Mykona / NoMoreSleep
Coffee Brand: Mykona
Mykona Logo
Colorful Coffee Packages
Original Website with Drag and Drop Shop Function (2009)
Back in 2007, coffee culture had already spread globally leaving a savvy base of caffeine consumers. A basic understanding of coffee, from brewing methods to roasts has been common by then, especially throughout Europe.
However, a new form of coffee providers had already sprouted, mostly in Japan, Scandinavia and the USA which had been taking the craft of coffee to a new ‘boutique’ level (Third Wave Coffee), in which they emphasize the trade as highly specialized. All aspects of the process are highly controlled, from finding farms, selecting lots, sampling, roasting, brewing and serving. Fairly new to Europe at that time, this trend of coffee afficionados had just crossed the Atlantic and was starting to access the culturally-affluent of Europe.
Directly-traded coffee without Kolonialromantik
While studying at the University of Technology in Berlin, I founded a coffee brand without Kolonialromantik (steaming coffee mugs; golden spoons; colonial-style drawings of coffee farms etc.) – which was still ubiquitous back then. Instead, we used many bright colors and lots of white space. We were among the first in Germany to sell directly traded single origin coffee in a well designed packaging through our e-commerce, before, in 2012, we sold the brand to a coffee roaster. Up until today Mykona coffee can be bought at selected on- and offline shops in Germany. However, in the meantime, the brand's look and feel has lost some of it's character.
Award-winning website
Analyzing benchmarks and competitors, a new design was formatted to focus on our webstore. Applying the store universally to the site and making the coffee the main feature, the site aimed to provide a clear, simple, and effective method for purchasing and learning about Mykona Coffee. The e-commerce featured a drag and drop shop function and it was awarded the title of best small and medium size business websites in 2010.
Coffee Bar: NoMoreSleep
Our Offline Coffee Bar in Berlin's Mulackstrasse (2011)
In addition to our online shop, we founded a coffee bar in Berlin-Mitte in 2010. The vibrant atmosphere of this Berlin neighbourhood extends to the welcoming design of the cafe, which retains its charm being nestled in a Gruenderzeit ("founder's period") heritage apartment building. The design of the coffee bar was rather minimalistic, bright and Scandinavian-style and it had a clear focus on one product – coffee. The counter was welcomingly u-shaped and supported the dialogue between the barista and the customer.
In its seamless fusion of both vintage and modern materials and design aesthetics and despite its small size, NoMoreSleep Coffee Bar still was an enchanting hotspot providing ample room for intermingling with emerging creative cultures of one of Berlin's hottest neighbourhoods.
