Project Menu
Not unlike The Project Runaway, just with menu design.
If you aren’t caught up on my journey so far, then start here: The Final Year.
My name is Courtney, and I’m a senior in the Digital Media program at Maryville University. My major encompasses both my current job skills and my passion for creativity while I study remotely from Oregon. I am currently in my final year at school with the grand finale of it all: The Capstone. The capstone is a milestone for a senior where you highlight your skills in a project of your choice. The design topic I have chosen is branding, which is where I hope my career takes me. We have made it through ideation, research, main logo design, and the first project design, but it hasn’t been without challenges.
My Concept
My project, Studio Blend, is building a brand identity for a hypothetical business. I chose the underlying theme of community and decided that a combined business model of a third-wave coffee bar in the middle of an art studio space would allow me to explore my theme fully. Think of a space that evokes authenticity, openness, and eclecticism. I will build this into my brand identity, merchandise mockups, social media mockups, and event poster mockups. It will allow me to showcase my branding, color, conceptualization, and organization skills and align my portfolio with my intended career path in branding. Throughout my process, I will use design to marry the elements and ideas of both coffee and art together.
My Capstone Reviewer
Outside of conceptualizing and designing, a capstone's other key factor is having a professional reviewer participate in your process. After shooting out many an email and researching agencies, firms, local designers, and Maryville alumni, I found my reviewer in Matthew Heidenreich. He is the Associate Creative Designer at Metajive Agency based out of San Diego, CA. You can find him here: https://www.mheidenreich.com/about.
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We had our first meeting last week to go over my concept, my pitch deck, my work thus far, and everything in between. He had a lot of suggestions regarding type, things to look out for, and research tips to help along the way. With his feedback, I have a lot to draw from now to improve and really hone in my designs to take them to the next level.
First Product
The next step was to create the first product for the brand: the menu. The cornerstone for every coffee shop and the creative base for the art studio. I wanted to come at the design from the art aspect and bring the coffee elements in with the design work itself. The first iteration I envisioned a book at the counter for folks to thumb through and gather the information on both aspects of the business.
What worked well with the first iteration based upon feedback from my peers was the main page, the basic line out of the text, and the sketched designs of the coffee. I took feedback on the page size, color choices, spacing, negative space, and utilization of the sketches and formed the second variation.
This variation aligns more with my overarching vision for Studio Blend and evokes a more refined tone. The brochure's size allows for in-house patrons to utilize it, but it also transforms into a built-in flyer to take away. I took what was working on the main page and added more layering and blending modes to create something more in-depth. I altered the color story, added the coffee icons into the background, included sketched art supplies, and added more textual hierarchy with font sizes.
The latest version was formed with feedback from my Capstone reviewer, Matthew, alongside my peers. I researched further into pricing formats and structures for both the third-wave coffee element and the art studio side to see what the industry standards were. I made edits to the text format, header unity, and letter spacing and redesigned the background with a more intentional use of my colorways.
My next steps are typography, brand identity, and my inspiration culling board. I will dive into my typography work to ensure that the letterspacing and font hierarchy is present and intentional. I will further develop the brand identity with secondary marks to pull for projects and provide context for further design work. I will develop a culling mood board for myself to keep at hand for inspiration and keep my direction in line for the brand to speak to the values I chose at the beginning: eclectic, open, and authentic.
For a personal check-in, I would be lying if I said I wasn’t feeling a bit overwhelmed with limitless options for edits within the design work, but I am excited to see how things develop and how my design skills grow through the next steps in this process.
