CafeLark
I built a soothing visual identity for a cozy gaming content creator who was looking to redefine their brand.
Overview
I assisted the client with their process of choosing a new brand name - we landed on CafeLark since they wanted their content to feel cozy and inviting - like a cafe
Creative Direction
Part of building CafeLark’s brand identity would be creating tons of illustrated assets to use for their content, including animated illustrations and small emotes
Illusration
In addition to designing Cafe Lark’s logo, I also set their brand colors and fonts and left them in a position to make cohesive designs moving forward
Brand Development
Introduction
The primary focus of my freelance business was creating visual identities for gaming content creators and twitch streamers. One such project was for CafeLark, a streamer who wanted to rebrand entirely to something more refined and that clearly communicated what kind of content they made.
One of the exercises I always like to give to my clients is to imagine their content/streams as a gathering place - whether that’s a huge stadium filled with excitement and competition or a quiet bookstore filled with stories of adventure. For this client, they wanted their streams to feel like a cozy local cafe filled with plants - so we focused on creating a digital cafe.
The first step to any visual identity project is mood boarding - I found lots of inspiration using warm, neutral tones and filled with plants to balance it out. We wanted the branding to be refined but not exclusive - friendly and warm! So we chose to mix elements that were more hand-drawn with elegant and minimal elements.
Logo Design
With the tone for the project set, I always try to start visual identity projects with the logo. I try to use the logo in other graphics as much as possible to increase brand recognition, so it makes sense to make it as early as possible. My philosophy with logos is that they’re an anchor for the entire brand - less is more and readability is key!
For CafeLark, we knew that our focuses were cafe elements and botanical elements. For the illustration, I found a vintage teacup for reference and made chamomile spilling out of it. After refining the illustration and nailing down our wordmark choice - the logo was made!
Illustration Iteration
Typically with content creator projects, the biggest piece is the broadcast graphics - specifically the screens shown at the beginning, end, and during breaks. I call these “status screens” and they are typically animated. I also like the beginning, end, and break versions to have slight variations - like time of day.
For CafeLark, I offered two initial ideas - either a close up of a desk/table with gaming and café elements or a more pulled back view of a literal CafeLark. We ended up going with the latter, per my recommendation.
For large illustrations like this, I always start at the background and work my way forward to the details. As a very feedback-driven and iteration-friendly designer, I try to give clients an opportunity to give me their thoughts as often and early as possible.
Finalization & Animation
Once the illustration was finalized, it was time to animate. I love to add ambient animation to my illustrations to make them a little more alive. For this illustration, the primary animations were the computer screen and the rain.
For the computer screen, I had to create believable UI layouts that could be read at such a small size. I also had to make sure that the mouse was moving in a believable way.
Final Project
For the full project, we did multiple illustrated elements, web graphics, video graphics, and a few merch designs. Everything kept within our fun yet refined, cozy botanical cafe theme.
