Rebranding Starbucks: from café to a premium perfume brand
In imagining Starbucks as a premium fragrance brand, the visual identity would need to shift away from its current mainstream café aesthetic toward something more refined, minimal, and sensory-driven.
The goal would be to retain recognizability while adapting to the luxury personal care market. This requires a careful balance between honoring Starbucks’ heritage and aligning with expectations in the fragrance industry.
Logo & Typography
The iconic Starbucks logo — the siren — would likely be simplified or used subtly, possibly as a blind emboss or small gold stamp rather than the full-color mark. This softens the brand presence and aligns with premium design codes.
Typography would shift to a clean, modern sans-serif typeface. A custom wordmark could be introduced for the fragrance line, with tight letter-spacing, neutral weight, and high legibility. Fonts similar to Helvetica Neue, Maison Neue, or Everett would work well. All-caps or small caps could give a more structured, upscale feel.
Color Palette
The color palette would move away from the traditional Starbucks green and lean into more muted, earthy, and warm tones, inspired by natural ingredients and coffee notes.
Proposed colors:
Forest Green – deep, grounding, and rich
Matte Black – sleek, modern, luxurious
Warm Cream or Oat – soft and neutral
Toasted Amber – reminiscent of roasted beans and warmth
Subtle Metallic Accents – gold or copper foil for minimal embellishment
These tones reflect both the sensory world of coffee and the elegance expected in fragrance packaging.
Packaging Design
The perfume bottles would be made of frosted or tinted glass with minimal labeling. Labels would use high-quality textured papers or soft-touch finishes. Elements such as:
Embossed text
Monochrome palettes
Minimal logo usage
would help position the product as understated and premium.
Outer packaging could include:
Recycled kraft boxes for sustainability
Cotton or paper-fiber pouches
Magnetic closures or clean sleeve-style boxes
The overall packaging design would focus on tactile experience, clean lines, and visual calm, reflecting both slow living and quiet luxury trends.
Photography and Visual Content
The imagery used across campaigns, online stores, and printed collateral would lean toward:
Soft natural lighting
Minimal styling
Warm color grading
Close-ups of textures (coffee grounds, skin, fabric, wood)
The brand photography should aim to evoke scent and atmosphere visually, using a still-life approach with very intentional composition.
Retail & Merchandising Considerations
In-store displays (if in select Starbucks Reserve locations or concept stores) would use clean shelves, matte fixtures, and ceramic or wood surfaces to create a premium feel. POS materials would be minimal — perhaps only small scent blotter cards, glass domes, and scent testers with engraved nameplates.
The visual identity of Starbucks as a perfume brand would rely on quiet sophistication. It would draw from the same emotional values Starbucks already owns — warmth, familiarity, ritual — but express them through a new design language: calm, elevated, and intentionally simple.
