More Studio grounds Standing Room’s identity in ‘Warm Industrialism’

The Brand Identity: A person leaning at a bar, one foot crossed casually over the other, weight shifted to one side. This image – drawn from an Italian espresso tradition where you stand, sip and leave – became the defining symbol for a Melbourne coffee roaster that has spent a decade serving university precincts. The Standing Person Marque for Standing Room carries the posture of a specific reference photo that the More Studio team found during research, filtered through the visual language of industrial signage, Japanese wayfinding icons and the silhouette work of Gerd Arntz’s Isotype pictograms.

“Being of Italian descent, I’ve always loved the idea of Italians standing at the bar drinking a quick espresso, and this felt like the perfect ode to Standing Room’s beginnings,” Creative Director & Co-founder Matthew J Tambellini explains. Standing Room had built its following organically across Melbourne’s campus coffee scene, but that organic growth came with a cost. Over 10 years, collateral had passed through multiple designers. Signage didn’t match packaging. Black coffee cup lids sat awkwardly alongside Kraft paper bags.

Suppliers varied in quality, with the original retail coffee bags arriving in a solid grey material that felt heavy to the touch and heavier in visual presence. Founders Thomas and Jordan hadn’t necessarily come to More Studio seeking a full rebrand, but a thorough audit and workshop made it clear that finessing the existing wordmark wouldn’t be enough. “Through the audit, we started to question the brand equity built with their previous wordmark and how they were finding it limiting in its application,” Tambellini shares.

The studio presented three directions: a subtle refinement keeping the existing ‘container’ concept around the name, a mid-range evolution highlighting the words ‘Up’ and ‘Room,’ and a more significant departure. The third direction won out. Before any mark was drawn, More Studio conducted a structured brand workshop that surfaced a defining phrase for the project: ‘Warm Industrious.’ The term emerged partly from Standing Room’s own language – their commitment to buying from reputable suppliers and paying farmers properly – and partly from the studio’s observation of the business’ service culture.

Paths and movement kept recurring in conversation during workshops, particularly how Standing Room had followed its customer base from tertiary education through to their future careers, accompanying them from campus coffee to something more permanent. “Brand strategy is poetry. It should excite and inspire,” Tambellini reflects.

“The mechanics were all there; we just uncovered them and saw the connections.” These connections crystallised into four mechanics: ‘Standing Up Vertically,’ ‘Room as Architecture,’ ‘Café as Home,’ and ‘Wayfinding & Collaboration.’ Each carries its own cluster of associated ideas – stacking, movement and verticality for the first; floorplan, communal space and open form for the second; ritual, candidness and warmth for the third; repetition, dotted lines and pathways for the fourth.

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The article discusses a significant rebranding effort for a company that aims to strengthen its identity and prepare for growth, making it impactful and relevant for brand strategy professionals, while the concept of 'Warm Industrialism' adds a level of novelty.