IDENTITY
ROLL-OUT
LANGUAGE
PACKAGING
WEBSITE
ART DIRECTION

Roasting & Curating in the Wicklow Wilds with Cornershop

2024

After a successful run with another Irish coffee venture, Rob wanted to build something for himself—a project that would blend his passion for specialty coffee, midcentury design, and community. Alongside his partner Lauren, they approached us to help get from dream to a fully realised brand, starting with a drive-thru and roastery.

Strategy, art direction, identity, language, packaging, website, and a full roll-out gave us the chance to really get stuck in and invested through an extensive and fun process. Taking inspiration from retro Americana, the expression combines the down-to-earth personality of your local cornershop with midcentury elegance. The result is a thoughtful, cohesive experience with impact from opening day and is set up for the next exciting phases on the horizon.

Born from an obsessive love for coffee, midcentury furniture and design, Cornershop is a cafe, drive thru, roastery and concept store nestled in the Wicklow Wilds.

Cornershop's brand language, captures the local shop feel with taglines ‘pop-ins and stay-a-whiles’, ‘coffee in common’ and ‘stocked daily’.

Other phrases celebrate the unique drive-thru experience - ‘good times are on the way’ or ‘all in one stop shop’.

Set in playful variations, contained in shapes with a nod to price labels or road signs, these lock-ups become an important part of the brand's expression.

Cornershop's less conventional bag shape stands out on café shelves and social feeds. The bold logotype grabs attention, while the colourful, overlapping labels and concept-driven language keep things balanced and true to the brand’s minimal vibe.

"When we started Cornershop, branding was our first priority. Our plan was to combine a mid-century concept store with a coffee shop and roastery, so we knew a strong identity would be vital in tying everything together. When we first reached out to A&A we were met with the same level of excitement about the concept as we had. They were entirely approachable and we found the process completely organic and harmonious.

The business wouldn’t be where it is without the investment in our branding. A&A were true collaborators, helping to extract a blurred vision of a concept to a fully formed brand to launch with and hit the ground running. Working with them has been a thoroughly enjoyable and memorable experience. As our business expands and evolves we’re excited to continue our creative experience and work with them in the future."

^{- Rob Hallinan, Cornershop Founder}