Empty Hands Cooperative
Brand package for a proposed cooperative coffeehouse.
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A coffeehouse owned by its workers, who govern the shop on a democratic basis. The name ‘Empty Hands’ comes from The Dispossessed, by Ursula Le Guin, and refers to the freedom one can find in sharing the burden of ownership with others.
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The Empty Hands team is a group of bakers and baristas. They were dissatisfied with the behavior of their previous employer, who they felt disregarded not only their own well-being, but also that of their community and the world at large. Empty Hands would strive to:
Create high-quality coffee, tea, and pastries from ethically-sourced ingredients
Serve and cultivate the community around it
Operate in the interests of its workers, rather than the mindless pursuit of profit
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People who want confidence in the ethics of their coffee, and all others who live in the direct vicinity of the shop.
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Where many specialty coffee-shops chose a sleek, clean look, Empty Hands would be warm, organic, and slightly DIY-feeling. Members emphasize an interest in prioritizing comfortable seating in the shop, as opposed to the hard, wooden chairs commonly found in trendy shops. The visual direction of the brand should ideally include nods to the history of the labor movement, but not so much that it reads as overly political.
Brand Elements
Logotype
After some initial experimentation with visual logos, I decided that a text-based logo fit the brand’s desire for rustic simplicity. This logotype is intended for use on the storefront, menu, and stationary.
Badge
Unions commonly have a circular mark printed on union-made goods, and I wanted Empty Hands to have something similar. This is intended for packaging like cups and pastry bags, as well as aprons and shirts for the staff.
Color Palette
In an homage to the labor movement, the brand’s color scheme borrows this warm, earthy palette from a poster commissioned by the National Confederation of Labor (CNT) during the Spanish Civil War.
Typefaces
Intended to evoke a wood-printed, industrial feel, similar to typography of the American labor movement’s golden age. Titles on packaging, menus, and web-posts should be in Railroad Gothic CC; subtitles in Labor Union Small. Body type would have been set in Latin Modern Mono. The main logo font is Espiritu Script.
Mockups
Although the Empty Hands project ultimately dissolved before opening, I had the pleasure of drawing up some ideas for the implementation of this brand package. These are featured below.
