ODDKIN is a café and kitchen concept created for The Hague: warm enough to become a neighbourhood favourite, but strange enough to be remembered after the coffee is gone.
The name shaped the whole project. “Odd” gave us permission to be playful; “kin” kept the brand human. Together, they describe a place where unusual characters, familiar rituals and good food all belong at the same table.
Our goal was not to decorate another coffee shop. It was to build a complete world, one that could move naturally from the window and interior to the menu, coffee bags, takeaway cups, uniforms and social media without losing its personality.
The ODDKIN wordmark begins in a very orderly way, then refuses to stay that way.
The first half is bold, geometric and direct. As the name moves into KIN, the letterforms become more refined and expressive. The sweeping leg of the K curls into the I, creating a small visual interruption, the kind of detail that makes you look twice.
That contrast became the idea behind the identity itself: contemporary but not cold, elegant but never too serious. The logo works quietly when it needs to, yet still carries enough character to hold its own on a storefront, apron or coffee bag.
Every good neighbourhood place has its regulars.
ODDKIN simply has stranger ones.
a slightly surreal cast with old-world engraving detail and very modern personalities.
They are not mascots attached to the identity after the fact. They are the identity in motion. Used individually, each character can lead a menu cover, poster or cup. Together, they form a dense pattern that turns packaging and merchandise into something collectible.
The palette softens the black-and-white illustrations with colours that feel cheerful, unexpected and easy to combine. Cloudy Creature blue, Lemon Lunatic yellow, Peachy Oddball and Blushing Beast lilac create a flexible family rather than one fixed brand colour.
The Space
The interior was designed as the grown-up home of the characters: warm, comfortable and just a little theatrical.
The result is not a themed restaurant. The oddness appears in carefully chosen moments, balanced by materials and lighting that make people want to stay. It feels distinctive in photographs, but more importantly, it still feels good over a long lunch or a second cup of coffee.
Applications
The ODDKIN world was designed to live well beyond the logo.
Menus become introductions to the brand’s unusual cast of characters, while food papers, takeaway packaging and shopping bags turn everyday objects into something people notice, photograph and remember.
Coffee cups and tea cups each receive their own branded treatment, combining unexpected illustrations, playful typography and changing colour combinations. Whether served at the table or taken through the streets of The Hague, every cup feels like a small extension of the ODDKIN experience.
The same visual language carries through to retail coffee bags, where the character pattern creates shelf presence while flavour notes and roast information remain clear and easy to navigate. Tote bags, stickers, seals and sleeves complete the family, each adding another opportunity for the identity to show a different side of itself.
At ODDKIN, branding is not simply applied to the objects. It becomes part of the ritual… from the first look at the menu to the final sip.
From staff to street
The same balance of order and oddness continues across uniforms, signage and outdoor communication.
A clean apron keeps the identity simple during service, while the striped shirt and tie add a quietly eccentric, almost old-school hospitality note. Outside, typography becomes larger and more expressive, allowing straightforward messages such as opening hours or new menu announcements to feel unmistakably ODDKIN.
This is where the system proves its range. It can whisper on an apron, entertain on a poster, or take over a tote bag without needing to repeat the same layout every time.
Digital Presence
Online, ODDKIN behaves like the café itself: sometimes useful, sometimes playful, and never entirely predictable.
The social system moves between product photography, food moments, bold editorial typography and character-led compositions. Pastel frames keep the feed connected, while the content is free to shift from morning coffee to cocktails, takeaway and new menu announcements.
The tone follows the same principle. Lines such as “Your daily ODD, to go” are light and conversational, giving the brand a voice without trying too hard to be funny. The strange part is already built into the name and imagery; the writing only needs to give it a gentle nudge.
The Brand
At its heart, ODDKIN is about belonging without becoming ordinary.
It brings together the comfort of a neighbourhood café and the curiosity of a cabinet of wonders. The identity is expressive, but the experience stays welcoming. It can be elegant in one moment, absurd in the next, and still feel completely itself.
From the curl in the K to the creatures on the coffee bag, every detail contributes to the same idea: familiar things become more memorable when something is just a little bit off.
Come for the coffee. Stay with the odd ones.
From the curl in the K to the creatures on the coffee bag, every detail contributes to the same idea: familiar things become more memorable when something is just a little bit off.
Come for the coffee. Stay with the odd ones.
