Poodle Pour is a self-initiated brand identity concept for a dog-friendly coffee shop built around the idea of creating a welcoming space where people can enjoy the companionship of dogs alongside the everyday café experience.

The concept was inspired by my love of animal cafés and by the fact that owning a dog is not possible for everyone. Factors such as housing restrictions, cost, work commitments, allergies within a household, or lifestyle can prevent people from having a pet of their own. Poodle Pour imagines a playful café environment where customers can still experience some of that companionship while enjoying coffee and spending time in a relaxed social space.

The visual identity was designed to feel warm, approachable and deliberately imperfect rather than overly polished or corporate. A hand-drawn poodle character became the central element of the identity and was developed into a flexible set of illustrations, marks and patterns that could be used throughout the café.

My Role

This was an independent personal project, so I developed the concept and complete visual direction myself.

I created the brand concept, name, colour palette, logo system, poodle character illustrations and supporting graphic elements before applying the identity across different customer touchpoints.

The identity was then expanded into practical café applications including menu design, loyalty cards and supporting brand graphics. This allowed me to explore how a small illustrative identity could remain recognisable and consistent across multiple formats rather than functioning as a logo alone.

Design Direction

The identity combines playful hand-drawn illustration with a warm, muted colour palette.

The soft peach and cream tones were chosen to create warmth and reference the colours commonly associated with coffee, pastries and comfortable café interiors. The muted green introduces contrast while giving the identity a calmer, more natural quality associated with parks, outdoor spaces and pet-friendly environments.

Brown connects the palette back to coffee while also complementing the warm colouring of the poodle character. Black and white versions of the character were developed to make the identity flexible across different backgrounds and applications.

The intentionally irregular illustration style gives the brand personality and makes it feel more personal and approachable. Rather than creating a highly polished mascot, I wanted the poodle to feel almost hand-drawn by someone inside the café.

The visual system also uses paw prints, repeated poodle illustrations and alternating colour blocks to create patterns that can extend the identity beyond the primary logo.

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