Nabu Caffe
The objective of the project was to create a new brand for a coffee shop located in the Chester Betty Museum. This involved designing a new logo, creating a digital suite, and developing posters to promote the coffee shop.
I have chosen a peacock feather as the logo. To make an informed decision, I researched the meanings of peacocks in various cultures that are presented in the museum. My findings reveal that the peacock is widely regarded as a symbol of royalty, elegance, knowledge, benevolence, creativity, and immortality. For instance, Chester Betty, a knight, wore a suit and collected old books that were filled with knowledge. He generously donated his entire collection to the Irish citizens, and now, his name lives on through the museum that bears it.
When I was trying to come up with a name for my cafe, I searched for inspiration in the names of old gods from regions that are represented in my collection. During my research, I discovered the name Nabo, an ancient Mesopotamian deity that was associated with literacy, rational arts, and wisdom. Nabo was also credited with the creation of writing, which perfectly aligns with the overall theme of the Chester Beatty museum's collection, which features early examples of human literature.
I created a promotional poster to showcase Arabica coffee tasting, which is a popular coffee species used worldwide. This coffee originated in Ethiopia and was later cultivated in Yemen during the 12th century. To capture the essence of the coffee's origin and the traditional methods of preparing coffee in the Middle East, I included a traditional coffee pot called Dallah, accompanied by coffee cups. One of the cups has steam rising from it, with the sun behind it creating a subtle coffee bean shape.
In the background, I incorporated shapes of traditional Middle Eastern architecture and created a watermark from the roof structure I observed in the main hall. For the colours, I chose shades of orange and brown to represent the hues of coffee, sand, and deserts. These colours also remind me of the pages of old books I have seen in the Chester Beatty Museum. I aimed to subtly reference the coffee bean without directly illustrating it in the poster.
