Willow Grouse is an imaginary coffee house based in Seattle, Washington. This was to explore the idea of coffee house logo/brand design with using modern typefaces to create a strong logo type and an abstract logo mark. The idea of the coffee house came from the idea of Finnish coffee culture. Finland is the number one country in the world that drinks the most coffee. The average amount of coffee consumption per Finn is 2,64 cups a day. The amount and frequency of coffee drinkers in Finland was astounding, so I wanted to take that idea and bring it to the US. The coffee house has as variety of different drinks, ranging to the popular light roast, to the more bold medium and darker roasts. Each guests gets a second free refill, called santsikuppi. The coffee here is always prepared right in front of you, so you don't miss a beat when your coffee is brewing or is being prepared. Along with normal coffee, there are also select espresso and iced drinks.
Alternate Logo Marks
Moodboard
The Willow Grouse is a fairly common Grouse species in northern Finland. It's been the main source of living to people living in those northern areas. It's given the name "Bird of Life" for that reason. In summer, their plumage is mainly reddish brown (male) or brownish (female) with white wings. In winter both sexes have almost entirely white plumage, except for their black outer tail feathers. Male Willow Grouse in winter plumage have red wattles over
their eyes.
their eyes.
When coming up for the logo mark, I wanted to create something more abstract than literal. When I first started creating a logo, I illustrated a literal grouse. This caused issues with clarity when scaled down. So, with keep that facto in mind, I went back to the drawing board and tried something different. I took the silhouette of a grouse and did one, continuous line throughout the whole silhouette. The line started at the bottom and worked it's way to the top, focusing on the curves of the grouse. Once I got that shape, I took it and cleaned it up, making it more appealing and cleaner. Finally, once I got the cleaned shape I wanted, I added that red plumage above the eye so it would stand out as the Willow Grouse.
Process of creating Logo Mark
