STUDIO OKGO creates a storybook world for Seoul’s Café Ephemera

Ephemera refers to printed materials designed for short-term use – items like tickets, postcards, labels and pamphlets. Objects whose practical purpose expires but whose meaning often persists through collection and display. For Café Ephemera, a coffee shop occupying the ground floor of Seoul’s LCDC SEOUL complex, this tension between the fleeting and the lasting had always been central to its philosophy. Vintage postcards, letters and paper goods already covered the café’s walls. But the existing identity wasn’t carrying that weight. STUDIO OKGO was brought in to build something that could. The Seoul-based design studio approached the rebrand not as a visual refresh but as world-building. Rather than starting with colours or typography, they began with story – specifically, a fairy tale called ‘Coffee Boy and the Three Rabbit Knights.’ The narrative emerged from studying the fragments already present in the space. “Inside the café, we noticed walls filled with vintage mail, postcards and stationery, each featuring illustrations and small narrative moments,” explains Art Director Paul Lee. “We believed that if this café had its own distinct story, people would feel more emotionally attached and engaged when experiencing the space.” The client’s practical requirement gave the fiction its structure. Café Ephemera wanted to introduce three main types of coffee beans, each with a distinct identity. From there, the rabbits emerged naturally. Each bean became a guild – represented as a knight order – forming the Three Rabbit Knights. One knight embodies bright, acidic notes. Another represents dark roasted depth. The third carries decaffeinated comfort. Together, they serve as gentle spirits who visit people worn down by daily life, sensing emotions and quietly offering relief.