CLIENT BRIEF

After more than three decades as one of Nashville's most recognized coffee roasters, Bongo Roasting Co. was ready to evolve. The company sought a complete brand transformation—including packaging, café branding, and a new website—to better communicate its unique personality and expand its reach beyond the local market. PCKG partnered with Bongo to develop a cohesive brand ecosystem that balanced heritage with modern design. By unifying every customer touchpoint under a refreshed visual identity, the project positioned Bongo for continued growth while remaining true to the creativity and community that defined the brand.

Client
Bongo Roasting Co.
Year
2025
Services
Brand Identity, Brand visual identity (font + color system, usage, brand guidelines) Copywriting, Retail + wholesale packaging design, Web design + build
Industry
Food & Beverage, Franchise

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

PCKG began the project by bringing Bongo’s founder, marketing team, and coffee leadership together to define what needed to evolve and what was essential to preserve. With more than 30 years of history behind the brand, our strategy focused on identifying the equity Bongo had already built and creating a visual system strong enough to support its next stage of growth.

One of the most important decisions was to preserve the original Bongo Man unchanged. Rather than modernizing a recognizable asset simply for the sake of change, we treated it as the anchor of the new identity and built a contemporary system around it. Through strategy and creative exploration, we established a direction that balanced modern minimalism with the artistic, eclectic personality that has always defined Bongo.

We also made a strategic decision to lean further into Bongo’s Nashville roots. Instead of diluting its local identity to appeal to a national audience, we saw Nashville as an opportunity for differentiation. References to the city’s music, creative culture, and sense of place became part of a broader visual language designed to make Bongo feel unmistakably its own.

From there, we developed a complete brand system including color, typography, graphic elements, photography direction, packaging, café applications, menus, business cards, merchandise, marketing assets, and a custom Shopify website. Every touchpoint was considered as part of the same ecosystem, creating consistency while maintaining enough flexibility for Bongo to remain playful, expressive, and unexpected.

The result is more than a new visual identity. It is a scalable brand system that gives Bongo the tools to move between everyday products, cafés, digital experiences, retail expansion, and highly expressive campaigns while still feeling unmistakably Bongo.

PACKAGING DESIGN

Bongo’s packaging was designed to turn the brand’s values, Nashville roots, and commitment to coffee into something customers could experience before they ever brewed a cup. Every element has a purpose, from transparent windows that reveal the coffee inside to a bold visual system built to command attention on shelf. The result is packaging that feels distinctly Bongo while creating a flexible system that can grow with the brand.

  • TRANSPARENCY, MADE VISIBLE
    Transparency has always been central to Bongo, from sharing information about pricing and sourcing to recognizing the farms and farmers behind each coffee. We made that commitment physical through transparency windows that allow customers to look directly through the packaging and see the beans inside.
  • THE MUSIC RIVER
    The custom Music River graphic connects two defining parts of Bongo’s home: Nashville’s identity as Music City and the Cumberland River that runs alongside the roastery. The flowing linework became a distinctive brand asset that carries Bongo’s sense of place across the packaging system.
  • COLOR THAT COMMANDS THE SHELF
    Bright coffee-cherry red color blocking gives the packaging energy and immediate shelf presence, while grounding the Bongo mark against black creates strong contrast and a more premium feel. Together, the palette balances Bongo’s playful personality with the quality of the coffee inside.
  • SUSTAINABILITY FROM PRODUCT TO PACKAGE
    Bongo’s commitment to responsible coffee extends to the material holding it. The bags are made with #4 recyclable MDOPE, reducing the complexity of the packaging structure and creating a more sustainable package to complement Bongo’s organic and responsibly sourced coffee.
  • FINAL APPROVED DESIGN

    The PCKG team produced the approved bag design, which is now available for purchase both online and in-store at Bongo Java locations in Nashville, TN.
  • SHOP THIS COFFEE

    Our customers put as much love into their coffee as they do into their brand, so why not taste it for yourself and see how good design and great coffee come together?