P
Onyx Coffee Lab packaging

Images from the packaging case study by Jon Allen and Jeremy Teff (Hickory Design Co.)

Onyx Coffee Lab

roaster bags that each wear their own artwork

Onyx treats each coffee series as its own small art direction rather than forcing one label across the range. The Doyenne series uses a stand-up pouch whose upper half is a dense tile pattern in one deep colour per origin (cobalt #1b3f9a, teal #12b6ad, apricot #d9a679), a white monoline script series name and a small hexagonal ONYX badge, over a frosted window that shows the beans; café bags are plain kraft (#c9a273) printed only with a fine-line skull, a small blackletter blend name and vertical spaced lettering; limited releases get a white bag with a column of moon phases or a matte black box with a chrome logo. Type around the art stays restrained: tracked small capitals for notes and origins, stencil-like condensed capitals for coffee names, and a high-contrast serif ONYX wordmark only where the brand speaks directly.

  • Coffee & tea
  • Light pack
  • Kraft & natural
  • Maximalist pattern
  • Luxe monochrome

Color Palette

Approximate colours interpreted from photography. These are screen references, not official brand colours or print specifications.

Pack body

  • Cafe Kraft

    #c9a273

    Plain brown kraft block-bottom bags for café sizes

  • Frosted Window

    #e7ebeb

    Translucent lower half of Doyenne pouches and clear sample sachets

  • Circadian White

    #f2f2f0

    Matte white bag carrying a column of black moon phases

  • Gallery Black

    #1c1a1b

    Matte black presentation and producer boxes

Ink

  • Fine-line Black

    #1d1a18

    Skull line drawing, blackletter blend name, vertical lettering on kraft and moon phases on the white bag

  • Script White

    #f7f7f5

    Doyenne script name, tile linework and hexagon badge reversed on the coloured half

  • Window Slate

    #4a4f55

    Origin, 'female owned' box and tasting notes printed on the frosted window

Accent

  • Chrome Silver

    #b9bdc1

    Metallic logo on black boxes and the sample-sachet wordmark

Range coding

  • Doyenne Cobalt

    #1b3f9a

    Tile-patterned upper half of a Doyenne pouch for one Colombian origin

  • Doyenne Teal

    #12b6ad

    Tile-patterned upper half of a Doyenne Ethiopian origin

  • Doyenne Apricot

    #d9a679

    Tile-patterned upper half of the Doyenne espresso blend

Typography

Suggested visual alternatives, not confirmed brand typefaces. Any scale below is an illustrative estimate.

The series artwork or series name leads (white script on Doyenne, broken spaced capitals on the white bag, a skull on kraft). Coffee name and origin sit lower in stencil-like condensed capitals, and tasting notes, process and weight are tiny tracked capitals separated by pipes. The ONYX wordmark is a small badge on series bags and only becomes large on boxes and sachets.

Type scale

Estimated cap size as a share of the panel · Front of the 10 oz Doyenne stand-up pouch, about 230 mm tall

  • series-script

    9% · Regular · Script

    Madrina

  • white-bag-name

    4% · Bold · Headline

    NOC TUR NE

  • coffee-name

    3.5% · Bold · Headline

    COLOMBIA LA ESPERANZA

  • box-wordmark

    3% · Regular · Display

    ROAST

  • badge-wordmark

    1.6% · Regular · Display

    ROAST

  • tasting-notes

    1.2% · Medium · Label

    CACAO | APRICOT | BROWN SUGAR

Fonts

  • Display

    DM Serif Display

    Looks like
    Ogg Bold, Canela Bold
    Type
    High-contrast display serif
    Weight
    Regular (heavy display cut)
    Case
    Uppercase
    Tracking
    Slightly wide, about +4%
    Fallback
    Didot, Bodoni 72, Georgia, serif

    The ONYX wordmark on boxes, sachets and the hexagon badge, with 'coffee lab' spaced far apart beneath.

  • Script

    Sacramento

    Looks like
    Hand-lettered monoline script, Bristol
    Type
    Monoline connecting script
    Weight
    Regular, drawn heavier
    Case
    Title case
    Tracking
    Normal
    Fallback
    Brush Script MT, cursive

    Series name across the patterned half of Doyenne pouches, white and about 60% of bag width.

  • Headline

    Big Shoulders Stencil

    Looks like
    Druk Text Condensed, Futura Condensed with stencil cuts
    Type
    Condensed stencil-like grotesque
    Weight
    Bold
    Case
    Uppercase
    Tracking
    Wide, about +6%
    Fallback
    Impact, Arial Narrow Bold, sans-serif

    Coffee name and origin on the Doyenne window ('COLOMBIA EL TAMBO') and the broken spaced name on the white bag.

