applicationThe 52 Cafe identity on takeaway cups.
A burger in 52 Cafe printed paper beside a kraft fries cone on a cream tiled table.
52 Cafe: 52 Cafe burger wrap and fries sleeve
52 Cafe burger wrap and fries sleeveThe client board pairs a newspaper-style burger wrap with a kraft fries sleeve carrying the 52 Cafe emblem.
Burger wrap and fries coneThe 52 Cafe identity, remastered from the original board of burger wrap and fries cone, as a photograph of the burger wrap and fries cone.
52 Cafe: 52 Cafe kraft-bag presentation
52 Cafe kraft-bag presentationThe client PDF gives the hand-held kraft bag and printed 52 Cafe emblem their own complete application board.

Chapter 09

Stationery

Business cards, letterhead, envelope and compliment slip with the 52 Cafe monogram on a charcoal linen surface.
StationeryThe 52 Cafe identity as business cards, letterhead, envelope and compliment slip.
A charcoal 52 Cafe business card held over an orange card on a walnut desk, with a black pen and an espresso cup beside them.
Business cards on a deskThe 52 Cafe identity: two business cards on a walnut desk.
A cream letterhead with a small orange 52 Cafe logo and an orange envelope with the black 52 monogram on a walnut desk with a pen and a tea glass.
Letterhead and envelopeThe 52 Cafe identity: a cream letterhead and an orange envelope on a walnut desk.

Chapter 10

Digital

A hand holding a phone that shows a 52 Cafe Instagram grid of monogram tiles, pattern tiles and food in branded packaging.
Instagram gridThe 52 Cafe identity as an Instagram grid on a phone.
A hand holding a phone at a cafe counter showing a 52 Cafe story frame: orange with the black logo and a band of the logo pattern.
Story frame on a phoneThe 52 Cafe identity: a single story frame on a phone at a cafe counter.
52 Cafe: 52 Cafe foil food-tray application
52 Cafe foil food-tray applicationThe 52 Cafe identity on its documented black-lidded foil food trays.

Chapter 11

The brand in the world

Food trays, burger wrapping, fries sleeves and carry bags show how the same framed lockup works on rigid and folded packaging. The repeat pattern creates continuity across the different surfaces.

A charcoal cafe wall with the lit orange 52 Cafe sign above a round oak table with two charcoal cups with orange lids and cafe chairs.
52 Cafe mirror seatingThe 52 Cafe identity on a lit wall sign and takeaway cups in the cafe.
A charcoal cafe front at dusk with a lit orange 52 Cafe sign, a glowing glass door, a cream awning and two bentwood chairs facing each other across a small table.
52 Cafe entrance at duskThe 52 Cafe identity on a lit entrance sign, with two chairs facing each other.
Two pairs of hands raise charcoal 52 Cafe cups with orange lids in a toast above a kraft paper bag with the 52 Cafe logo on a cafe table.
52 Cafe cups and bagThe 52 Cafe identity on paper cups and a takeaway bag.
A charcoal business card with the orange 52 monogram foil stamped and slightly debossed, over a cream card and a card printed with the small orange pattern, on clean dark slate.
Foil monogram on a cardThe 52 Cafe identity as foil on a business card, with the brand pattern on a second card.

Chapter 12

In people’s hands

  • A person in cream linen, seen from behind, walks along a sunlit Dubai pavement carrying a 52 Cafe kraft bag and a charcoal cup with an orange lid.
    Kraft bag on the pavementThe 52 Cafe identity in a lifestyle photograph of a kraft bag and a cup carried along a sunlit pavement.
  • Two people seated opposite each other at a round table share a charcoal 52 Cafe pizza box, each holding a charcoal cup with an orange lid.
    Pizza and cups, face to faceThe 52 Cafe identity in a lifestyle photograph of two people sharing a pizza box and cups at a small table.
  • A barista in a charcoal apron with a small orange 52 monogram carries a tray of three 52 Cafe cups in different sizes.
    Three sizes on a trayThe 52 Cafe identity in a lifestyle photograph of a barista carrying a tray of three cup sizes.
  • A sealed black 52 Cafe food tray with an orange label and a charcoal cup with an orange lid on a clean steel kitchen counter.
    Tray and cup on steelThe 52 Cafe identity in a lifestyle photograph of a food tray and a cup on a steel kitchen counter.
  • A 52 Cafe kraft bag and a charcoal cup with an orange lid on a woven rattan chair seat beside a sunlit window.
    Bag and cup on a rattan chairThe 52 Cafe identity in a lifestyle photograph of a kraft bag and a cup on a rattan chair.

Chapter 13

Campaign

A backlit bus shelter poster in orange with the black boxed 52 Cafe logo on a clean Al Barsha roadside at golden hour, with a bench and a passing car.
Bus shelter poster, Al BarshaThe 52 Cafe identity: an orange backlit bus shelter poster in Al Barsha.
A neat stack of orange 52 Cafe flyers on a stone cafe counter beside a card terminal and a charcoal paper cup with an orange lid.
Flyers on a cafe counterThe 52 Cafe identity: a small stack of printed flyers beside a cup on a cafe counter.
Three backlit street posters on a clean Dubai pavement at blue hour carrying the 52 Cafe logo, the monogram pattern and a charcoal takeaway cup.
Street posters at blue hourThe 52 Cafe identity on three backlit street posters at blue hour.

About this deck

What we built

A mirrored 5-and-2 monogram, orange-and-charcoal palette and repeat pattern, demonstrated across cups, a tray, boxes, a bag and a pizza box.

About the originals

The original boards are from Abcon’s original project presentation and include application mockups.

What does your brand need next?

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