Stir Café & Bistro
case study
The challenge: what’s the recipe for a brand that excites young learners to try homemade, healthy food – with a side order of an environment that encourages aspirational learning?
Take the obvious
As a new edition to Dudley Learning Quarter, the Enhance building was a purpose-built student support and resource centre. What it really needed was a communal area for learners to spend their spare time and enjoy homemade food cooked and prepared by the in-house catering students at Dudley College of Technology.
The college decided on a small, friendly, inexpensive cafe and bistro as the perfect recipe to encourage young learners of all ages to socialise and work. So the Stir Cafe & Bistro was born.
Add a cup full of brains
We cooked up a personality and brand story for the cafe that would motivate learners to think outside the box, experiment in their studies and be their unique self.
Taking the name ‘Stir’ as our inspiration, we went on a creative culinary journey that gave expression to the experimentation in the kitchen as well as the passion that goes into each meal.
A generous pinch of imagination
Stir’s brand colours were inspired by the variety of food served and the spices used in cooking. The decor featured paint splatters resonant of food being prepared, experimented with and coming together to create a delicious meal.
This spontaneous freeform paint theme and tropical colour scheme was complemented with a hand-drawn, modern graphic which reflected the building’s distinctive architecture and engineering, as well as the STEM courses offered by the college.
Stir well and bring to the boil
The space was finished with steel seating, beams and bucket lighting which, contrasting with the organic, experimental design, provided the perfect fit for the bistro’s neighbouring engineering, maths and science facilities.
Along with the new look and feel, we also designed and sourced wall and window graphics, table settings, uniforms, menus, business card, comment cards and signage.
