Overtime Espresso Bar

Designer Jacob Stoner-Hearne has recently shared his new brand identity for Overtime Espresso Bar. This original design utilises kinetic typography and has been submitted to the 2021 AGDA Design Awards under the category ‘Identity’.

Overtime Espresso Bar is an emerging cafe intentionally aimed at people working in overtime jobs, such as in the business industry. The inspiration for this brand was the adverb ‘over’ as it influenced both the name ‘Overtime’ and the kinetic treatment of the typography. From here, Jacob says “the inspiration just flowed from the cafe industry…” where he decided on the concept of a cafe designed for people working long hours.

Featured in the logo is a question mark next to the word overtime. The significance of this icon is to construct an inner dialog within the customer as they question whether they are working overtime and in need of a coffee. This technique is effective in drawing the customer in and appealing to the brand’s target audience.

“Then I guess the inspiration just flowed from the cafe industry and the potential for a universal coffee brand for those who work long hours.”

Typography and Colour Palette

With the customers in mind, Jacob has designed an identity that is “simple and straightforward as busy people don’t need more to think about when they are already working overtime”. He has used the font Hoxton Sans in medium for a bold and direct tone that reflects this notion of being straightforward. The sans serif font is simple and clear yet still assertive and engaging for the viewer through its elongated, condensed form and heavy weight. The simplistic two-tone colour palette has been intentionally selected to relieve the mentality of customers and not overwhelm their already busy minds. The colour red has further been chosen due to its symbolism for “life, health, vigor, war, courage, anger and love all of which relate to our daily work and life endeavour.”

An additional element of this design is the distressed background in all components of the brand. This added texture reflects the “potential mental state” of the customers after their busy day to day and aims to emotionally connect with the audience.

“Simple and straight forward as busy people don’t need more to think about when they are already working overtime.”

Kinetic Type Treatment

The kinetic type treatment Jacob has used in this design is Overlap. This design choice was influenced and inspired by the word ‘over’ as there was an opportunity to explore the wordplay between the words ‘over’ and ‘time’. The two words in the main logo are quite condensed and close in proximity, resulting in some letters overlapping each other. This concept expresses “the idea of working overtime as something that is constant and overlaps with your regular life”. Jacob has utilised this kinetic type treatment of overlap to effectively communicate the essence of this brand in a subtle yet compelling way.

"This concept also showcases the idea of working overtime as something that is constant and overlaps with your regular life."

“The idea proposed shows the place in which you might enjoy one of these coffees and creates a sense of community with others that share that space.”

In addition to signage, a coffee cup and tote bag design, Jacob has included a series of posters designed to promote the cafe and increase engagement with new and existing customers. The poster designs are quite significant as they are a way in which to help the brand stand out from its competitors. The posters feature the logo and tagline layered over photos of places where customers might enjoy one of their coffees. This unique approach to branding in the cafe industry is described by Jacob as offering an idea rather than a product. Many cafes promote their brands using their products however, Jacob has chosen to convey a message through photography that “creates a sense of community with others that share that space”.

Overall, Jacob has successfully designed an identity that utilises kinetic type to create an engaging and effective design that appeals to its target audience of people working ‘Overtime’.