nocaff

a decaf coffee brand that tells you exactly what is in it.

brand concept · 2026

client

concept brief

role

identity, packaging and art direction

year

2026

tools

Illustrator, Photoshop, Gemini, Higgsfield, Claude

outcome

identity, packaging and a launch reel

01 brief

a decaf brand that does not apologise.

the brief asked for a decaf coffee brand: bold, calm, modern and easygoing. most decaf brands soften the message with words like smooth and gentle. i wanted to do the opposite and just say what is in the bottle.

02 idea

brutalism as a method, not a style.

strip the marketing. strip the softeners. let information be the design. the label became a spec sheet, the bottle became an erlenmeyer flask and the voice became deadpan, factual and slightly funny.

NOCAFF frosted glass, lined body — frosted glass, lined body

NOCAFF the spec sheet label — the spec sheet label

03 system

one indigo. one number. coffee, fully disclosed.

frosted glass, ink black on paper and a single indigo that stands for the energy of caffeine. every label carries a giant code in the corner, 001 black and 002 oat, like a part number instead of a flavour name.

99.7% caffeine removed. the other 0.3% is just for show.

NOCAFF 001 black and 002 oat — 001 black and 002 oat

04 process

drawn by hand, rendered with ai, finished by hand.

i drew the logo, the label and the bottle line art in illustrator. ai turned the line art into renders and scenes, and i placed the real label back on in photoshop. the hardest part was keeping the label, the frosted glass and the lined body the same in every scene.

tools: Claude, Gemini, Higgsfield and Adobe suite. four to five days from start to finish.