(CNN) — As visitors step into The Budapest Café in Chengdu, China, they’re not just treated to a cup of coffee. Rather, they are immediately transported into a space right out of a Wes Anderson movie, thanks to the pastel hues, whimsical furniture and a series of arches and archways, which are meant to mimic the filmmaker’s signature symmetrical one-point perspectives.
The Budapest Café is one of many eye-catching businesses featured in “Designing Coffee: New Coffee Places and Branding,” a coffee table book — no pun intended — that puts the world’s most photogenic, eccentric cafés and roasters on display. Packaging Business
The book, from author and coffee expert Lani Kingston, who also teaches a course titled “The Anthropology of Coffee” at Portland State University, serves as a reminder that, beyond a good brew, a well-curated aesthetic is today indispensable to a coffee shop building customer loyalty, and standing out in an increasingly competitive social media landscape. (Having viral latte art is no longer enough, it would seem.)
In a world where competitors are often crowded together or even lined up next to one another on the same city block, many cafés are doing whatever it takes to stand out. Or, rather, to let their coffee stand out.
Minimalism is not just a trendy choice, but a conscious decision when it comes to branding and aesthetics, Kingston told CNN, as it allows a business to communicate that they’re all about their roast.
Take, for instance, Chicago’s Metric Coffee, which underwent a brand overhaul to this effect in 2020. Xavier Alexander, the retailer and roaster’s co-founder, told CNN that the right branding is pivotal in the coffee business, as “a new brand coming out every single day.”
According to Alexander, Metric Coffee refined its visuals to reflect its core values: transparency and sustainability. The word “coffee” was dropped from the company’s logo, which now simply features the word “Metric” in a sans serif blue logotype; coffee cups and bags are plain white, bearing minimal illustrations, the logo and required text. The goal? To convey simplicity and let Metric Coffee’s products shine on their own.
“It’s a more humble approach to providing a product in the market that people can feel good about,” Alexander told CNN, adding that customers have generally welcomed the branding changes.
Sealed Bags Among coffee shops catering to a younger demographic, however, Kingston noted a pendulum swing towards the opposite of minimalism — or “cluttercore,” as she (and other Gen Z trendwatchers) have dubbed it. Plants, figurines, books and other paraphernalia furnish shelves and walls “to captivate people and keep their attention,” Kingston said, and offer an engaging environment that’s easy to lose track of time and place in. Maximalist, thematic decor also makes a great backdrop for photos and videos shared on social platforms like Instagram and TikTok.