A Very Local Brew

In Barcelona you can find coffee just about anywhere, but very few places serve really good coffee. Taking advantage of the fact that they had recently opened up their own roasting site, Dalston Coffee wanted to work with their packaging to present a more current, attractive and powerful identity, consistent across all physical and digital channels. The strategy of most premium brands has been to surround their product with an air of exclusivity, through minimalist design and elevated communications. Our job was to turn this trend on its head, communicating premium quality coffee that’s accessible to all.

Dalston Coffee is a small café named after the London district where chef Borja Roselló first made the transition from kitchen to specialty coffee. Roasted in La Garriga and served in El Raval, Dalston Coffee is a refuge from the crowds; an oasis of hospitality. Despite coming from different origins, the product is sweet and juicy, rather than bitter or potent, and the packaging includes notes to help people locate the taste without making them feel inexperienced. After all, coffee is not a science, it is a fruit. And their cups, an infusion of it. 

For the design proposal we wanted to truly understand the essence of the brand, exploring its origins and tapping into what makes it unique. To get the creative juices flowing, we first asked ourselves: Where did Dalston Coffee originate? The answer: Dalston. And what is Dalston? A neighbourhood. And what is a neighbourhood? A group of houses. 

Starting from this concept, we decided to envision each product as a single house, which together make up a whole neighbourhood – Dalston! Each box has a colorful roof like the awning of the Dalston café where Borja first discovered specialty coffee. 

We even named the products after particular houses – e.g. “name of coffee” + “House”, each flavour personalised with a distinctive colour. Maintaining the brand’s signature, planet-friendly green, we also added a warm red – a nod to the red brick houses of Dalston. Likewise, the logo was inspired by the typical brickwork found in this friendly London neighbourhood: contained in two simple bricks and connected asymmetrically as if forming part of a wall. 

Finally, bringing a touch of personality and playfulness to the design, we asked Lourenço Providência to produce a series of simple illustrations of characters as if seen through the windows of a house. The illustrations further personalise each flavour, turning every “house” into a “home.”