The identity was designed to allow for translations as the brand spreads to new markets.
Created for today’s “go” culture, the CHAQWA brand offers quality hot-brewed beverages in vending machines, convenience stores, and quick-service restaurants. The name comes from a combination of “cha,” Mandarin for tea, and “gawah,” the name for coffee in many Arabic languages.
Office developed the brand identity, visual vocabulary, packaging, and vending machine design, and concept for a retail environment. In the highly competitive coffee and tea category, the Office team wanted to stand out by avoiding visual clichés that you see in most coffee brands. The identity was designed to feel premium, modern and approachable, to signal something entirely new that fits the consumer’s lifestyle. It communicates: “Yes, there’s this cool, really-good-tasting and not-too-expensive coffee that you don’t have to stand in ridiculously long lines to order.”
The identity was also created to work in markets around the world. The Coca-Cola Company began testing the CHAQWA brand in 2006 in Canada, and it has since been distributed in South Africa, Singapore, Norway, and Germany.