Exhale is a small business with big ambitions to promote health, sustainability and fairness in the coffee supply chain. To do this means taking a family mentality to work. Coffee with benefits. Grown for good health. Roasted to retain it. Brew to release it. Exhale is a team of dreamers, united on a mission to positively change the coffee world, forever.
Exhale already had the foundations of their branding, they just weren’t sure how to use it. They were struggling to find a unique look and feel that balanced their ‘earthy’ colour palette with custom illustrations that, if misused, could feel too childish. This was a unique challenge for Noise; to take an existing branding and push, pull, stretch and reimagine new elements in order to elevate the overall brand identity of Exhale.
We started with the company’s brand values (health, sustainability and positivity), and existing brand elements such as their illustrations and colour palette. First of all, we gave hierarchy to these elements which made space for us to create new complimentary designs. We then structured our thinking into rules and guidelines on how to combine colours and illustrations to reach a balance of earthiness and playfullness.
The key to success with the Exhale branding was unlocked when we divided the colour palette into sub-colour pallets, with guidelines on how to use them. By adding new graphic shapes to the brand system, we were able to play with elements and combine them to create exciting new worlds. We rolled this out across marketing material and merchandise which gave new meaning and rhythm to the branding, and showed how flexible the new system could be for the Exhale team.
