Harusaki Coffee
Case study
Harusaki Coffee - Cafe Brand Identity
A full café brand identity project for a specialty coffee concept, built around Japanese-inspired renewal, character storytelling and a warm, expandable brand world.
Industry:
Food & Beverage / Specialty Coffee
Location:
India
Reach:
India
Year:
2025
Team:
Sudarshan Shelar, Dr. Radhika Narayanan, Supriya Narayanan
Services:
Brand Naming, Visual Identity Design, Brand Story & Character Development, Character & Illustration Design, Menu Design, Packaging Strategy, Visual Guidelines
The brief
Harusaki Coffee was created as a specialty coffee concept within the adaptive reuse of an approximately 30-year-old industrial pump factory and logistics depot. The space carried industrial history, but the brand needed to introduce warmth, pause, renewal and emotional memorability.
The project was not limited to naming. The brand needed a complete identity world: a name, story, visual language, characters, illustration system, menu direction, packaging foundation and guidelines that could help the café feel distinctive from the first visit and scalable beyond it.
The thinking
We built the brand from the feeling of spring returning after winter. Inspired by the Japanese phrase “Harusaki” (春咲き), meaning “Spring Bloom”, the name captures quiet renewal, emotional warmth and the beauty of everyday rituals.
From there, coffee became more than a product. It became the comforting constant within a larger story: a reason to slow down, take pause and begin again.
The identity draws from Japanese aesthetics and seasonal rhythm. A bold, fluid logotype, sakura pinks, leafy greens, serene blues and soft creams create a world that feels poetic, playful and warm. Clean typography, spacious layouts and brand motifs help the identity remain structured across café, menu, packaging and social applications.
At the centre of the brand is an original character-led story: “The Bear Who Waited for Spring.” It introduced Kuma, a gentle bear waiting through winter with coffee as his companion, and Kiko, a curious monkey always capturing fleeting moments. These characters give Harusaki a narrative layer that can animate the café interior, seasonal content and future brand extensions.
Below is a small snippet of the project. To check out the full case study, please visit our Behance page.
The work
What we built
- Brand naming
- Tagline development
- Brand story and narrative world
- Visual identity design
- Logotype direction
- Colour and typography system
- Character and illustration design
- Kuma and Kiko character development
- Menu design system
- Packaging strategy and foundation
- Brand motifs and visual guidelines
- Social and seasonal storytelling direction
Where it stands
Harusaki Coffee now has a complete story-first, character-led brand world with depth, warmth and room to grow. The identity has been extended across the physical café space with the narrative, visual system, characters, menu system and packaging foundation, strategically and creatively integrated into the brand experience.
Services used
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