Handsome Coffee

US - Los Angeles-based small-batch coffee roaster Handsome Coffee Roasters has launched an all purpose bag and labels that emulate the brand image of simple, no-nonsense, authentic, and classy coffee products.

According to design agency PTARMAK, Handsome needed a robust label system and an all-purpose bag that could serve as its backdrop.

"We were briefed that Handsome intended to have two lines of coffees: Comfort and Adventure,” explained the US agency. “Each line would have coffees and espressos, and each line (and its category) needed to be immediately recognizable.”

“We employed color, shape and a little figure ground to differentiate between the lines and categories. The color system was developed loosely around a 1940's craftsman—workshirt blue, denim, utility orange, metallic copper, crisp white, no-nonsense black and a rich black-brown... in honor of the coffee."

Sissy Emmons Hobizal, the PTARMAK designer for this project, chose “manly-man items” for the illustrations that line the sides to feature “objects that share the Handsome dedication to a by-gone era where handmade craft and a dedication to quality were a labor of love as well as a way of life.”

A dip of copper was also included at the bottom of the bags as a continuation of the copper counters in the Handsome shop and on the Handsome Traveler.

“It adds just a touch of elegance to the otherwise practical bags. The system is intended to be humble and utilitarian with every detail lovingly applied," PTARMAK explained.