Jemina Adewole, Graphic Designer at TGP International, explores the community-driven brand identity and graphic design approach to the recently launched Seed & Bloom Community Café.
Bringing together TGP International’s 360° capabilities, this project came to life through a collective effort that spanned multiple teams and disciplines. From concept and naming to brand development, interior design, build oversight and pre-opening strategy, it is a project that has pulled on expertise from across the company.
For my part, the focus was on ensuring the brand’s core principles translated seamlessly into its design language. This meant creating a cohesive identity that could live across every touchpoint, from the logo and menus to signage, packaging, and digital collateral.
In practice, that meant weaving the brand’s pillars into both the physical and graphic expressions of the space, so that guests would experience a consistent sense of identity whether holding a coffee cup, browsing the menu or engaging with the brand online.
The “Seed to Bloom” metaphor became the project’s compass in many ways, shaping not only the colour palette and materials but also the typography, graphic language and environmental storytelling.
From the start, we believed the café had to be more than a transactional space and needed to serve as an anchor for its neighbourhood. That meant developing a brand identity with emotional resonance and one that felt familiar yet fresh. Rooted yet optimistic.
The name itself set the pace. Seed & Bloom evoked transformation, patience and reward, while also providing a rich visual vocabulary from which the identity could grow. Typography reflected this balance with organic curves and subtle imperfections paired with the clarity of a contemporary sans-serif, capturing both craft and modernity in a single voice.
Motifs drawn from local botanicals carried the same sensibility, not literal illustrations, but abstracted shapes and layered textures that could live naturally across menus, packaging and wall panels.
The result was an identity system designed for versatility and authenticity. Whether appearing on a takeaway cup, a tote bag or the sliding mycelium menu board, the brand felt consistent without ever appearing over-designed. Each element was an expression of the idea that growth, care and connection can be experienced as much through a visual language as through food or space.
When you step into Seed & Bloom, or even scroll through its Instagram feed, a distinct warmth can be felt, with colour at the heart of this feeling. Soft, sunlit tones wash through the brand, with warm yellows, earthy neutrals and subtle botanical accents layered alongside textures that shift from polished to natural.
As well as standing out aesthetically, this approach was intended to create an atmosphere with meaning. The palette draws inspiration from the pergularia tomentosa, a native flower that flourishes in Abu Dhabi’s landscape. While most guests might not consciously recognise the reference, it adds an invisible layer of storytelling that connects the brand to its context. That influence extends not just to interior tones, but also to the graphic identity, from botanical motifs carried through illustrations to colour choices in menus, packaging and digital collateral.
Underlying this is also a theme of transformation through materiality. Just as the café’s interior design intent celebrates the process of craft—with materials reflecting change and growth—a similar approach informed brand collateral, where paper stocks blended raw, earthy tactility with more glossy or processed finishes, offering subtle contrasts. Together, these layers create a visual and physical identity that feels dynamic, evolving, grounded and consistent across both space and brand.
Community was embedded into the brand’s DNA from the beginning. From launch, day interactive programming and workshops have shaped the guest experience, whether through bread-making classes, ceramics workshops, or flower arranging experiences. Each of these activities was supported with its own branded touchpoints: in-store posters, digital flyers, and registration forms, all designed with the same warm typography, organic lines and botanical accents that defined the core identity.
Retail displays were also treated as key brand moments. In the dedicated retail zone featuring goods from local suppliers such as Mazaraa Farm Shop and The Unwrapped Store. As such, wall art, labels, tags and display cards were designed to tell an authentic story. This ensured that guests encountered the same tone and character at every stage of their visit, from browsing shelves to sitting down with a coffee.
To deliver a unified experience across both physical and digital touchpoints, we also created assets that could flex seamlessly between print and online. Hand-drawn botanical details, for example, appear not only across coasters and packaging but also as Instagram Story highlights, weaving the same warm and inclusive narrative through every interaction.
Seed & Bloom was never intended to be static. The brand was designed to evolve in step with the community it serves. Its visual identity was built for adaptability, its environmental graphics developed as modular layers, ready to shift and grow over time.
This project reaffirmed the belief that brand design in hospitality needs to exist holistically. Unique and captivating brand moments emerge when core concept, brand strategy, graphic design and interior design are conceived together, feeding into one another.
BRAND AND GRAPHIC DESIGN IMAGES
Image Credits: Gavriil Papadiotis