WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO STAND OUT IN A CITY REVERED FOR IT’S COFFEE SCENE?
That was our core question as my wife and I embarked on opening Exquisite Creatures Coffee in May 2023. Our approach was humble, but intentional, creating a brand that could slowly build as we got our sea legs, while also being flexible enough to scale whenever we were ready.
From the naming concept, a play on exquisite corpse, where we set the idea that every being that enters our shop comes from a unique and individual life experience that ultimately led them to this particular moment, creating the “corpse” of conditions for our interaction over coffee, to the logo and brand design system, masterfully created by artist Kelvin Zlochevsky, to the way the intention and elements show up in our day-to-day content and interactions, we managed to produce a space that the community has connected with, resulting in YoY growth of +25% (‘24 to ‘25) and landing us on several top coffee spots lists.
Now, we’ve expanded to roast our own coffee (soon to be available for wholesale), while also making use of our two spaces for collaborative efforts with other local businesses and chefs, furthering our brand ethos in the area.
ONE THING THAT’S ALWAYS ON MY MIND… COOKIES
So it only made sense to create a cookie brand to play with as a Writer and Creative Director. My business goal is to create a cookie offering unlike the the endless stream of bright, flashy brands commonly associated with the space on a local and national level, both from a branding perspective and the product itself.
Enter .Last Batch, a new approach to cookie-making, and cookie branding. The product is 100% vegan and full of robust and unexpected flavors, from our flagship Miso Five Spice Chocolate Chip to our savory options like Spicy Peanut Butter Satay topped with candied lime.
On the brand side, gone are the pink pops and bubbly letters, favoring instead a utilitarian, raw vibe that connects closer to industrial urban centers than overrun suburban strip malls. For this project, I did all the work completely solo, from concepting and designing the brand logo and design system, to the packaging, to the photography, to creative directing the cookie itself (though my baker is the mastermind behind the finished product).