  • Label

    Inter

    Looks like
    Akzidenz-Grotesk, Neue Haas Unica
    Type
    Small tracked grotesque
    Weight
    Regular, Medium
    Case
    Uppercase
    Tracking
    Very wide, about +15%
    Fallback
    Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif

    Tasting notes separated by pipes, process, roast level, weight and the vertical lines on kraft bags.

Structure & Proportions

Proportions

PurposeValuePreview
Pattern coverage on DoyenneAbout 55% of the pouch front, upper part
Bean windowAbout 45% of the pouch front, lower part, frosted
Script widthAbout 60% of pouch width
Kraft left bareAbout 90% of a café bag front is unprinted kraft
Skull iconAbout 12% of café bag width, centred in the upper half
Colours per bagOne colourway plus white on Doyenne; one black ink on kraft and white bags—
DensityEither dense pattern or almost empty paper; never a mid-density label—

Shapes

ElementValuePreview
Doyenne pouchStand-up pouch with a gusseted base
Brand badgeSmall hexagon-like roundel holding the stacked wordmark
Origin boxThin outlined rectangle reading 'female owned / female made'
Moon phasesVertical column of black discs and crescents
Tile patternInterlocking square tiles with floral line motifs

Finishes

  • Matte film

    Doyenne and white bags · matte

  • Frosted window

    Lower half of Doyenne pouches · frosted

  • Uncoated kraft

    Café bags · kraft

  • Chrome print

    Logos on black boxes and sachets · metallic

Formats and materials

FormatsStand-up pouch, Block-bottom bag, Large café bag, Flat sample sachet, Presentation box with sleeve
MaterialsFlexible film, Kraft paper, Paperboard
ClosuresHeat-sealed tops with zip reclose and one-way degassing valve, roll-down kraft tops on café bags, lift-off box lids and sleeves
DecorationTile repeat pattern, Fine-line skull icon, Moon-phase column, Spaced vertical lettering, Chrome logo

Front Panel

Schematic reading order. The diagram’s zone heights do not represent measured artwork proportions.

Printed directly on the bag, no stuck-on label; artwork and text are centred on the vertical axis, with large areas left empty on kraft and white formats.

ZoneContent
Upper halfSeries pattern or icon (tile pattern, moon phases, skull)
CentreSeries name in script or spaced capitals; small ONYX badge
Lower halfCoffee name, origin, tasting notes and weight; on Doyenne, a frosted window showing the beans

Range System

Range is organised by series rather than by colour alone: each series has its own artwork and format, and within the Doyenne series each origin gets one colourway of the same tile pattern.

  • Doyenne = tile-pattern pouch, colour per origin, frosted bean window
  • Café bags = plain kraft with fine-line skull and blackletter blend name
  • Circadian = white bag with black moon phases and broken spaced name
  • Producer box = matte black box with chrome wordmark and tasting chips
  • Samples = clear sachet with silver wordmark

Back of Pack & Shelf

The back repeats the front ground (pattern, white or kraft) with a centred block of tracked capitals: producer and farm, region, elevation, variety and process, roast date box, brewing ratio, then a small recycling and roaster address line.

  • Producer, farm, region and elevation in tracked capitals
  • Variety and process in a two-column spec block
  • Roast date box or sticker area
  • Suggested brew ratio and grind
  • Roaster address, website and packaging disposal note

On shelf

On a café shelf the series sort into blocks (a run of blue, teal and apricot Doyenne pouches, a row of quiet kraft bags, a single white Circadian bag), so the brand reads as a curated set rather than one repeated label.

Imagery

Graphic rather than pictorial: interlocking tile patterns, a delicate line-drawn skull, moon-phase circles and chrome metal lettering; the beans themselves are shown through windows and clear film.

Guidelines

Do

  • Give each coffee series its own artwork and keep that artwork consistent across its bags.
  • Fill the top 55% of a pouch with a one-colour tile pattern and let a frosted window below show the beans.
  • Print café-size bags on plain kraft (#c9a273) with only a fine black line icon and small spaced lettering.
  • Set tasting notes and origins in tiny tracked capitals separated by pipes.
  • Keep the house wordmark to a small badge on series bags; let it grow only on boxes and sachets.
  • Use matte black (#1c1a1b) boards with chrome metallic print for limited editions.
  • Set coffee names in condensed stencil-like capitals.

Don't

  • Don't apply one template label across every coffee.
  • Don't use glossy photographic labels or coffee-cup imagery.
  • Don't fill kraft bags edge to edge with print; leave about 90% bare.
  • Don't make the wordmark the biggest element on series bags.
  • Don't use more than one colour per Doyenne colourway besides white.
  • Don't put stickers or stuck-on labels on the front.

Give your AI
packaging taste

Give your design or image tool a packaging study: palette, type, structure, front panel and principles for an original brief.

Export this style

Free with an email. PACK.md works in Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor and image tools.

More like this

Join Packinspo

Packinspo is free. Leave your email to save packs, copy references and export styles, and get the new references each month.

No password, no card. Unsubscribe anytime. Privacy