Sometimes you look in the mirror and tell yourself, “Self, I’m in need of an extreme makeover.” This is exactly what happened to me, and it’s kind of what happened to Santa Barbara’s Castle Coffee Roasters, owned by the wonderful team behind The French Press. In November 2016, Castle Coffee Roasters underwent a transformation: a new brand, logo, and packaging. Meet Dune Coffee Roasters and take a closer peek at this brand new brew.
As told to Sprudge by Brand Identity Manager Chach Hernandez.
Tell us a bit about Dune!
In 2009, we opened The French Press in downtown Santa Barbara. We had no money and no staff, but we loved coffee so much that we just had to share it with people. At our core, we’re optimists. We haven’t ever let an obstacle stand in our way. Coffee is our passion.We think it’s the best thing ever invented (way to go nature!). This love for coffee and can-do attitude, paired with a rad staff, led us to create Dune Coffee Roasters.
It is our privilege to select beautiful coffees and roast them and serve them in our hometown of Santa Barbara. Our mission is straightforward, but that doesn’t make it simple:
Source, roast, and serve the absolute best coffee to our community. We show up for our customers, co-workers, coffee producers, importers, and exporters.
We are working to do things the right way. We source coffee in ways that give back to the producers, we invest in their long-term success, and we cultivate lasting relationships with coffee professionals in every stage of the supply chain.
We are committed to never losing our grasp on the magic of coffee to never forgetting how far a little optimism and love can take you.
Who designed the package?
Rebranding into Dune Coffee was a team effort that involved everyone from our Director of Quality Control, Mulch Stetson and owners, Todd Stewart and Julia Mayer, and our Brand Manager, Chach Hernandez. A very much in-house approach was taken but tremendous help was brought in from designer and longtime friend Sarah Wilkinson. She was able to put our ideas in visual form.
What coffee information do you share on the package?
We decided to keep it simple with the coffee information. We love our logo and name so much that we wanted to make sure that was the first thing people saw. Below that we have a sticker label that has the name of the coffee and three tasting notes that identify: flavor, acidity, and body. Our brand colors are very important in the label because they identify the region of the coffee itself. Each label has two colors, one constant mustard-yellow to represent some imagery of a moon and shore, and the dunes themselves that are either cyan if from Latin America, jade green if from Africa, orange/red for espressos, and plum for blends.
The back of the bag has one of our logos that represents the connection between our roasting company, Dune Coffee, and our cafes, The French Press. The two hands image is a tribute to the Americana classic tattoo image of the shaking hands that represents friendship, love, and a bond. Below it is the text that reads:
We love people and we love coffee.
We are really proud of the coffee you have in your hands. It is the product of hard work from coffee producers around the world, importers and exporters who are invested in long-term success of coffee farms, and our roasters in Santa Barbara who are dedicated to the craft and care of coffee.
For all of those whose hands touched this coffee before us: thank you!
Where is the bag manufactured?
Our bags are manufactured and hot stamped by Pack Plus in Chino, California.
For package nerds, what type of package is it?
12 oz Square Bottom Gusseted Aluminum Foil-lined Bags with E-Zip. These are matte black with a white hot stamped logo and text. The handy pull-tab zipper allows for easy opening as well as convenient filling.
Where is it currently available?
Our coffee is currently available at The French Press in Santa Barbara/Goleta, Ca. The Lucky Llama in Carpinteria, Ca. C’est Cheese in Santa Barbara, Ca, and Cajun Kitchen Restaurants in Ventura, Santa Barbara, Goleta, CA.
Photos courtesy Dune Coffee.
Coffee Design is a feature series by Zachary Carlsen on Sprudge. Read more Coffee Design here.
