ft. Benshi

Shaping a Design System into a Brand Narrative

Client
ft. Benshi

Service
Logo Design
Visual Identity
Packaging

Partner
Ding Fan / Fang Jianping

Team
CD: Ding Fan
D: Zhou Junjun, Deng Jie, Li Mingxi
MD: Zhao Lin
Logotype: Yu Haowen
PM: Dong Bochao
Case Study: Deng Jie, Zhou Junjun, Zhao Lin, Hu Jiannan, Shao Junyu
Photographer: Wang Di, jmjm
Retoucher: Zhang Yiyi

Located at Shanghai ROCKBUND’s Rongfu Building, ft. Benshi is a specialty coffee brand centered on coffee pairing. Guided by the brand philosophy of “featuring,” it weaves coffee, cuisine, and tasting tempo into a seamless flavor experience. The uniqueness of ft. Benshi lies in its resistance to simple categorization—it is neither strictly a coffee shop, a restaurant, nor a retail brand. In-store, guests embark on a complete tasting journey; beyond its walls, the brand extends into coffee beans, small bites, alcoholic beverages, and other retail products. For UDL, the core of ft. Benshi is "relationship," which served as the starting point for the design. We used symbols to distill the featuring relationship between coffee and cuisine, packaging to extend the sensory experience outside the store, and an information and iconography system to give shape and definition to abstract, complex flavors.

The brand symbol is composed of interlocking hexagonal and octagonal forms, referencing the respective flavor structures of coffee and cuisine. The intersection of these two geometries serves as a metaphor for how coffee and food complement each other in pairing, giving rise to entirely new flavor perceptions. This symbol further extends into motion design, packaging, and in-store touchpoints, making the underlying logic of the "featuring" experience tangible and traceable.

Within the packaging system, the “envelope” acts as both an explanation of and an invitation to flavor, adding an experiential layer of opening, collecting, and passing on. This allows retail products to become an extension of the ft. Benshi experience outside the space. Coffee beans, small bites, and alcoholic beverages are unified under a singular packaging language: a terracotta palette evokes the warmth of artisanal cuisine, while textured paper lends a palpable sensory density. The “outer box + modular information label” structure directly addresses the frequent rotation of small-batch coffee beans, allowing origins, processing methods, and flavor profiles to be updated fluidly.

Simultaneously, we established a systematic flavor classification for ft. Benshi. Coffee involves processes like natural, washed, or anaerobic fermentation; cuisine utilizes techniques such as steaming, roasting, and frying; and alcoholic beverages carry aromatic notes ranging from rice and floral-fruity to fermented nuances. These details belong to separate descriptive dimensions and could easily appear fragmented on menus or packaging. UDL organized this information into a cohesive set of icons that organically "grow" out of the brand symbol, allowing processing methods, mouthfeel, and aromas to be quickly differentiated, helping guests navigate and compare options with ease.

Through these visual cues, UDL constructs a compelling brand narrative for ft. Benshi, capturing the singular allure of the space: the encounter and trial between coffee and cuisine, and the founder’s precise judgment of flavor, vessels, pacing, and space. By finding a clear, restrained expression for these subtle relationships, UDL ensures the experience transcends a single visit, leaving a lingering aftertaste long after the tasting has ended.

もっと見る+閉じる-

Client
ft. Benshi

Service
Logo Design
Visual Identity
Packaging

Partner
Ding Fan / Fang Jianping

Team
CD: Ding Fan
D: Zhou Junjun, Deng Jie, Li Mingxi
MD: Zhao Lin
Logotype: Yu Haowen
PM: Dong Bochao
Case Study: Deng Jie, Zhou Junjun, Zhao Lin, Hu Jiannan, Shao Junyu
Photographer: Wang Di, jmjm
Retoucher: Zhang Yiyi

UDL 来说,ft.本事的核心是关系”,也是设计的出发点我们用符号提炼咖啡与料理之间的 featuring 关系用包装延续门店中的感官体验并通过信息与图标系统让抽象而复杂的风味有了轮廓

品牌形象中的符号由六边形与八边形扣合而成分别指向咖啡与料理的风味结构两个几何形的连接隐喻咖啡与料理在搭配中彼此衬托并由此生成新的风味感受品牌符号进一步延展到动态包装与门店触点之中 featuring 的体验逻辑有迹可循

在包装系统中我们以信封作为一封关于风味的说明与邀请并由此增加了开启收集与传递的体验也让零售产品成为 ft.本事体验在门店之外的延续咖啡豆小食与酒类等产品都通过信封式结构被纳入同一套包装语言中陶土色系延续手作料理的温度具有肌理感的纸张带来可触摸的感官密度;“外盒 + 可编辑信息标签的设计则回应咖啡豆多产地小批量信息更新频繁的特性让产地处理法与风味描述可以灵活呈现
我们也为 ft.本事建立了一套风味标注咖啡有日晒水洗厌氧等处理方式料理有蒸炸等技法酒类则有米香花果香发酵感等香气层次它们原本分属不同的风味描述维度放在菜单或包装上容易变得零散。UDL 将这些信息整理为一组从品牌符号生长出来的图标让处理方式口感与香气可以被快速区分也让顾客在选择产品时更容易建立比较