Forty-nine brand guides to coffee — specialty roasters around the world and the household names they react against.
Specialty coffee is one of the most design-conscious food categories, and roasters often treat the bag as their main piece of identity. These guides look at how each presents itself, with honest caveats where the record is thin.
The icons
The household names have long histories and large owners. illy, founded in Trieste in 1933, and Lavazza, founded in Turin in 1895, remain family-owned; illy’s red wordmark was designed by the Pop artist James Rosenquist. Costa Coffee was acquired by The Coca-Cola Company in 2019, and Blue Bottle, founded in Oakland in 2002, is under Nestlé/Centurium ownership.
Packaging as a system
Specialty roasters use the bag to carry information. Onyx Coffee Lab built a colour-coded box-and-bag system that puts the producer first; Coffee Collective’s design puts the farmer’s name and price first; Tim Wendelboe’s information-first minimalism set a Nordic template; and Colonna uses serial-numbered laboratory minimalism. Others go the other way: Proud Mary’s packaging is maximalist, and Koppi’s labels are painted by staff so that no two are alike.
How to use these guides
Each guide covers a brand’s visual identity — its palette, packaging and voice — as design commentary, and notes where facts could not be fully confirmed. The table at the end gathers the essentials.
Coffee icons
Blue Bottle, Peet’s, Tim Hortons, Lavazza, illy, Costa Coffee and Death Wish Coffee.
- Blue Bottle Coffee — The single minimalist blue-bottle icon, the 2002 Oakland founding, the Viennese name, third-wave minimalism, and the Nestlé/Centurium ownership.
- Peet’s Coffee — Alfred Peet, the 1966 Berkeley founding, the mentorship of Starbucks’ founders, the dark-roast ‘Peetnik’ heritage, and JDE Peet’s ownership.
- Tim Hortons — The red cursive wordmark, the apostrophe dropped over Quebec’s Bill 101, the hockey-player founding, ‘Double-Double’ and ‘Roll Up the Rim’, and RBI ownership.
- Lavazza — The signature blue, the pioneering ‘art of blending’, the famous Lavazza Calendar (since 1993), the 1895 Turin family founding, and family ownership.
- illy — The red wordmark designed by Pop artist James Rosenquist (1996), the single 100% Arabica blend, the illy Art Collection cups, the 1933 Trieste founding, and family ownership.
- Costa Coffee — The signature claret red, the 1971 London roastery founding by the Costa brothers, ‘Mocha Italia’, and the 2019 acquisition by The Coca-Cola Company.
- Death Wish Coffee — The skull-and-crossbones logo, the black-red heavy-metal aesthetic, the ‘world’s strongest coffee’ claim, the 2016 Super Bowl win, and founder ownership.
Packaging-first roasters
Onyx, Dak, Tim Wendelboe, Gardelli, Coffee Collective, Proud Mary and Drop Coffee.
- Onyx Coffee Lab — The award-winning colour-coded box-and-bag system that puts the producer first, with honest caveats.
- Dak Coffee Roasters — The Amsterdam roaster and its gender-neutral illustrated character, with honest caveats.
- Tim Wendelboe — The Oslo roaster whose information-first minimalism set the Nordic coffee template, with honest caveats.
- Gardelli — The Italian roaster’s pink brushstroke swan, with honest caveats.
- Coffee Collective — The Copenhagen roaster whose design puts the farmer’s name and price first, with honest caveats.
- Proud Mary — The Melbourne roaster’s maximalist, colour-loud packaging, with honest caveats.
- Drop Coffee — The Stockholm roaster’s box-not-bag format and Swedish folk-art emblem, with honest caveats.
Breaking the mould
The Barn, Nomad, Kiss the Hippo, Friedhats, Father Coffee, Cxffeeblack and Single O.
- The Barn — The Berlin roaster’s austere monochrome minimalism and serif-vs-hand-drawn logo, with honest caveats.
- Nomad — The Barcelona roaster’s white “laboratory” system and coded-letter packaging, with honest caveats.
- Kiss the Hippo — The London roaster’s red hippo emblem and minimalist-premium design, with honest caveats.
- Friedhats — The Amsterdam roaster’s pop-art characters and “nothing to do with coffee” rule, with honest caveats.
- Father Coffee — The Johannesburg roaster’s founder-designed contrast-serif and colour-coded origin labels, with honest caveats.
