Oren’s Coffee is a distinctly New York institution, and proudly so. We redesigned their brand, packaging, and web presence to be at once modern and nostalgic.
A New York State of Mind
Oren’s has been roasting New York’s Coffee since 1986, yet their branding was beginning to show its age. Our task was to reintroduce Oren’s without completely losing a sense of history or friendliness of the original brand.
To get here, we first delved into what it is to embody the city. Time and time again, we came back to the dual notions of finding your place and beginning conversations. For a sense of place, if you’re looking for your destination in NY, you follow the subway signs. There is a saying: “Looking for the subway? Follow the signs!” And so, the subway became our muse. We began to look at vintage mapping and the subway structure as a whole.
The logo design is inspired by Massimo Vignelli’s 1972 New York Subway map. Vignelli wanted to make using the subway as seamless as possible, a process he called going from “dot to dot”; knowing where you are and where you want to go. Oren’s Coffee NYC then becomes the path and destination.
From here, we crafted a visual design that is at once a smile, a face, a conversation and, taken in a different light, it is the sign that leads you to the path of the place you can stop for a moment. Find a conversation, begin your day, and be a part of this unlimited city.
The Oren’s Coffee logo is made up of two typefaces. Briefcase’s Alphapipe for the word Oren’s and the venerable Futura Bold for the complementary words. The basis of Alphapipe is a simple geometric construction derived from the shape of a circle.
The Complete Package
With a strong identity in place and sales increasing, we then designed a delightful e-commerce experience, including an updated website, striking new packaging, and an array of shipping materials. We looked to old New York for visual cues—from subway wayfinding to art deco patterning—to highlight the quality and history of this iconic brand.
