Below: Before and After Images in Slide Show, Summary, Credits
The Taiwanese coffee market is concentrated between two extremes—convenience stores like 7-Eleven, providing cheap coffee to-go, and international chains like Starbucks, offering an inviting atmosphere for people to enjoy coffee. Thousands of other coffee establishments find themselves in the middle of these two giants, scrambling for a share of the quickly expanding market that grew almost 20% in two years.
After nearly ten years of operation, Louisa had already gained a considerable share of the beverage market in Taiwan. However, most Taiwanese viewed Louisa as a cheap and convenient place to grab a tea, largely ignoring the coffee section on the menu. Furthermore, inconsistencies in logotype, promotional material, and store fronts, in addition to a generally disorderly store design, failed to project a strong brand identity. Louisa aimed to create a fresh and modern identity in an already saturated Taiwanese market.
As coffee has further seeped into Taiwanese daily life, Louisa saw an opportunity to cater to the stream of Taiwanese coffee converts through principles of the “Third Wave of Coffee”—a movement dedicated to building appreciation for coffee as an artisan beverage. Louisa’s new logo, typeface, and store layout are all designed using simplistic aesthetics in order to allow the coffee to be the center of focus. Contrasting colors of black and orange quickly draw attention to Louisa’s female icon, designed as an abstract coffee bean to symbolize Louisa’s intention to draw focus back to coffee itself.
Following the relaunch, Louisa’s operations have swelled by 50% building nearly 100 additional stores across northern, middle and southern Taiwan. The new identity has allowed Louisa to quickly distance itself from its previous “cheap and convenient” image to become the dominant brand in artisanal coffee, creating a whole new category in Taiwan’s formerly two-tiered coffee retail market.
Client: Louisa Coffee – www.louisacoffee.com.tw
General Manager: Chris Huang
Vice General Manager: Eason Hsiang
Marketing Manager: Candy Huang
Brand Strategists/Designers: DDG – www.ddg.com.tw
Creative Director: Kris Tsao
Senior Designer: Nathan Huang
Designer: Camile Lin
