A new identity for Old Spike; a specialist coffee company based in South East London, operating as a roastery, cafe and social enterprise helping homeless people.
The speciality coffee sector is a crowded marketplace with a distinct visual language that is rapidly becoming staid. With Old Spike’s desire to separate the retail side of the business from the social enterprise, Commission seized the opportunity to twist the functional and familiar into something new and memorable.
The newly developed brandmark – a broken rock – was borne from a simple backstory: the roastery sits on the site of an old workhouse, often called a ‘spike’ as workers would break rocks over metal spikes in exchange for food and board.
The broken rock and bold type form a raw and unforgiving brandmark, softened by luxurious print finishing. The mark is foiled as a 3D sculpted emboss on the face of slim card box, inspired by boutique retail bags.
A few simple creases allow the bag to either stand upright for on-shelf display or fold almost flat, the base popping outwards, for delivering subscriptions cost-effectively by post.
A range of retail coffee bags were created, alongside wholesale packaging, a suite of stationery, signage and a ripstop retail tote.