Here at Nice Package, we celebrate all kinds of design—from bootstrap first timers launching with eye catching bags, to brand collaborations with cutting edge design firms. We’ve featured over forty bags, boxes, and bottles from around the world and wanted to take a moment to look back at ten nice packages that take coffee branding and design to the next level.
Commonwealth Coffee, Denver
Inspired by a vintage maps, these bags from Denver’s Commonwealth Coffee stand as a sort of antidote to the sleek, simplistic style that we so often feature here on Nice Package. This is one of the very best roasters in Denver and served at several of the city’s top bars, including Amethyst Coffee, recently profiled here on Sprudge and a 2015 Sprudgie Award finalist for Best New Cafe. You can also find Commonwealth Coffee at some of the best multi-roaster cafes in America, including Comet Coffee in St. Louis and Cognoscenti Coffee in Los Angeles.
Read the feature on Commonwealth Coffee here.
Velo Coffee Roasters
Every brand has its own approach to coffee packaging design, but here at Nice Package we see a trend emerging: progressive coffee companies are increasingly seeking out the services of talented design agencies to creative distinctive, memorable packaging. Typically neither brand in these unions are particularly large; collaborations between small, progressive coffee brands and boutique design firms are just one more example of how well coffee plays with stand-outs in fields like fashion, art, music and tech.
In a small market like Chattanooga, Tennessee these connections are even more important, like the work being done by Velo Coffee Roasters and the design team at Widgets & Stone. Together they’ve created a packaging presentation that feels distinctively memorable, and able to convey both complex information and a sense of brand personality in the same breath. “We hope you dig it.”
Read the feature on Velo Coffee Roasters here.
PT’s Coffee
Our friends & partner at PT’s have been in business since 1993, and began roasting just a few years later in 1997. Today they offer a range of specialty coffee from around the world, much of it sourced in adherence to the “Direct Trade” sourcing model, which allows them to develop annual coffee buying relationships with top coffee producers.
One such producer is Wilford Lamastus, of the renowned Elida Estate in Boquete, Panama. This is home to some of the best coffee in the world, which is why you see coffees from Elida Estate being roasted and served up a select group of top roasters. It’s also why Wilford Lamastus was nominated for a 2015 Sprudgie award for Notable Producer. That makes this coffee a complete example of beauty: the PT’s Elida Estate run is a gorgeous coffee, presented in lovely packaging designed by the brand’s own in-house team. A Nice Package both inside and out.
Read the feature on PT’s Coffee here.
Cantook Micro-Torrefaction
We are gagging for this cutting-edge Quebecois coffee design from Cantook Micro-Torrefaction in Quebec City. Inspired by the North Woods lifestyle, Cantook have repurposed metal tins originally used to store maple syrup and turned them into a striking example of industrial coffee design. Stamped with crucial information for the home user—in glorious French, of course—these tins set a new high mark in our book for special edition coffee packaging. C’est bon!
Read the feature on Cantook Micro-Torrefaction here.
Kaffa Roastery
A truly nice package is a gift that keeps on giving, finding new ways to delight and surprise with each passing day. We’ve had these bags from Kaffa in our studio for a few weeks, and every time we go back and look at them, we notice another little charming detail in the “Deep Space Animalia” design style. Finland is a hotbed of specialty coffee talent right now and we’re excited to show this work off.
Read the feature on Kaffa Roastery here.
Five Elephant
When our friends & partners at Berlin’s Five Elephant Coffee debuted their new packaging at the 2015 Amsterdam Coffee Festival, the “oohs” and “ahhs” went bouncing off the walls of coffee Twitter. We just had to know more, so we asked Five Elephant founder Kris Schackman about his undeniably Nice Package.
Read the feature on Five Elephant here.
Coffee Collective
When Copenhagen’s Coffee Collective introduced a clear-bottom bag in 2011, it made waves in the coffee industry. By including a see-thru window on a stand-up bag, consumers could look at the roasted coffee without light damaging effects. We talked to owner Klaus Thomsen to tell us more about the Collective’s nice package.
Read the feature about Coffee Collective here.
Venice Cold Brew
Venice Beach, California. It seems like there’s a nice package everywhere you look down here—from Muscle Beach to the boardwalk. But this peachy keen beach scene has a new player in town: Venice Cold Brew, launched in the heat of summer and poised to keep you thirsty all year long. We’re gaga for the Futura type face, subtle tropical blue tones, and easy recyclability of these tasty little bottles. Sounds like we’ve found one more reason to love Venice Beach.
Read the feature on Venice Cold Brew here.
Rumble Coffee Roasters
In our first Nice Package to highlight work from brand-mad Australia, the team at Rumble Coffee Roasters in Melbourne are getting shown off here at Sprudge on account of their distinctive package. Taking cues from Portland, Oregon’s Stumptown Coffee and their iconic “kangaroo pocket”, Rumble Coffee Roasters places coffee information on a full-color insert with images of gorgeous wildlife, incorporating colorful photography with tasteful branding. We think this look is a real knock-out.
Read the feature on Rumble Coffee Roasters here.
Olympia Coffee Roasting Co.
A redesign is a precious thing. Since launching in 2005, the brand has gone through an ownership change, expanded to several new cafes, and helped define what a quality-focused coffee brand can look like in a small market. Today our friends & partners at Oly Coffee (as the locals call it) have a major HQ expansion on the horizon, supported by a loan from the city of Olympia itself. Sounds like the perfect time for a packaging refresh, and they’ve done exactly that with a new look that’s endlessly customizable and reverent to the distinct coffees they procure and roast at OCRC.
The end result? One of America’s best independent roasters just got a little better, thanks to their spiffy new look. 2015 is a huge year for Olympia Coffee; why not look your best under the bright lights?
Read the feature on Olympia Coffee Roasting Co. here.
Nice Package is a feature series by Zachary Carlsen on Sprudge. Gaze longingly at other Nice Packages here.
The post 10 Nice Packages That Highlight Coffee Branding And Design appeared first on Sprudge.