- Cxffeeblack — The Memphis brand’s graffiti lettering and the loaded X, with honest caveats.
- Single O — The Sydney roaster’s bold yellow look and rotating Art Bag Project, with honest caveats.
Borrowed worlds
La Cabra, Fuglen, Belleville Brûlerie, Manhattan, Hola, Colonna and Sample.
- La Cabra — The Danish roaster’s minimalist wordmark and cerulean KH Würtz ceramics, with honest caveats.
- Fuglen — The Oslo/Tokyo mid-century coffee-and-furniture brand and its Jacko parrot, with honest caveats.
- Belleville Brûlerie — The Paris roaster’s hand-lettered French tricolore and wine-atelier labels, with honest caveats.
- Manhattan Coffee Roasters — The Rotterdam roaster’s opulent gilded Art Deco system, with honest caveats.
- Hola Coffee — The Madrid roaster’s colourful, illustration-led design and hand-applied geometric collab, with honest caveats.
- Colonna — The Bath roaster’s scientific, serial-numbered laboratory minimalism, with honest caveats.
- Sample Coffee — The Sydney roaster’s brush hand-lettering and colour-coded sticker system, with honest caveats.
The studio behind the cup
April, Assembly, % Arabica, Coffee Supreme, Koppi, 3fe and Talormade.
- April — The Copenhagen roaster’s lowercase orange wordmark and Nyhavn-sourced palette, with honest caveats.
- Assembly — The London roaster’s luxury box and illustrated flavour notes, with honest caveats.
- % Arabica — The Kyoto brand’s single percent-sign mark and white-gallery minimalism, with honest caveats.
- Coffee Supreme — The Wellington roaster’s Knockout type, hand-drawn cups and Supreme red, with honest caveats.
- Koppi — The Swedish roaster’s staff-painted, flavour-coded labels where no two are alike, with honest caveats.
- 3fe — The Dublin roaster’s wordmark that reads the same upside-down, with honest caveats.
- Talormade — The Oslo coffee-and-doughnut brand’s neon, doughnut-pink femininity, with honest caveats.
Seven countries, seven studios
Roasters from Seoul, Taipei, Toronto, Belgium, Reykjavík, Helsinki and Warsaw.
- Fritz Coffee Company — The Seoul roaster-bakery’s retro seal mascot and Korean-vintage lettering, with honest caveats.
- Simple Kaffa — The Taipei roaster’s Kaffa-forest logo and flavour-keyed sticker packaging, with honest caveats.
- Pilot Coffee Roasters — The Toronto roaster’s aviation motif, Pilot Yellow and round labels, with honest caveats.
- MOK — The Belgian roaster’s abstract monogram that splits into three roast shapes, with honest caveats.
- Reykjavík Roasters — The Icelandic roaster’s abstract bean emblem and warm vinyl café, with honest caveats.
- Kaffa Roastery — The Helsinki roaster’s “Deep Space Animalia” animal-astronaut bags, with honest caveats.
- HAYB — The Warsaw roaster’s bold, colourful “How Are You Brewing?” packaging, with honest caveats.
Third-wave roasters
Intelligentsia, Stumptown, Counter Culture, La Colombe, Onyx, Verve and Sey.
- Intelligentsia — The third-wave, Direct Trade coffee pioneer behind the red star, its red-and-black palette, honest ownership, and caveats.
- Stumptown — The Portland third-wave and cold-brew pioneer, its warm vintage-Americana palette, honest ownership, and caveats.
- Counter Culture — The independent, transparency-and-education-first third-wave roaster, its clean color-coded palette, and caveats.
- La Colombe — The Philadelphia roaster and Draft Latte pioneer behind the dove, its navy-and-cream palette, honest ownership, and caveats.
- Onyx Coffee Lab — The Arkansas competition-winning roaster famous for award-winning, vibrant packaging design, its bold palette, and caveats.
- Verve Coffee — The sunny Santa Cruz roaster with a big Japan presence and Farmlevel sourcing, its warm-California palette, and caveats.
- Sey Coffee — The Brooklyn light-roast purist celebrated for serene minimalist design, its soft-neutral palette, and honest caveats.
