Menu Design, Social Networking, Photography, Writing, & Music Curation
Aroma opened in December 2015 as a coffee shop and lounge. The biggest challenges Aroma faced was introducing themselves to the thriving Richmond coffee scene and setting themselves apart, especially from the Starbucks that was less than a block away. Although Aroma did not have the name recognition of their competitors, they fostered a friendly community and relaxing space to enjoy food and drink. I collaborated my skills with the web design of Individualist to create an introductory digital experience that carries over to the experience of Aroma.
Strategy: Choose something different.
Aroma Cafe Brand Guide, a design collaboration with Individualist
Logo inspired by the modern atmosphere and quickly conveying the premiere offering of cafe: coffee.
Color palette chosen for earthy yet modern tones as well as highlighting the primary colors of the lounge space.
Primary typefaces reflected the modernity of the space while Goudy Old Style represents the traditional Jordanian approach to cooking and coffee brewing.
Social networking was more than managing Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. Part of emerging into RVA's coffee culture was forming partnerships with local businesses, artists, and students. More than reaching out for promotion's sake, we took an approach of welcoming our creative community.
I reached out to literary magazines to distribute their publications at Aroma, musicians to perform on special event nights, and artists to display and sell their work from the walls of the lounge.
A great success for Aroma was their partnership with RVA's chapter of Creative Mornings.
An especially fun part of this brand was considering what type of atmosphere we wanted to create. Part of the lounge scene was having relaxing music, apt for both hanging out and studying. To emphasize these moods and activities, we created Spotify playlists to be played for different types of customers.