Fresh from the Field — Kōkako exhibition stand, Auckland Coffee Festival by Design Dairy, Blink Boys and Angus Muir
This week’s Fresh from the Field features the Kōkako exhibition stand for the 2018 Auckland Coffee Festival by Design Dairy, Blink Boys and Angus Muir
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The Brief
Our brief to the team of creatives that helped us pull this project together, Design Dairy, Blink Boys & Angus Muir, was to come up with something no one would expect. We figured that most people attending the Festival would be expecting to see the latest brew gear, the best machinery and plenty of bags of beans to take home – so we wanted something that would stand out from that. This was our first time taking a stand at the festival so it was our opportunity to slide in like Tom Cruise in Risky Business, rather than just turn up. It was important to us to be able to tell the story of our coffee, especially our connection with the farmers in Papua New Guinea, and equally important to let the taste of our coffee speak for itself – that’s when we thought ‘What if we hide all that gear they are expecting to see behind a big wall?’
The wall ended up being the premise for the brief. A big blue interactive wall, with touch points to ignite the senses and educate the Festival attendees about the journey of our coffee and the different flavour profiles of our beans. We also wanted to highlight our Lucky Dip Coffee Subscription service and showcase our Nitro Cold Brew coffee.
Response to the Brief from Design Diary
At Kōkako’s core is a drive for sustainable innovation in delivering Fairtrade Organic Coffee, to emulate this the exhibit needed to look and feel uniquely Kōkako plus stand out from other coffee companies. We also wanted visitors to treat their senses A typical trade show like this feels quite retail focused with sales people and equipment on show, this can sometimes feel a little intimidating. We wanted Kōkako’s to be more approachable and fun, plus give visitors the freedom to interact. To achieve this, we reversed the design to be outward facing with all the working elements hidden away, you would only know people were inside when hands delivered coffee or lucky dip items through bespoke holes. We then incorporated the new brand identity in a clean typographic style with emphasis given to brand colours with an intention to draw visitors in and experience the unexpected. To make it intuitive we highlighted key words directing people to the multiple touch points such as listening tubes, feeling drawers, peep holes and a lucky dip station. These all reinforced the connection back to the product and its origin, which is another key brand message of Kōkako. Also included was a self-serve coffee zone, retail display and steps to allow children to participate.
Photography by Kate Michaela
