Welcome to Tropical Smoothie Cafe
SERVICES
Design Director
Visual Identity
Global Brand Guidelines
CREDITS
Executive Creative Director: JB Hartford
Group Creative Director: Cyrus Blais
Senior Designers: Kim Melvin, André Coelho
Motion: Stubbs Johnston, Kaitlyn Chandler
3D Visualization: Mat Brown
Type Foundry: Studio Drama
Created while under employment of JKR.
CLIENT
Tropical
Smoothie
Cafe
Tropical isn’t a place. It’s a state of mind.
We reimagined Tropical Smoothie Cafe for its next chapter of growth—building a vibrant, distinctive brand around a new idea of what it means to feel tropical.
THE CHALLENGE
Despite its rapid growth, Tropical Smoothie Cafe remained largely unknown. In an increasingly crowded category, the brand lacked distinct, ownable assets, while an inconsistent identity failed to capture the energy, culture, and ambition behind it.
Our Brief
Uncover what makes Tropical Smoothie Cafe undeniably itself, and build a brand that can carry that spirit everywhere—from the cafe to packaging, digital experiences, and beyond.
So we built a brand around a feeling.
We found our inspiration in the sensory experience of Tropical Smoothie Cafe—the color of the ingredients, the energy behind the counter, the hum of the blenders, and the feeling of stepping inside. Rather than treating tropical as a literal destination, we reframed it as a state of mind: vibrant, breezy, flavorful, and refreshing.
Welcome to a Tropical State of Mind
Our refreshed logo and new Palm T icon anchor a lush visual world of sun-soaked color and photography, expressive typography, playful illustration, and breezy motion—all coming together across the cafe, app, web, and beyond.
Simplify to Amplify
The previous logo combined multiple typefaces, type sizes, and colors, limiting its clarity and consistency—especially at smaller scales.
We stripped away the complexity and evolved the logo to better reflect the energy and optimism of Tropical Smoothie Cafe—creating a bolder, more confident expression while retaining the familiarity of the brand name.
Meet ‘Palm T’.
At the heart of our new identity is the Palm T—a breezy blend of a palm tree and a “T” that captures the brand’s tropical spirit while reinforcing the full logo. In a category dominated by strong symbols, Tropical Smoothie Cafe needed a shorthand of its own—one that could build recognition, create standout, and flex effortlessly across every platform and scale.
Around the Palm T, we built a vibrant visual world inspired by the ingredients, energy, and sensory experience of the cafe.
An ingredient-led palette that makes every interaction feel fresh and craveable.
Sway Display is generous in proportion, joyful in tone, and bold by nature—bringing personality, movement, and confidence to every message.
We developed a library of ingredient and product illustrations to bring full-on delight and appetite appeal to the brand.
Inspired by a “stacked-in-a-blender” concept, cascading letters and ingredients layer together to form hero menu items.
Tropical at Your Fingertips
Designed for a digital-first world, the identity flexes seamlessly across app, web, and kiosk. Breezy motion and intuitive interactions bring the tropical state of mind into every tap, swipe, and order.
