Ongoing project Cycling · Coffee · Community

CHAIN by Yas Cycles

A place to ride, refuel and reconnect.

I’m developing a creative direction for CHAIN: a café with its own identity, rooted in cycling culture and connected to the existing Yas Cycles shop and workshop.

This is a look inside the process, from the site visit and five creative directions to the warmer palette, logo studies, furniture research and the takeaway packaging now ready for print.

Project snapshot · October 2026 · New: packaging ↓

Active Social Club moodboard: terracotta, cream, oak and espresso tones, coffee, cycling and social spaces — Active Social Club — Terracotta. Preferred colour direction. Concept moodboard with AI-generated imagery, not photographs of a completed space. Click to enlarge.

The starting point

More than a stop after a ride.

The brief is for a café rooted in cycling culture, with its own identity alongside the existing bike shop and workshop. CHAIN should feel welcoming to riders, gym members and neighbours dropping in for a coffee.

A site visit helped ground the concept in the real space: an existing bike shop, a workshop at the back and an area intended for the café and indoor seating. An outdoor seating area is also being explored.

Existing CHAIN storefront with orange opening-soon signage and a shaded outdoor area — Site visit — the existing storefront and outdoor area.

Existing CHAIN interior with an exposed ceiling, counter and workshop area towards the back — Site visit — the interior before the café concept is developed.

Creative direction

Active Social Club

A light, relaxed atmosphere with cycling at its heart.

01 / Atmosphere

Warm, airy and grounded

Following feedback on the initial directions, the palette moved towards warmer red-orange tones. Terracotta, cream, sand, oak and espresso give the Active Social Club concept a more grounded atmosphere.

02 / Community

A reason to stay

The café concept gives people a place to meet after a ride, pause after a workout or simply spend time together over coffee.

03 / Everyday use

Details that work hard

Furniture and finishes need to suit an active setting. Durable, easy-to-clean seating and clear circulation are guiding the next design studies.

From exploration to direction

The feedback shaped the work.

Five creative directions opened the conversation. Active Social Club became the preferred territory; colour studies then helped narrow the atmosphere towards Terracotta.

Logo explorations investigate the chainring as a recognisable cycling reference, with attention to legibility on small formats such as profiles, stickers and cups. They remain proposals for review.

Furniture research brings the visual direction back to practical use: easy-to-clean materials, comfortable seating and circulation that works alongside the shop and workshop. Final layouts depend on confirmed dimensions.

How I approach a project ↗

Identity in progress

Exploring the symbol

Eight studies inspired by cycling components and the idea of connection.

Click to explore ↗

These early vector studies were developed from AI-assisted concept explorations and are under review. The final selection and geometry are still being refined.

View the eight early symbol studies

CHAIN symbol exploration 01 — cycling cog study — Exploration 01

CHAIN symbol exploration 02 — cycling cog study — Exploration 02

CHAIN symbol exploration 03 — cycling cog study — Exploration 03

CHAIN symbol exploration 04 — cycling cog study — Exploration 04

CHAIN symbol exploration 05 — cycling cog study — Exploration 05

CHAIN symbol exploration 06 — cycling cog study — Exploration 06

CHAIN symbol exploration 07 — cycling cog study — Exploration 07

CHAIN symbol exploration 08 — cycling cog study — Exploration 08

Packaging · October 2026

Every coffee,
signed.

With the opening approaching, the takeaway packaging became the first place where CHAIN meets its customers. I designed the set — 12 oz and 4 oz hot cups, a clear cold cup, a kraft bag and round stickers — around the existing CHAIN wordmark and the Yas Cycles logo.

The challenge was to give the café its own presence while making it clear, on every coffee leaving the counter, that CHAIN belongs to Yas Cycles.

Three orange CHAIN by Yas Cycles cups — 12 oz takeaway, 12 oz three-quarter and 4 oz espresso — each with a black band reading Ride · Coffee · People — Final direction — 12 oz takeaway, 12 oz three-quarter and 4 oz espresso cups. Mock-ups rendered from the print files; lid colour shown for illustration. Click to enlarge.

Two proposals, one decision

From a colour swap to a system.

Option 1 kept the supplier’s existing cup and only changed its orange to the café’s terracotta: the fastest route, with no new artwork.

Option 2 went further: a cream and espresso set carrying a “CHAIN by Yas Cycles” lockup and a “Ride · Coffee · People” band, repeated across cups, serviettes and bags.

The final set keeps the system of Option 2 — the lockup and the band — in Yas Cycles orange and black, so the café connects directly with the colours customers already know from the shop.

Packaging option 1: the existing orange cup next to the same cup in terracotta, and a cold cup — Option 1 — same cups, CHAIN terracotta.

Packaging option 2: cream hot cup with espresso band, cold cup, serviette and kraft takeaway bag, all carrying the CHAIN by Yas Cycles lockup — Option 2 — one set, clearly by Yas Cycles.

Ready for print

Down to the dieline.

Each piece was prepared as a print file on the supplier’s own dielines: 4 oz and 12 oz cup wraps, a 16 oz clear cold cup printed in white ink, a 24 × 28 × 10 cm kraft bag in two spot colours, and two 50 mm round stickers.

Proofs show the cut line and safe area so every element can be checked before production.

Print file of the CHAIN kraft bag on its dieline, with the CHAIN by Yas Cycles lockup and Ride · Coffee · People on the front panel — Kraft bag, 24 × 28 × 10 cm — front panel on the supplier’s dieline.

Round orange 50 mm sticker with the CHAIN by Yas Cycles lockup, shown with its cut line — 50 mm sticker — CHAIN by Yas Cycles. Proof with cut line.

50 mm sticker — CHAIN wordmark. Proof with cut line.

What’s next

Bringing the direction into the space.

Approve the packaging proofs. Check colours and line weights on the printed proofs before production.
Confirm the practical details. Map dimensions, seating needs and circulation between the café, retail area and workshop.
Explore the layouts. Compare seating options and furniture specifications, finishes, prices and availability before agreeing on a shortlist.
Refine the visual concept. Develop the selected identity direction and test the palette and materials through mockups using photographs of the actual space.