At a glance: founding, base and signature
Taken from each guide’s fact panel. Follow the link for detail and caveats.
| Brand | Founded | Based | Signature |
|---|---|---|---|
| % Arabica | 2013 / 2014 (Japan) | Kyoto | The % sign |
| 3fe | 2009 (Ireland) | Dublin | Reads inverted |
| April | ~2016 (Denmark) | Copenhagen | lowercase april |
| Assembly | 2015 (UK) | Brixton, London | A box |
| Belleville Brûlerie | 2013 (France) | Paris | Ged Palmer |
| Blue Bottle Coffee | 2002 (Oakland) | See guide | Third wave |
| Coffee Collective | 2007 (Denmark) | Copenhagen | hatch & bloom |
| Coffee Supreme | 1993 (New Zealand) | Wellington | See guide |
| Colonna | See guide | Bath | See guide |
| Costa Coffee | 1971 (London) | See guide | See guide |
| Counter Culture | 1995 (Durham, NC) | See guide | Transparency report |
| Cxffeeblack | 2019 (USA) | Memphis | Brown Girl Lettering |
| Dak Coffee Roasters | 2019 (Netherlands) | Amsterdam | See guide |
| Death Wish Coffee | 2012 (Saratoga Springs) | See guide | See guide |
| Drop Coffee | See guide | Stockholm | A box |
| Father Coffee | 2013 (South Africa) | Johannesburg | Founder-made |
| Friedhats | ~2016 (Netherlands) | Amsterdam | See guide |
| Fritz Coffee Company | 2014 (South Korea) | Seoul | See guide |
| Fuglen | 1963 / 2008 (Norway) | Oslo & Tokyo | Coffee + furniture |
| Gardelli | ~2013 (Italy) | Forlì | A swan |
| HAYB | 2016 (Poland) | Warsaw | See guide |
| Hola Coffee | 2017 (Spain) | Madrid | Playful |
| illy | See guide | See guide | Rosenquist |
| Intelligentsia | 1995 (Chicago) | See guide | Red star |
| Kaffa Roastery | 2007 (Finland) | Helsinki | See guide |
| Kiss the Hippo | 2018 (UK) | London | See guide |
| Koppi | 2007 (Sweden) | Helsingborg | No two alike |
| La Cabra | ~2012 / 2013 (Denmark) | Aarhus | Ceramics |
| La Colombe | 1994 (Philadelphia) | See guide | Draft Latte |
| Lavazza | 1895 (Turin) | See guide | Art of blending |
| Manhattan Coffee Roasters | 2017 (Netherlands) | Rotterdam | Pavement |
| MOK | 2012 (Belgium) | Leuven | See guide |
| Nomad | 2011 / 2014 (Spain) | Barcelona | Basora |
| Onyx Coffee Lab | 2012 (USA) | Rogers, Arkansas | SCA award |
| Onyx Coffee Lab | 2012 (Arkansas) | See guide | Award-winning bags |
| Peet’s Coffee | 1966 (Berkeley) | See guide | See guide |
| Pilot Coffee Roasters | 2009 (Canada) | Toronto | See guide |
| Proud Mary | 2009 (Australia) | Melbourne | Maximalist |
| Reykjavík Roasters | 2008 (Iceland) | Reykjavík | A bean pinwheel |
| Sample Coffee | 2011 / 2014 (Australia) | Sydney | Carla Hackett |
| Sey Coffee | See guide | See guide | Ultra-light roast |
| Simple Kaffa | ~2011 (Taiwan) | Taipei | A coffee forest |
| Single O | 2003 (Australia) | Sydney | See guide |
| Stumptown | 1999 (Portland) | See guide | Cold brew |
| Talormade | ~2019 (Norway) | Oslo | Bielke & Yang |
| The Barn | 2010 (Germany) | Berlin | Serif + hand-drawn |
| Tim Hortons | 1964 (Hamilton) | See guide | See guide |
| Tim Wendelboe | 2007 (Norway) | Oslo | Traceability |
| Verve Coffee | 2007 (Santa Cruz) | See guide | Farmlevel sourcing |
Frequently asked questions
Who owns Costa Coffee?
The Coca-Cola Company, which acquired it in 2019, according to our guide.
Who designed the illy logo?
The Pop artist James Rosenquist designed illy’s red wordmark in 1996, according to our guide.
See also our espresso and coffee equipment brand guidelines.
Part of our Food & Beverage brand guidelines. See also all collections.