Brand Brothers’ identity for micro-roastery Datura blends tension, intuition, and typographic charm

Ahead of its launch at the Paris Café Festival, Datura – a micro-roastery based in Paris – approached Brand Brothers to build its identity from the ground up, designed to evolve and expand alongside the company’s offerings. They aimed for a look that is “both sophisticated and alternative,” and, as Brand Brothers’ Co-founder & Graphic Designer Johan Debit explains, “capable of sending out high-end signals while exploring a different aesthetic to the very active movement of independent micro-roasters.” Furthermore, they were keen to preserve the mystery of the Datura name, avoiding any figurative elements. “We wanted the identity to inspire a particular vibration, rather than simply convey a message,” Debit tells us. Harnessing their signature typography-forward approach (“We firmly believe in the power of typography to convey everything that shapes an entity,” says Debit), the French branding studio focused its attention on creating a logo that could “sit there with a particular charisma.” Here, they explore the name’s physical structure (set in lowercase), consisting of four letters based on a circle (d, a, u, a) and three vertical separations (d, t, r). “This rhythmic pattern offered an interesting tension between refinement and brutalism,” explains Debit, which also emphasises the elegant interweaving of ‘T’ and ‘U,’ and ‘R’ and ‘A.’ The resulting crescent shapes held within the letterforms “are nothing more than the result of graphic experiments launched in several directions,” he adds. “In typography, we love the idea of stumbling on a find, and having it resonate as a matter of course.” The rest of the identity uses Tor Grotesk Bold by Threedostype, providing “an unexpected resonance” with the sophistication of the logo. “Despite its rusticity,” Debit adds, “this typeface carries with it a form of grace and delicacy, reinforcing the premium feel we’re aiming for with Datura.”