Cithara Coffee Roasters
Software used: Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop
Cithara Coffee Roasters is an artisanal coffee brand that introduces edible insects, specifically cicadas, into the western market. It utilizes the cicada’s classical connections to music to build a cohesive brand identity centering around ancient Greek visual motifs.
Problem Statement
Create a coffee roasting brand that introduces edible insects in coffee as a luxury good.
Audience
Conscious consumers 16 - 30
Familiar with or interested in greek mythology or classical history
Coffee buffs with an interest in experimental or alternative coffee companies
Passionate about sustainability and nutritionally explorative
Research
THE MUSES
were the inspirational Greek goddesses of the arts. Illustrated antennae and wings resembling coffee plant leaves add insect characteristics to the muses.
SONG & SOUND
In ancient Greek mythology, the cicada symbolized song. They were sacred to Apollo, the god of music and the arts. Throughout Cithara’s branding, undulating lines mimic both sound waves and coffee steam.
ATHENIAN VASES
Red-figure pottery, dating back to 520 BCE, inspired Cithara Coffee Roasters’ illustration and color palette.
LYRE? HARP?
The muse depicted on Cithara’s packaging is playing the cithara, a stringed instrument similar to the lyre. The cithara represents the coffee brand’s connection to sound, cicadas, and ancient symbolism.
Visual Identity
Cithara Coffee Roaster’s logo is a cicada composed of several elements. Its forewings mimic coffee plant leaves, its hind wings mimic coffee drops pulling from an espresso machine, and its thorax is a coffee bean.
A slice in the upper arm of the C distinguishes Cithara Coffee Roaster’s logotype. The floating stroke emulates an insect antenna, and its shape is carried through the logo mark in the antennae of the cicada and the distinctive line in the center of the coffee bean/cicada thorax.
The logotype typeface, Quincy CF, was chosen for its luxurious and traditional feel. It also resembles ancient Greek typefaces that had similar x-heights and set widths.
Cithara Coffee Roasters uses a limited palette inspired by red-figure clay vases. To accent these naturalistic clay tones, Lime Locust brings an insectile, saturated pop of color. Branded shade names bring personality to the palette.
An angular sans serif typeface accents the more traditional feel of the logotype serif and brings the antiquity-inspired brand into contemporary discourse.
