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GEORGE COSBY STUDIO

GCS

Client: Workshop

Year: 2025

Location: London, UK

Services: Brand Proposition, Visual Identity, Packaging, Art Direction, Retail Environment

Workshop Coffee is one of the UK’s leading specialty coffee roasters, known for its clean, sweet flavour profile and quiet pursuit of quality. GCS was brought on to help redefine its brand positioning, visual identity, and packaging system.

Focusing on the idea of “A Mark of Better Coffee,” we developed a refined messaging framework and brand concept that captured Workshop’s London roots, intellectual leadership, and unwavering standards. From there, we crafted a visual world rooted in clarity, integrity, and restraint—balancing Workshop’s quiet confidence with its commitment to excellence.

The result was a full creative system across house blends and single origin packaging, supported by thoughtful tone of voice, messaging touch-points, and visual direction to ensure the brand speaks clearly and consistently—on shelf, online, and behind the bar.

Workshop approached us at a pivotal point in their evolution. With a strong reputation among discerning coffee drinkers, they were looking to unify and elevate their brand to reflect their role as one of London’s most respected roasters. The challenge lay in defining a proposition that honoured their obsessive craft, without falling into clichés or overstatement.

Through strategic workshops and stakeholder sessions, we uncovered the need to reposition Workshop not as a trend-led brand, but as a benchmark — a quiet authority in the world of coffee. The result was a refined proposition built around the line "A Mark of Better Coffee" — a confident yet understated articulation of quality, expertise, and consistency. This became the foundation for a full messaging hierarchy spanning web, retail, packaging and internal language, all crafted to express care, clarity and London-roasted credibility.

Workshop approached us at a pivotal point in their evolution. With a strong reputation among discerning coffee drinkers, they were looking to unify and elevate their brand to reflect their role as one of London’s most respected roasters. The challenge lay in defining a proposition that honoured their obsessive craft, without falling into clichés or overstatement.

Through strategic workshops and stakeholder sessions, we uncovered the need to reposition Workshop not as a trend-led brand, but as a benchmark — a quiet authority in the world of coffee. The result was a refined proposition built around the line "A Mark of Better Coffee" — a confident yet understated articulation of quality, expertise, and consistency. This became the foundation for a full messaging hierarchy spanning web, retail, packaging and internal language, all crafted to express care, clarity and London-roasted credibility.

"Working with George has been a transformative experience for our small, independent coffee team. After more than a decade of roasting, we knew our brand identity no longer reflected the quality of our sourcing or the direction of our business. We needed a full refresh, one that would bring clarity and consistency across our wholesale, e-commerce and retail touchpoints. We were also ready to introduce a new range of ready-to-drink products with confidence.

George struck the perfect balance between creative thinking and strategic design. He led the project with a clear, considered approach, while always remaining open, patient and collaborative. His communication is friendly, prompt and supportive — he became an extension of our team from the outset.

After many years of struggling to find our voice through our packaging and brand identity, we’ve finally arrived at a place where the quality of our coffee is matched by the strength and beauty of our visual identity.

George helped us define who we are and express that with purpose. We’ve thoroughly enjoyed working with him, and we’re incredibly proud of the brand we’ve built together."


Emma Blake, Workshop

"Working with George has been a transformative experience for our small, independent coffee team. After more than a decade of roasting, we knew our brand identity no longer reflected the quality of our sourcing or the direction of our business. We needed a full refresh, one that would bring clarity and consistency across our wholesale, e-commerce and retail touchpoints. We were also ready to introduce a new range of ready-to-drink products with confidence.

George struck the perfect balance between creative thinking and strategic design. He led the project with a clear, considered approach, while always remaining open, patient and collaborative. His communication is friendly, prompt and supportive — he became an extension of our team from the outset.

After many years of struggling to find our voice through our packaging and brand identity, we’ve finally arrived at a place where the quality of our coffee is matched by the strength and beauty of our visual identity.

George helped us define who we are and express that with purpose. We’ve thoroughly enjoyed working with him, and we’re incredibly proud of the brand we’ve built together."

Emma Blake, Workshop

Workshop’s visual system needed to strike a balance between clarity, character, and craft. With the brand spanning packaging, retail, digital, and wholesale channels, we built a modular system that could flex confidently across every touchpoint.

At the heart of this was a refreshed graphic language — including a bespoke icon set designed to bring clarity to key information such as origin, roast profile, and flavour notes. In parallel, we introduced a library of textures and patinas, drawn from the world of coffee itself: crema rings, oxidised espresso, brushed surfaces and filter-stained tones. These layered details lent the brand a tactile, lived-in quality — an aesthetic shaped by the hands-on nature of brewing, roasting and serving.

Workshop’s existing ‘W’ mark — a distinctive and recognisable asset — was retained by request. Around it, we built a more refined and spacious identity system, allowing the icon to breathe within a design world that feels crafted, quietly confident, and unmistakably theirs.

Workshop’s visual system needed to strike a balance between clarity, character, and craft. With the brand spanning packaging, retail, digital, and wholesale channels, we built a modular system that could flex confidently across every touchpoint.

At the heart of this was a refreshed graphic language — including a bespoke icon set designed to bring clarity to key information such as origin, roast profile, and flavour notes. In parallel, we introduced a library of textures and patinas, drawn from the world of coffee itself: crema rings, oxidised espresso, brushed surfaces and filter-stained tones. These layered details lent the brand a tactile, lived-in quality — an aesthetic shaped by the hands-on nature of brewing, roasting and serving.

Workshop’s existing ‘W’ mark — a distinctive and recognisable asset — was retained by request. Around it, we built a more refined and spacious identity system, allowing the icon to breathe within a design world that feels crafted, quietly confident, and unmistakably theirs.

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