Metropolis is a local Chicago coffee roaster that takes their coffee really seriously. Their precision craft and technique delivers a bean, which coffee shops all the Chicagoland area sell to their customers. On these bags of beans are labels which identify the different types of roasts and the flavor that each contain.
After becoming more familiar with Metropolis coffee, I’ve come to realize the amount of time and attention to detail they exercise in not only their beans but the product as a whole. Eyes are immediately drawn in to the packaging with its pleasing color scheme and the bold, cityscape graphics on top of every bag. For each type of coffee and espresso bean, there is a small illustration on the bag, giving the coffee/espresso a story and a visual flavor. The Redline Espresso bag shows a familiar train, one we see on a day to day basis zooming over our heads. This rush is similar to the one you might feel after a cup of this espresso. The city skyline behind the train also works for the label, giving it a sense of location and reminding us where the beans came from. The bag on the right features the French Roast design. The famous French “Metropolitian” sign is in the foreground with the Eiffel Tower shown in the back. Clearly the artist wanted to depict the French nature of the coffee. There is also a similar Art Nouveau quality in that sign and the skyline at the top of each bag. I was unable to discover who designs the labels but I have reason to believe that the artist is hardly ever the same person because each design is so different.
Metropolis supports local artists and believes that a coffee shop should be home to artists, ideas, and conversation. With this in mind, it makes sense to me that their packaging design includes unique artwork. The Metropolis café on Granville acts as an art gallery because supporting that is important to them, as they consider what they do to be art as well.
I have always loved their packaging. The first time that I ever purchased a pound of Metropolis Coffee was based almost solely on packaging...which is probably a bad way to buy coffee...
ReplyDeleteI transferred from Loyola and lived right by the cafe on Granville. It is indeed a home to artists, ideas, and conversation as it is a great environment with plenty of art and Metropolis design all over the place. I used to do my homework in there almost everyday. And the thing that attracted me there in the first place was their package design/logo. I liked the simple, straightforward illustration and the bright, yet not too harsh colors. Their illustrations on the package are very clean and they do a good job of representing the flavor of coffee inside.
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