Montville Coffee

After 15 years in business, Montville Coffee — an Australian roaster of Fairtrade and certified organic coffee — realised their logo didn’t match their purpose. The old design showed stylised latte art in an industry saturated with similar marks, so it was important to realign the brand’s visual appearance with their future goals.

Not all brands need a symbol alongside a wordmark. Sometimes the brand name on its own is enough, particularly with a distinctive name like Montville. But with 15 years of equity in the old logo (below, left) it was important not to completely change the visual appearance.

The new wordmark (below, right) carries the serifs from the old design, presenting them with heightened visual strength and professionalism, while bespoke stencilling has been added to hint at the typography seen on the sacks and wooden boxes that are traditionally used for coffee transportation.

The black and white palette retains further equity from the earlier identity, while also lowering the cost of ensuring consistent reproduction in the full range of Montville products. Spot colours can help to bring an identity to life, but they add a slight risk of differentiation in print depending on the printer or substrate used.

Packaging for Montville’s beans was kept purposely simple to put the emphasis on the three most important elements — the brand name, the blend name, and the Fairtrade certification. Coloured art gives customers an obvious visual clue when searching for their preferred blend.

Client feedback

David came back to us with one identity design that perfectly embodied our brief. I don’t think I have ever seen something get unanimous approval in this business, but we all agreed without a single change required — everyone loves it. David was able to understand our market and our vision, creating an identity to take us there.

— Sam Barnett, Montville Coffee