Social Media

I knew that social media was going to be an important factor in Cafe Flux, a cafe which takes pride in innovation and change, its important that cafe Flux takes pride in modern functions as well as traditional. Instagram is a highly visual platform and due to the target audience being creative and young city professionals it would be important that Cafe Flux has an online presence. The feed will include behind the scene of Cafe Flux, creative tasks and food. The Menus design will change on a bimonthly basis to continue to spark fresh new material and explore the concept of change. It would also be interesting to allow Instagram followers of Cafe Flux the creative freedom to design new menus.

Menu Experimentation

To coincide with the cafe’s name Flux and the innovation of the Bauhaus movement, it was important that I explored a variety of shapes, layers and tints to create modern prints which reflected the artists of the Bauhaus movement. I explored how the stencil-like typeface could be used in a variety of capacities to create the new front. I tried layering of lines inspired by the works of Oskar Schlemmer, circular shapes and strong bold lines. I also dismantled the typeface to create abstract shapes.

Josef Alber’s play with transparency and abstract shapes is something I also experimented with using the brand colours. The use of patterns was also explored but I felt with the strong colour palette it would benefit more from white space. It is important that a variety of designs is explored as the menu will constantly be changing. 

Brand Development

I wanted Cafe Flux to have a solid branding story, something which will help me focus on creating a coherent final project. I established three keywords which would reflect the Cafe's purpose and influence the branding materials. COFFEE, CREATE, CHAT is the outcome which I think summarises the brand's ethos. I played around with how these keywords could play a role in the design of the menus.

I began to explore what these three words would look like if they became a shape. When exploring coffee I thought about the coffee bean, cup and the colour of the liquid. I looked at simplified drawings to encapsulate the essence of Coffee. I focused on the steam which would rise from a warm, comforting cup of coffee, this then led me to explore the glyphs and I came across a line which represents this. 

The create and chat keywords I took a similar approach, their outcomes are discussed below. 

I think including portraits of key influencers of the Bauhaus movement celebrates their achievements and the background of Cafe Flux. graphically I also think these black and white photos which clearly displays a portrait is a perfect contrast to the more abstract shapes which features in the brand.