The Art of Coffee

We began with research: the audience, the competitors and the feeling the brand should leave behind. From that we built a strategy that guides every word, image and event.

Vision. To become Manchester and Bury’s most loved creative coffee experience, where exceptional coffee, art and community come together.

Mission. To bring handcrafted specialty coffee and a curated travelling art gallery to the area’s most beautiful locations, creating welcoming spaces where people can connect and discover local artists.

Values. Creativity, community, artistic, inspirational and calming.

People aged roughly 18 to 50 in Bury and Manchester: students, young professionals, young families, art and culture followers. They want to slow down and make something with their hands, but fear not being “creative enough”, or walking into a space that feels cliquey.

That tension became the brief: make creativity feel welcome, not intimidating.

Calm, warm, witty and slightly soft, never loud or trendy. Every line should sound like a host pulling up an extra chair and saying, “Stay for a while.” We set a simple test for every post: does this sound like a host rather than a salesperson?

The key message: a place to relax and calm yourself, and you don’t need to be an artist to enjoy the process.

The strategy said to tell moments, not sell activities. So we curated one: a farewell rock-painting event for Master’s students at the University of Manchester, celebrating the friendships and memories made across their journey.

We brought the University and The Art of Coffee together and handled the event space, the theme, the activities, the design and the promotion.

Each student received one rock. In groups of five, they chose a theme from their time in Manchester, such as favourite memories, campus spots, coffee breaks, late-night assignments or trips, and began painting.

Every few minutes the rocks were passed along. Each person built on what was already there, never erasing it, until every rock returned to its owner carrying a layered story shaped by the whole group. Each group then shared its story, and everyone took their rock home as a keepsake. The group with the most creative and meaningful storytelling won a gift.

The design choices followed the brand: simple, expressive visuals, with doodling welcome for anyone who doesn’t think of themselves as an artist.

The event was built to be shared. We planned reels and a carousel of photos from the day, as a collaboration post with the University’s postgraduate account. We wrote the shot list too: close-ups of hands painting, rocks being passed, students laughing and explaining their stories, and the gift bags with their handwritten notes.

The experience wasn’t only for the people in the room. It became content that carried the story to everyone following along.

When we started, the content was inconsistent. We gave it a clear core idea: present The Art of Coffee as a place for art and coffee, and build the owner’s personal brand alongside it.

We took on the full workflow: strategy, editing, stories, reels and carousels, plus collaborations with influencers and content creators.