Do Nothing Snake Sideways album cover redesign
The Station
For Beacon Hill and Columbia City residents, The Station is more than just a coffee house, it’s a hub for community discourse and engagement. But its branding didn’t reflect it’s unique place among Seattle coffee shops.
Over the course of 12 weeks, I reworked the brand identity of The Station so that it’s visual presence was more congruent to the classic feel of Old Seattle in the Beacon Hill and Columbia City neighborhoods. Using bright colors and a sign-painting aesthetic, The Station's new branding makes subtle references to the owners' identities. I developed a framework for branding that will ensure consistent brand expression across platforms
window decal featuring updated logo
take-away coffee cups
updated interior design mockup for The Station's Beacon Hill location
menu boards
packaging for whole bean coffee
train card advertisments
the updated brand guide for The Station
Process
The History of The Station
In 2010, Jose Luis Rodriguez and Leona Moore-Rodriguez opened The Station in a small Beacon Hill storefront. Today, The Station has become an indispensable part of the Beacon Hill and Columbia City communities. More than just a coffee shop, The Station is a gathering space for public discourse and social activism. Providing for a healthy and thriving community is a critical part of The Station’s mission, and that means serving and being accessible to all members of the community.
The Station's customers
The Station caters to the local Beacon Hill and Columbia City communities, and Seattle more broadly. They engage with the community by organizing fund-raisers and community events, usually at their brick-and-mortar locations.
The Station's values
The Station is a mission-driven business. The Station’s founders, Luis Rodriguez and Leona Moore-Rodriguez, are passionate about equity, inclusivity, and community outreach. Some of their sobriquets for The Station are “The hip hop coffee shop” and “a social justice coffee shop.” They want to provide a safe space for all Beacon Hill community members, even the homeless. The Station welcomes people even if they don’t buy anything.
Initial sketches for The Station's wordmark
My concept board for The Station drew inspiration from Mexican sign painting (Rotulos), neighborhood taquerias, and marigold flowers
Typography
The Station's wordmark includes a variety of sign-painting inspired scripts: Oldtown Signer Script, Sarah Script, and Ed's Market Design Elements. The hand-crafted look of these typefaces set The Station apart from the run Seattle coffee shops, most of which prefer a clean, geometric look. For body copy, I used Brother 1816, an typeface that comes from the LatinX owned type foundry TipoType.
Colors
My inspiration for the colors of The Station's rebrand came from Marigold flowers, which have a special significance in Latin culture. Marigolds are a common offering on alters in Mexico, and they are a mythological meaning that relates to love and devotion. I thought this was an appropriate symbol for The Station because it's owners are a BIPOC couple from Beacon Hill and Mexico.
The Station's redesigned wordmark with variants
A spread from the brand standards guide showing color palette and typography for The Station
A spread from the brand standards guide showing logo usage and mis-usage
A spread from the brand standards guide showing branding elements
Special thanks to Jess Ornelas for her feedback on this project