Introduction
My good friend Guoman Liao, the photographer I had worked with previously, wanted to combine his two passions, coffee and photography. When I caught wind that he was opening up his cafe I volunteered to help with the design and branding.
Branding
Pushing and pulling is a technical photography term dealing with ISO, and within the cafe, there's lots of pushing and pulling of the portafilter for the espresso machine. The other more general connection and visual route I went for was the coming and going, the in-and-out of people grabbing a coffee and heading out on their way.
The reversed type is a reference to a glass door directing you to push or pull the door open and also communicates a certain visual tension that those words possess. The pushing and pulling are very binary and the black and white work well to let the focus be on the tension and play of this back-and-forth, reversing motion. On all two-sided print pieces, the logo is reversed on the back side, along with a couple of other content elements.
Menu Board
I was eager to get my hands involved and design and produce this simple and easily changeable menu board for Push Pull. Made with foamcore and simple black-and-white printed text paper, this menu board blends in perfectly with the space's aesthetic.