Starbucks Creative Expression
Starbucks Creative Expression is a massive overhaul of the brand’s creative direction, covering everything from typefaces to illustration theory to voice and filmography. More than just a redesign, the Creative Expression serves as a philosophy for the work and provides a lens for writers, designers, and partners to filter creative through.
This project was briefed as a refresh of the brand and started with a visual audit of creative work across all business categories, at which point it was identified that the Starbucks look and feel had become dissonant. Sub-brands with their own visual expression existed for every category and something needed to be done to unify the work.
The goal: to go from a house of brands to a branded house.
A pared down and functional expression of the brand was created in order to serve as a foundation for creative work, using a palette inspired by the Siren logo alongside a small selection of typefaces. Once established, this foundation allowed artful and expressive moments to layer on top. These moments continue the company’s illustration-driven coffee legacy.
This project was briefed as a refresh of the brand and started with a visual audit of creative work across all business categories, at which point it was identified that the Starbucks look and feel had become dissonant. Sub-brands with their own visual expression existed for every category and something needed to be done to unify the work.
The goal: to go from a house of brands to a branded house.
A pared down and functional expression of the brand was created in order to serve as a foundation for creative work, using a palette inspired by the Siren logo alongside a small selection of typefaces. Once established, this foundation allowed artful and expressive moments to layer on top. These moments continue the company’s illustration-driven coffee legacy.
This system morphed into Starbucks’ Creative Expression, which places all work on a scale from “Functional” to “Expressive”. The goal of this was to quiet down helpful, tactical information and ensure pieces like wayfinding and menus are easily navigable. In turn, this allows fun and seasonal moments like gift cards and coffee packaging to pop.
To celebrate and share the launch of the new Creative Expression with partners and customers, a website was created showcasing the philosophy and details behind the brand’s refresh. It has been featured on sites such as FastCo, Forbes and Siteinspire.
Check out the website at: creative.starbucks.com
To celebrate and share the launch of the new Creative Expression with partners and customers, a website was created showcasing the philosophy and details behind the brand’s refresh. It has been featured on sites such as FastCo, Forbes and Siteinspire.
Check out the website at: creative.starbucks.com
