PLAIN TALK BOOKS AND COFFEE: LOGO + VISUAL IDENTITY

Plain Talk Books & Coffee is a small indie book store, coffee shop, and deli located in the East Village of Des Moines. They partner with other local businesses to employ people with disabilities and throw inclusive events for the community. They have been struggling with growing competition in the area and were seeking a new adaptable logo design, color palette, and mockups for merchandise.

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I started with a tour to the building to get a better understanding of the space, customer base, and history of the business and the area. I decided to pull colors and patterns from the interior of the business, which historically housed an ice cream parlor. We decided to incorporate an illustration from an old newspaper article, for which the business was originally named, into the logo design itself. I wanted to stray from using coffee, books, and food in the logo to set the business apart from other shops in the area.

 

Because of the style of events held and the worn textures of the artwork and furniture throughout the space, I chose to add a roughened texture to the typography. I made sure to use fonts that were free for commercial use to avoid any unnecessary upkeep costs – as a small business myself, I always try to keep the budget as low as possible!

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Plain Talk has been eager to implement the new designs, and they've shared that they're getting a lot of positive and energetic feedback from the community! I look forward to working with them again in the future on other Raccoon Forks businesses. Stay tuned!