DA, a transformative place
Coworking café by day, socializing by evening. Selling unique t-shirts, design and art products with a simple side-effect: do good, feel good. The owners wanted DA to be much more than the typical urban place where a bunch of urban dwellers gather to harvest wifi and drink overpriced espressos. The concept included from the beginning a carefully curated design shop, a cafe, and a buzzing co-working space. This is a living manifesto about the power of human-centered, carefully crafted design - the whole place was built to reflect this in every corner.
- Branding
- UI/UX
- Creative Direction
- Product Design
The Challenge
To turn the place into a design-as-a-force-of-good shop by focusing on a customer-centric, fresh approach - to create a cozy, functional, must-see place, a practical & inclusive platform for kindness.
Philosophy
DA embraces quality, mindfulness, respect for the environment, curiosity, respect for the individual, a connection to the natural environment, respect for craftsmanship and ingredients. The ultimate goal of this place is to welcome creative, liberal, cosmopolitan people and offer a platform to exchange ideas and do good.
Brand Design
Connecting worlds, ideas, people
DA_ logo is an open, modern container for connecting, a flexible platform supporting a strong community. A placeholder for kindness, courage, thinking, and creativity. DA_ is where every act is an act of giving.
Colors
We wanted to differentiate the cafe, shop, and space with different colors: DA Cafe features soft transitional gradients. DA Space will make use of moderately saturated colors. DA Shop features object photography on a white background.
Typography
Calibre and Haas Grotesque are very modern sans fonts. While Calibre has very a strong geometric profile, Haas is more robust and curvy. The custom handwritten font is the cherry on top - a juxtaposition to the two.
Collateral
We wanted to build a solid identity and we explored various paths before choosing the generous, flexible DA__ stamp. Its accessibility has let us experiment and create business cards, coffee cups, T-Shirts, tote bags, and pins.
Sustainable business that does good
“DA” means “giving” and its mission is to build a sustainable business that does good. This is a collaborative brand with a clear identity and a positive tone, making the branding feel personal, light, funny and punny. Their commitment is to invest part of their profits to causes-for-good and promote actions that have an impact.
