Graduates
Back to Projects

Shakeel Mohamed

MFA in Graphic Design - 3 Yr Path — Graduate Graphic Design
Course:
562 Graduate Packaging Design 1
Faculty:
Daniel Hoy

(WIP) Hadhan Coffee Roasting Co.

Project goal: Showcase the beautiful tradition of Islamic art to a western audience. I chose to develop a hypothetical brand of specialty coffee beans called Hadhan, which translates to “hug” from Arabic. That first cup of coffee in the morning is comforting like a hug when you need it the most. This project is in progress, with a great depth of research involved. Coffee bean branding is a project I’ve wanted to do for a long time, this project has been an absolute delight so far.
Learning Outcomes:
Craft skills are not something that comes naturally to me, but I feel more confident in using these basic tools like knifes and cutting mats. Thinking in three dimensions is a challenge, but much easier to do once there is a physical model to look at. Though this project is not complete, I feel I have learned a great deal about Islamic art, its history, and the history of coffee. I have a few follow up meetings to schedule in the coming weeks to collect even deeper subject matter expertise.
Current logo lockup with Arabic script above. This color palette is chosen from the single origin: Yemen (Sanaa) varietal packaging. I plan to revise the logo with hand drawn letterforms before Fall term 2023.
Midterm assembled packages, each with the correct amount of coffee beans (12oz or 340g).
Front and left side flat coffee bag packaging. Each variety of coffee beans is from a different Islamic country, named by a city in that country. Each variety also features a distinct color palette and pattern inspired by architecture from that country.
Rear and right side flat coffee bag packaging. The back of each bag has a brief story about the history of coffee in that country, along with the overall brand story for Hadhan Coffee Roasting Co.
Close up of the Yemen variety packaging. Yemen was where the energizing effects of the coffea bean were discovered.
Jakarta variety packaging inspired by floral motifs.
Cairo variety pattern inspired by jaali screens. Read more about jaalis here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jali
Istanbul variety inspired by a pattern found in the Topkapi Scroll, a document containing dozens of geometric patterns dating back to the 16th century.
Packaging prototype from week 7, work in progress. Photo taken at Hillside campus.
I have spoken to these individuals and received thorough feedback on concept and design elements. Hamza and Fazel are alumni and provided valuable linguistic critique that would have been missed otherwise. Professor Malik is the expert on the history of coffee in the Islamic world. Before Fall term 2023 I plan to summarize findings from my conversations with this incredible people I spoke to.