Branding A Coffee Shop: 7 Emerging Trends You Need To Know

Skillfully branding your coffee shop means the difference between someone walking through your café’s front door or picking another business. Understanding common trends will give you a strong starting point for what resonates with today’s coffee drinkers and why.

While individuality is vital for standing out as a brand – especially with over 38,000 coffee shops in the United States – looking at recent trends will give you a clear idea of what customers are looking for. Branding and design isn’t just about being aesthetically pleasing (though it certainly helps). It’s about communicating, at a glance, your business values, personality, and impact.

We’ll take a look at common branding trends among coffee shops so you can start crafting eye-catching designs for your coffee shop materials and accessories. Whether you’re a fan of maximalist designs or want to attract the Gen Z crowd, you’ll walk away with more than a few ideas.

Approachability Is Becoming A Major Draw For Younger Generations

From second-wave coffee’s focus on coffee’s finer details to third wave’s focus on quality, today’s coffee culture has veered in a decidedly different direction. Many coffee shops today skirt past the classic high-end atmosphere in favor of being friendly and approachable.

Reflecting approachability when branding a coffee shop begins with what you don’t want to portray. For starters, some casual coffee drinkers feel out-of-place in coffee shops because they’re unfamiliar with coffee terminology. Your branding could reflect this concern with bright colors or soft, rounded fonts that are rarely seen in high-end specialty shops and bars.

You could try bright, stylized logos on your coffee sleeves or playfully geometric patterns on custom drinkware. Your brand voice could lean toward humorous, cheeky, or just a little mellow. This approach communicates you’re not here to grill them on their knowledge of, say, rare bean varieties, but help them have a wonderful time.

It’s easier to understand approachability as a branding strategy when you look at the other end of the spectrum, too. For example, if you’re explicitly aiming your shop at long-time coffee fans – think passionate home brewers who own three vacuum coffee brewers – casual branding may not resonate as well. A soft and casual approach may make them feel like you’re not taking coffee as seriously as they do.

There is no right or wrong way to go about branding a coffee shop. However, when it comes to emerging customer trends concerning approachability and friendliness, a down-to-earth coffee shop will be very attractive to many who pass by.

Vibrant Colors Are Slowly Replacing Neutrals

The coffee shops of the past were characterized by nostalgic neutrals. From minimalistic enclaves to warm, antique throwbacks, the old-fashioned approach is starting to fall out of favor.

While you’ll still see quite a few cafés composed of rustic browns and bright creams, more coffee shops these days are choosing vibrant or pastel colors. Many cafés today boast bright gold fixtures, colorful logos, or brightly painted walls. As you’re building your coffee shop, extending vibrant colors throughout your branding will go a long way in setting an attractive first impression.

More so, a consistent color scheme throughout your coffee shop – and marketing materials – will help customers remember your brand. According to a psychology study, 67% of people can recognize a brand on color alone. Your color scheme will translate across all your coffee shop supplies – disposable drinkware, bowls, t-shirts, carryout bags, you name it.

Every time a customer looks at one of your items, you’ll create an impression that can last for months – even years.

Which colors should you consider choosing for your coffee shop, and why? We have a few starting points to help you narrow down the mood and atmosphere of your new establishment. We’ll also look at how accessories and merchandise can naturally branch off in-store design.

Pastels Create A Sweet And Inviting Atmosphere

Pastel color schemes are light, and a little washed out – think pale pinks, light blues, or faded purples. If you want a shop that feels sweet and friendly, consider the pastel design approach.

Cool Colors Are Instantly Soothing To Look At

If you want a mellow and laid-back café, lean toward blues and greens. Cool colors invoke elements of nature – think rivers and forests – and help people feel relaxed the second they step inside.

Neon Colors Provide A Retro Feel Many Drinkers Crave

You may have noticed a widespread nostalgia for the 80s and the 90s in pop culture lately. If you’re thinking of a retro feel for your shop, go for neon colors with heavy saturation – for example, sharp oranges, bright reds, and deep purples. These colors pop out against darker backgrounds and create an unforgettable impression.

A Careful Balance Between Minimalism And Maximalism Is Becoming Appealing

The coffee shops of the 70s and 80s were characterized by rustic charm, leaning toward ornate furniture and elaborate wall art. More modern coffee shops skewed to the other end of the extreme with sleek walls, neutral shades, and fewer decorations.

These past few years, coffee shops straddle a fine line between the extremes of minimalism and maximalism. An emerging trend in coffee shop branding hovers in a middle ground to offer customers a little nostalgia while still appearing sleek and modernized.

(If you need a crash course on these terms: maximalism refers to design with high levels of detail and a lot of color. Minimalism goes for the opposite effect, with few colors and simple designs.)

No matter where you land on the design spectrum, we’ll help you coordinate your coffee accessories with striking apparel. We also provide high-quality screen printing and merchandise services to help you create eye-catching designs for your beanies, t-shirts, and more.

Logos Lean Toward Rounded, Poppy, And Elegantly Simple

While ornate and finely detailed logos aren’t gone, they’re certainly deprioritized. One of the most well-known examples is the gradual shift of the iconic Starbucks logo.

Originally starting out as a detailed ink drawing back in the 1970s, its modern incarnation is distinctly more rounded and simplistic. Is there an underlying reason for this shift? The answer is a resounding (and very psychological) yes.

A 2021 study from Current Psychology looked into why customers prefer certain shapes. Customers who looked at round and bubbly shapes associated them with either themselves or a friend. There was also a tendency to view them as soft or friendly. To contrast, customers often associate angular and hard shapes with a stranger.

Many of today’s audiences want their branding to resonate with their identity, whether that’s through personal expression or similar morals. For example, a Harvard study found 63% of customers stating shared values is why they chose a specific business.

