Proud Mary is the colour-loud counterpoint to coffee minimalism.

Proud Mary is a lesson in maximalism as a position. Founded in 2009 by husband-and-wife Nolan and Shari Hirte in Collingwood, Melbourne (with owned expansions in Portland, Oregon and Austin, Texas), it is an independent specialty roaster and café group.

Its brand identity is loud, bold and colourful — a deliberate counterpoint to specialty coffee’s Scandinavian-minimalist orthodoxy. Each roast gets its own high-saturation colour (the “Ghost Rider” in bright pink), the range is organised on a whimsical “curiosity” scale — Mild, Curious, Wild, Deluxe — and the labels stay information-dense (origin, producer, varietal, process) beneath a bold “Proud Mary” wordmark, on compostable bags. The maximalism is the message.

(Honest notes: it’s co-founded by Nolan and Shari Hirte, in 2009. The premium tiers are Mild/Curious/Wild/Deluxe — not a “black label.” No design agency is credited for the bag identity, so we don’t invent one. And there’s no official brand hex, so the tones here are an unofficial interpretation.)

Proud Mary lives in a loud, colourful palette. Click a swatch to copy the hex.

Proud Mary’s identity is loud, playful and high-energy — an ink, an orange, a magenta, a cyan, and a yellow. The palette is a maximalist, high-saturation set — a colour per roast, unafraid of clashing — the register of a brand that rejects the minimalist norm. It signals fun and confidence rather than restraint. The honest caveat: with no published brand hex, these tones are an original, unofficial interpretation, not first-party values.

The lesson is loud colour can be a position. Proud Mary’s world is a shelf of bright, clashing, high-energy bags. For designers, it is a reminder that a maximalist, saturated palette reads as bold and fun — right for a brand defined against minimalism. The takeaways: use a colour per product; embrace saturation and contrast; keep the wordmark bold; and treat any single hex as unofficial — using ink for small text so the colour can shout.

The register is a bold display — loud, energetic, maximalist.

Proud Mary’s identity carries a loud, energetic, maximalist spirit — colour and confidence. A bold display face captures the mood: it is big and high-energy, the register of a brand that wants to shout. Set in a loud, colourful palette, the bold display feels energetic and maximalist — exactly the personality Proud Mary carries. It is loud rather than quiet, mirroring a saturated, graphic bag. (Proud Mary’s real packaging is a work we describe but do not reproduce, and the exact typefaces are not ours to use.) Because it is not ours to use, the honest description is “a bold display spirit,” shown here in a stand-in. The type behaves like the brand: loud, energetic and maximalist.

Proud Mary stands for being loud when everyone else is quiet.

Proud Mary is a lesson in making maximalism the identity. A loud, colourful palette, a bold display and a colour-per-roast system make loudness itself the whole brand — energetic, playful, unmistakable. The maximalism is the differentiator. The differentiator is a colour-loud, graphic, anti-minimalist identity.

For designers and brand-builders, Proud Mary offers a clear takeaway: contrast with your category can be the brand. The lessons: go loud when the category goes quiet; give each product its own colour; and keep the information dense beneath the noise. It is also a reminder to stay accurate: it’s Nolan and Shari Hirte (2009), the tiers are Mild/Curious/Wild/Deluxe (not “black label”), and the palette here is an unofficial interpretation. Proud Mary made maximalism the brand — proof that being loud can be the difference.

Keep Proud Mary’s identity on hand — save it to a board in the Made Good inspiration library.