In 2012, the first Onyx Coffee Lab was born. Andrea could use her experience as a barista, while Jon could apply his gift for branding. With or without the help of the specialty coffee community, the couple decided they were going to launch their own brand of coffee shops. No one wanted to share information, everyone that we asked said it was a secret, they said they couldn’t help us.” Even just getting samples from importers was difficult. “But when we first went into roasting, it was so hard to find any information. We began looking into roasting and sourcing, basically trying to scratch the surface of that. “We started to realise there was a lot to coffee – way more than we were doing. “And after a time, we decided to run some coffee shops locally. “My husband, Jon, and I were working in coffee together, which was really fun,” she tells me. With the rebrand, Onyx is accentuating its translucence, shifting the focus away from itself to its producer partners, coffees, and customers.Jon & Andrea were surprised at the secrecy of the specialty coffee community Transparency infographics and guides will also be available online. Brewing video tutorials covering filter coffee and espresso will be provided for each coffee, and a “Find My Roast” feature will cue consumers into roast data, shedding light on how roast affects flavor profiles and descriptors. The website has been redesigned as a quasi-laboratory experience for consumers. Coffees now come in package volumes of 4 ounces, 10 ounces, 2 pounds and 5 pounds. Materials have advanced to include compostable, plant-based mailers biodegradable, recyclable boxes and 60% compostable and renewable bags. The new box top and top 20% of the box front serve as a marquee featuring producers’ names and narratives, along with vital statistics for the coffees inside. Packaging has also undergone a dramatic transformation, starting with boxes replacing bags. Visually speaking, Onyx increased its glyph count to 10, to help accelerate consumer fluency in the language and culture of coffee. Teff shared that they chose Simon Walker’s neoclassical Room 205 font for the company’s name and Hindia Studio’s sans serif Coltrane typeface for the word “Coffee.” The brand’s signature is represented by a new, lighter, hand-lettered script. Previous hand-lettering has given way to modern and cleaner typography. White = Developed Roasts and Rich Flavors.Royal Blue = Long-term Producer Partnerships.Pink / Rose Quartz = Tropical and Floral.Green = Natural and Origin-specific Processing.The colors were chosen to evoke the cupping notes of each single-origin or blend offered and for their replicability across associated packaging, merchandise, and apparel. The brand’s original three color system (black, white, and gold) has expanded to a whopping 10. The most striking change is the introduction of a new color palette that invites consumers to thematically explore the approximately 50 coffees that Onyx features each year. The design work began in February 2019 and was led by Jon Allen and longtime Onyx collaborator and independent creative director Jeremy Teff. “We’ve matured from rebellious upstart to being more thoughtful about what we’re fighting for and why.” “The bag we were selling in, nor the brand as a whole, were representative of who we are now,” Jon Allen recently said by phone. This week the company took another major step forward, unveiling a complete rebrand for all packaging and the website. Nearly a decade later, their “Never settle for good enough” ethos has manifested as four cafes, a roastery, barista training center, and two 2020 US Coffee Championships: Andrea Allen is the reigning US Barista champ and Elika Liftee is the reigning US Brewers Cup champ, placing just above Onyx’s Lance Hedrick, who finished second. October 2020 will mark nine years since Andrea and Jon Allen founded Northwest Arkansas’ Onyx Coffee Lab. One of the new colored boxes from roasting and retail company Onyx Coffee Lab in Northwest Arkansas.
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