The folks at Studio MPLS are always up to something cool, creating some of the most striking branding and packaging designs out there. For example, their work for River St. Joe is one of my favorite projects, ever. Most recently, they released new work for Sola Coffee Co, a coffee shop opening soon in the northern part of Minnesota.
The system they built for the brand seems pretty flexible, utilizing either three or four typefaces (and some varying weights) and a seven color palette, which they’re able to bend in a number of directions. I’m such a fan of a type-based design systems, and I think they’ve made a lot of smart choices with the contrast between each. Just enough personality and quirk to be ownable without feeling whacky (in a bad way, whacky can be great). Most importantly, in my opinion, is it’s sense of timelessness. I write about this a lot and I do think it’s a good marker of strong design, especially in regards to product packaging and identity.
