Bitter Plus Sweet Corporate Identity by Liying Wang is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2026 A' Design Award in Graphics, Illustration and Visual Communication Design Competition Category.
IronGraphic· 2026
Bitter Plus Sweet Corporate Identity
by Liying Wang
Client: Liying Wang
A' Design Award Winner in Graphic Category
Verified Award Winner
Verify Award Status for #182029The Design
About Bitter Plus Sweet Corporate Identity
The Bitter plus Sweet corporate identity reimagines craft coffee aesthetics through a dual read monogram. Inspired by the duality of coffee, balancing strength and softness, the design merges a geometric heart with the brand initials. A structural B denotes bitter roasts, while an S conveys sweetness. Engineered on a strict mathematical grid, the scalable logo utilizes an organic palette of Espresso Brown and Sage Green. This approach subverts industrial cliches, engaging consumers with a rewarding hidden visual narrative.
The Recognition
About the A' Design Award
Bitter Plus Sweet Corporate Identity is an Iron A' Design Award winner, a prestigious recognition granted to good designs that meet the professional and industrial requirements expected from well-designed creations. Iron winners demonstrate great skill, high specialization, expert understanding, and creative capacity of their creators. Bitter Plus Sweet Corporate Identity is expected to be a highly regarded, admired, and cherished creation that is practical and innovative. This Iron A' Design Award-winning design integrates industry best practices and has competent technical characteristics linked with know-how and talent. Bitter Plus Sweet Corporate Identity is respected for its thoroughness and is designed to provide quality of life improvements that help make the world a better place.
Interviews
Design Interview
What is the main principle, idea and inspiration behind your design?
The design centers on the "double-read" principle, reflecting the intrinsic duality of the coffee experience: the deep, intense "bitter" of a dark roast and the bright, "sweet" notes of high-quality beans.
I constructed a monogram on a strict mathematical grid to ensure timeless scalability. The resulting mark is a geometric heart that rewards closer inspection by revealing the brand’s initials: a rigid, structural 'B' on the left and an open 'S' on the right. To avoid the cold, industrial aesthetic common in modern cafes, I opted for an earthy palette of Espresso Brown and Sage Green. By pairing the sharp geometry of the logo with a friendly, rounded typeface, the identity achieves a "modern craft" feel that is premium yet deeply human.
What has been your main focus in designing this work? Especially what did you want to achieve?
My main focus was building a cohesive brand story that balances modern, structural aesthetics with approachability. I wanted to achieve a highly recognizable visual identity that scales flawlessly across everything from small packaging mockups to large storefront signage.
How long did it take you to design this particular concept?
The entire concept, from drafting the initial brand story to finalizing the palette specs and packaging mockups, took about three months of focused iteration between February and April of 2026.
Behind the Design
Press Kit
Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.
- Unique Properties
- The identity utilizes a double read principle, integrating a geometric heart with the brand initials. The left side forms a structural letter B representing the intensity of bitter roasts, while the right side forms a letter S for sweetness. Built on a mathematical grid, the logo ensures timeless scalability across physical and digital mediums. The palette of Espresso Brown and Sage Green avoids industrial platitude, offering an organic feel that appeals to craft focused consumers.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- This identity is built to ensure pixel perfect translation across digital screens and physical print. The logo is delivered in scalable vector formats and high resolution raster files. Brand guidelines define minimum sizing and clear space rules to guarantee legibility on applications ranging from small paper espresso cups to large storefront window decals and embroidered employee uniforms.
- Tags
- Brand Identity, Logo Design, Coffee Shop, Geometric Design, Corporate Identity, Minimalism, Visual Communication
- Production Technology
- The design was developed using professional vector-based software, such as Adobe Illustrator and Figma, to ensure infinite scalability without loss of detail. A strict mathematical grid system was applied to the monogram to maintain perfect proportions across various applications, from small-scale social media icons to large-scale storefront window decals and embroidered textile merchandise.
- Design Challenge
- The hardest challenge was balancing rustic coffee tropes with a modern, socially-driven craft aesthetic. Internally, blending a rigid 'B' and 'S' into a recognizable heart required extensive iteration to avoid forced geometry. Externally, production constraints dictated the logo must remain legible across diverse media, from low-fidelity stamp printing on recycled packaging to crisp digital app icons, demanding strict, uncompromising adherence to the mathematical grid.
- Research
- Exploratory research aimed to define modern craft coffee aesthetics. Methodology included visual audits of 15 local competitors and comparative testing of logo concepts. Data was collected via random surveys with local coffee drinkers. Results showed a 75 percent preference for organic geometries over industrial tropes. Insights revealed consumers crave hidden narratives, directly impacting the dual B and S heart design. This approach elevates brand business equity and modernizes local coffee culture.
- Inspiration
- This project was inspired by the intrinsic duality of the coffee experience: the balance between strength and softness. The motive was to create a symbol conveying both technical precision and human warmth. Research into geometry and minimalist monograms led to a heart shape constructed from the letters 'B' and 'S'. The goal was to reward observant customers with a hidden narrative, moving beyond traditional coffee tropes toward a sophisticated, modern craft aesthetic.
- Project Duration
- The project started in December 2025 in California, U.S., and finished at the end of February 2026.
- Operation Flow
- The brand interacts with customers through a discovery phase; the realization of the hidden letter B and letter S initials follows the initial recognition of a heart symbol. This engagement builds brand equity.
- Image Credits
- Image #1: Creator Liying Wang, 2026.
Image #2: Creator Liying Wang, 2026.
Image #3: Creator Liying Wang, 2026.
Image #4: Creator Liying Wang, 2026.
Image #5: Creator Liying Wang, 2026.
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