Frei is a specialty coffee shop aimed at coffee lovers. In 2022, the founders of the coffee shop turned to be art agency to develop a new corporate identity. The identity was outdated, did not express the brand’s ideology and was fragmented.

When communicating at the meeting, the client realized that we could help not only with the design, but also with the brand ideology: formulate and express Frei’s key ideas, describe the mission, help formulate the essence of the brand, express the company’s values and positioning. Therefore, instead of simply updating our corporate identity, we decided to rebrand.

Industry 

HoReCa, Specialty coffee shop
What have we done?
Brand strategy, visual identity, verbal identity

Frei was founded by two people with very different characters and attitudes to the world, but with one love — coffee. Therefore, even at the beginning of time, there was an elusive duality in Frei. The founders are like two sides of the same coin: the good fairy and the main villain. Wi-Fi for clients is turned on the light side, and the dark side is always for staff. Casual service and total scrupulousness are mixed with perfectionism in the kitchen and behind the counter, rotation of coffee in the brewery and on the shelves and consistent quality of dishes.

Therefore, we based the transformation of the Frei brand on the main idea: «the other side.» This idea has become end-to-end for the verbal and visual identity, business processes and all communications of the coffee shop.

The craving for something new has become the driver of constant changes for the coffee shop. Frei, like a whirligig, spun in place, developing coffee culture, showing it first one side and then the other to each of his clients. The desire to give the consumer more, to discover new tastes of coffee and food, to show coffee from a different side is inherent in specialty coffee shops of the third wave.

This is how we came up with a visual metaphor for «Frei’s culture» — the constant movement of a whirligig. The brand's trademark is a kind of «whirligig» that spins around its own axis and shows the observer first one side, then the other. This is both duality and cyclicality, these are complex processes behind the obvious image. This is also a visual puzzle: someone will notice a coffee bean in the «whirligig», and someone will notice the letter «Ф» from the name of the coffee shop «Фрай».

Frei does not stand still, he reveals himself in a new way, with a different side: real, strange, intriguing, funny. This is how the meaning of brand communications is born: to offer something new, to give another look at familiar things. The idea of the «other side of anything» introduced the precedent of play into the formation of the identity. Each of the communications created was now perceived as a game: what if we come from the other side? What's on the other side of the sign? What after breakfast? What's on the other side of the menu? What if we look at it from the other side? Every business process became a field for the expression of Frei's special culture.

A minimalistic sign reminiscent of an alchemical symbol, strict fonts and layout reflect a deep, systematic, conscious and respectful attitude towards the craft. Concentration on internal processes behind external restraint, almost asceticism. Bright, ironic illustrations with signature humor — something hidden from view, the very wrong side. Sometimes we can see unusual things and inexplicable situations. It is impossible to explain them, all that remains is to observe.

Minimalism is flavored with naive illustrations in the spirit of Korean and Japanese cafes. They are about people who come to you for a cup of coffee, about an easy approach to life. They're just funny and weird, after all. The identity perfectly shows off «live» prints on packaging and to-go cups. Ironic remarks appear in unexpected places, such as inside a dessert box.

«You did 90% of the work for us. Thank you very much! When we came out after the brainstorming: you thought, This is cool! That's right! We got to where we needed to be. Now it’s clear how to talk to new employees, how to convey your value, the value of the brand. No need to try to come up with it out of your head every time. The target audience is clearly defined. She was also into strategy. Now you understand: here it is, and you are looking for ways to work with it.»