Cafe Aroma

I just finished up one of my favorite projects of the year (I'm counting it as 2010 since I started it back in September). The logo was for Cafe Aroma in Macomb, Illinois. The Cafe is a part of the Vineyard Fellowship on Western Illinois University's campus. Here's a little glimpse of who they are:

Who are we? We are an inter-denominational outreach of the Macomb Vineyard. More practically, we are an eclectic staff of volunteers who feel called to serve each other and our community, and through that create something so much bigger than ourselves. Want to join us?

Pretty cool, huh? Yeah, it is. My good friends Keith and Lindsay Luecht are a big part of the ministry there and have also had a big impact on my life. So needless to say, this logo was an investment in the Macomb Vineyard and in part, I felt like, to them.

Lindsay contacted me back in August about the possibility of doing a logo and some other materials for the Cafe and I was more than happy to be asked to be a part of that process. But as I've said before (in my post about the Wesley Foundation) with friends, and especially skilled artistic friends (which Keith and Lindsay definitely are) there is an added pressure and excitement to produce this crazy awesome, out of this world concept that will make you pass out and pee your pants.

Sooo... it started out as just a logo modification, which led us both to say, "let's do something different." Lindsay's immediate direction became something, "tight, rectangular, type-driven, stamp...and maybe with some latte art since they were getting pretty serious about their latte art and a heart was a standard design." Not sure why I put that in quotes, because it's my paraphrase. Oh well.

I think most of you would probably laugh at some of my first concepts (maybe Lindsay gave a few "ugggh sick, are you serious Dave???") but it was in the process of failing that something great started to be put together. Lindsay was extremely patient with my designs and great at giving creative direction. Every revision it seemed like it was closer until finally one night I felt like there was a breakthrough. A great feeling at 11pm when you're still at work. So after a few final revisions we settled on what you see in the pictures. The 2-color version is a vintage maroon and yellow and gives a pretty homey feel with the rough edges and abstract drop shadow. Yet it maintains a modern overall look with the stacked typesetting and tight shape. The colors also closely match the interior of the Cafe. I expect them to use both the 2-color logo and the probably more popular dark brown on burlap version.

I really hope and believe that it's going to be a great thing for the Cafe to have a new logo and something that represents who they are as a Cafe. I'm really proud of how it turned out and was thinking to myself "I would LOVE to have more opportunities like that to help with ministries." Lo and behold, I got a message from a friend, Tim Schraeder (whose logo I did in late summer), a few days later asking me if I would be interested in freelancing for some churches that are re-branding with his company, Church Solutions Group. I'm not sure what will come of it, but I'm excited and hopeful for the possibilities it could bring!!

Peace.