Alma Oscura
Industry
Café
Year
2024
Services
Brand StrategyVisual IdentityMerchandise Design
Alma Oscura came to us with great coffee and zero brand. They knew what they stood for — they just needed the world to see it.
A family-run café rooted in the Southwest, Alma Oscura Cafe had been operating for three years with a hand-written menu board and a vague Instagram presence. They were ready to grow — but their brand wasn't.
The café market is loud. Walk down any neighborhood block and you'll find a dozen shops chasing the same aesthetic trends. Alma Oscura needed to stand apart without trying too hard — a brand that felt like it had always existed.
Honor where they come from.
We went deep on who they are before touching a single mark. A family-run operation. Sun-baked Southwest landscape. Coffee sourced with care. The strategy was simple: honor where they come from.
Build something that looks like it was here before the trends arrived and will be here after they leave.
The visual system draws on Southwest folk iconography — sun marks, hand-lettered type, rough textures — built into a full identity system that works on cups, merch, signage, and everything in between.
Two directions were developed and presented — both rooted in Southwest folk tradition, each with a distinct voice. Exploration covered hand-drawn mark systems, lettering styles, and texture approaches.
Within six months of launch, Alma Oscura saw a measurable increase in foot traffic, their merchandise sold out twice, and they received local press features attributing the rebrand as a key driver of their growth.