When you consider that many customers today associate certain shapes with themselves or people they know, the connection is clear. Rounded, bubbly, and simplistic logos will help immensely with helping customers connect with your brand on a personal level.

(If you want to learn more about this crucial design feature, don’t miss our in-depth guide on creating a buzz-worthy coffee shop logo.)

Fonts Are Becoming More Charming And Stylized

Certain fonts have developed associations with specific moods, settings, and even functions. For example, Times New Roman and Arial are well-known as the de facto font for books, blogs, and magazines.

When it comes to branding a coffee shop for modern audiences, formal fonts can come across as stuffy and out-of-touch. As we touched upon with color schemes and logos in the previous sections, modern audiences are starting to favor approachable and friendly branding design.

This approach can look like choosing fonts that lean toward the thicker side, have rounded edges, or even have a handwritten feel.

When putting together your coffee shop apparel and merchandise, think of the kind of font that would make someone immediately feel welcome.

Whichever font you choose, below are a few best practices when choosing typography for branding a coffee shop.

Always Prioritize Readability

The most charming and eye-catching font won’t mean much if it’s hard to read. Avoid cursive or overly ornate fonts, so nobody is confused about what they’re looking at.

Line Up With Your Brand Identity

Choose a font that lines up with the overall ‘feel’ of your shop – everything from mood to color will influence which font you pick. After you pick a font, make sure it has the same color scheme and art direction of your in-person store.

For example, let’s say your coffee shop is going for a nostalgic and retro approach. A very formal and angular font may look a little mismatched for the genre you’re trying to capture.

Pair Fonts Carefully

When branding a coffee shop, you’re not going to rely on a single font to communicate to customers. It’s very common for cafés to use a few fonts to create easy-to-read hierarchies of information across apparel, merchandise, and accessories.

For example, you can use a chunky and round font for your logo, then a slightly thinner and more angular font for supporting text below.

Emphasizing A Premium Experience Is Important To Match Customer Demand

How can branding a coffee shop hint at a high-quality experience? ‘Premium’ and ‘gourmet’ are words that have become a little generic these days, but they still speak to customers who want the most value for their dollar.

Branding a coffee shop not only means presenting a strong brand identity and delicious products, but helping customers feel they received their money’s worth. Firstly, we need to narrow down what premium means to customers and what they could be expecting when walking into your coffee shop.

According to a 2018 PWC study on price premiums, at least 25% of customers would pay up to 16% more for coffee if it came with a great customer service experience. This experience can look like receiving an order in a timely fashion or being treated respectfully when they approach the counter.

How do you communicate a premium experience in your branding? A simple place to start is by showing how much you care about their purchase through your packaging.

Tamper-Evident Seals To Keep Food Tasty And Safe

Did you know at least 26% of Americans are worried about foodborne illness? A premium experience means taking their concerns seriously and committing to high-quality food and drink from beginning to end. Enter tamper-evident seals.

Tamper evident seals not only keep clamshells and bags snugly closed to keep food fresh, they also immediately show signs of tampering. If the seal is torn or broken, they’ll know their order was compromised.

Easy-To-Find Details About Handling And Safety

Everything from, “Careful, coffee is hot!” to “Refrigerate within two hours.” are thoughtful reminders to reduce customers’ risk of an injury or foodborne illness. You can create a premium experience by putting these details front and center on your bags, boxes, and clamshells.

You can choose custom printing for your paper carryout bags, use informative stickers, or go for the old-fashioned handwritten route (if you can keep up with the order quantity, that is).

Memorable Merchandise People Won’t Forget

There’s nothing quite like a stylish t-shirt or practical baseball cap to keep your brand top-of-mind. Branding a coffee shop doesn’t end with the equipment – your merchandise taps into customers’ desire to have brands contribute to their identity.

Does your coffee shop have a charming mascot that would look great on a shirt? We provide a diverse range of cotton and polyester long-sleeved and short-sleeved t-shirts to showcase your artistry. Want passersby to get curious about your shop? Print your logo or brand name on our caps and beanies, so customers can generate interest through their own sense of fashion.

No matter what you choose, we offer high-quality prints to make your customers walk away happy.

Tapping Into Customers’ Desires To Support Local Businesses Is Essential

Last but not least, coffee shop branding trends are leaning toward embracing local roots. According to a recent survey, roughly seven out of ten respondents said they’re willing to shop locally more often.

65% of Gen Z shoppers also emphasized how shopping local helps them feel connected to their community. When you emphasize the unique cultural elements of your city, town, or neighborhood, you tap deep into customers’ desire to leave a positive local impact.

Incorporating locality into your branding can take on many forms, such as:

• Using iconography from the state, city, or town the coffee shop is based in
• Using a tagline that refers to local pride (such as a love for baseball or berry harvests)
• Taking cues from other food and beverage businesses (for example, a seaside city frequently having a lot of ocean-based mascots)

Shaking up your custom accessories can also be a great way of standing out at branding events or celebrating local events.

We’ll Help You With Branding A Coffee Shop With Unforgettable Custom Accessories

Branding a coffee shop is easier said than done. When you have to take into account everything from your color scheme to your value proposition, it’s easy to get lost in the seemingly endless details.

At Your Brand Cafe, we’re here to ensure your first impression is powerful enough to stick in the minds of today’s discerning coffee drinkers. We know how important it is to create a consistent brand image across all your merchandise and coffee accessories. More so, you need high-quality materials and a reliable turnaround time, so customers feel confident coming back for more.

Reach out to us today to get your coffee shop brand off the ground. We offer sample packs so you can get an idea of what you’re ready for before committing.