Ol' Coterie
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A café with a mushroom mascot.
A coffee van growing up into a café, given an identity with a sense of humour and a website that runs the front-of-house.
The goal.
Reinee and Jamie were making the jump from a coffee van to a full café and retail space, built around wholefood menus and a mushroom-infused house coffee. They needed a brand that matched the ambition, not the van, and a website that could pull its weight: tell their story and take table bookings without adding to the workload behind the counter.
The challenge was making it distinctive without making it precious. Earthy and warm, but with enough personality to stand out in a crowded café market and stretch across everything from cups to signage.
At a Glance
Client: Reinee & Jamie Dimitrievski
Scope: Brand identity, website, collateral
Deliverables: Identity system, Mushman mascot, Wix site with integrated bookings
What we did.
01 - The identity.
We built the identity around warmth first, personality second. The palette comes from the food and the space; the type leans retro without trying too hard. Every choice was made with scale in mind, an identity that holds up on a takeaway cup and an A-frame sign, with room to grow as the business does.
02 - Meet Mushman.
Then there's Mushman. A mushroom mascot, drawn in a set of poses, who carries the mushroom-coffee story without anyone having to explain it. He's the part of the brand people remember, and the reason it doesn't read like every other earthy café on the coast.
03 - Out in the world.
One identity, applied properly across cups, signage, menus and merch. This is where a brand earns its keep: not in the logo, but in how it holds together everywhere a customer runs into it.
The website.
A brand this considered deserved a site to match, but looking good was the easy part. We mapped the café's real floor plan, including the dog-friendly section, into an online reservation system, so online and walk-in bookings live in one place and staff assign tables without juggling two systems. Mobile-friendly, set up for local search, and simple enough that the team runs it themselves.
The result.
Ol' Coterie launched with a brand that works as hard on a tote bag as on the front page, a mascot people actually talk about, and a booking system that made service smoother instead of busier. The café feels like itself wherever you meet it, on the street, on a cup, or on a phone.
"If you're looking at branding, we 1000% recommend Kat at Upstart Lane. We gave her our vision for the space and she showed us just how much she loves doing this line of work. When we were unsure of something or getting off track, she brought us back to our vision. She was flexible, professional and so fun to work with, and we're so grateful."
Reinee & Jamie Dimitrievski • Ol' Coterie
