Counter Culture Coffee's limited edition series is an ongoing collection of seasonal and specialty releases — each one distinct, but clearly part of the same family. The packaging had to give each coffee its own personality while maintaining a visual system coherent enough to live together on shelf.

When Counter Culture Coffee and Fritz Coffee — a beloved specialty roaster from Korea — decided to create a collaboration blend, the result was Gemini: two roasters, two partner farms, one 50/50 blend. The name says it all. My job was to make the design say it too.

I led the full visual direction for packaging, merchandise (milk glass mug, fabric poster, sticker, keychain), and promotional materials for both ecommerce and wholesale channels.

The concept started with a single question: what if Fritz's iconic seal mascot had a twin in the U.S.? From there, the "twin seal" idea became the heart of everything. I chose red, blue, and white — colors that carry meaning in both countries — and designed the front of the box in English, the back in Korean. Two languages, two cultures, one package. The merchandise line followed the same visual system, keeping the packaging as the anchor of the brand world.

The final collection launched across U.S. online and retail channels. More than a product, it became a small cultural bridge — proof that design can hold two identities at once without flattening either one.

The East Asian Leadership Initiative (EALI) needed a new visual identity — one that could represent all of East Asia, not just one corner of it. The original logo read too specifically as Korean, and the goal was to create something more inclusive without losing cultural weight.

I led the full logo redesign process, from concept development through final delivery.

I presented four directions across a spectrum: traditional and heritage-rooted on one end, minimal and contemporary on the other. Throughout, I was deliberate about what I left out — avoiding visual shorthand that might read as belonging to a single country. East Asia is not one aesthetic, and the logo shouldn't pretend it is. The client selected the most minimal direction: clean, modern, and quietly respectful of the region's depth.

A logo that doesn't try to say everything — but leaves room for everything it represents.

What happens when you pair specialty coffee with Korean Twisted Doughnut? You get Tw!st: a food truck concept built around comfort, culture, and a very good pun.

I conceptualized and designed the entire brand world: logo, menu, merchandise (aprons, tote bags), social media graphics, and a custom lettering style.

This started as a school project and turned into something I genuinely got invested in. The visual direction came from the donut itself — that coiled, textured spiral. I let that shape inform a custom lettering style that brought the same tactile, twisted quality into the type. Everything else followed: warm, a little playful, the kind of brand that feels like it belongs on a street corner you'd actually want to visit.

A fully realized concept brand that blends Korean food culture with specialty coffee in a way that feels natural rather than novelty.

Wisdom Forest is a concept for a coffee shop-library hybrid — a place designed for people who want good coffee, a good book, and a low-pressure way to be around others. A cozy retreat that doesn't demand anything from you.

I designed the full identity: logo, merchandise, and a live landing page built on Wix.

The palette of navy and soft pink was chosen carefully — navy for groundedness, pink for warmth. Together they hold the feeling I was after: calm but not cold. Tree imagery and literary quotes about knowledge and books carry through the posters, bookmarks, and branded materials, layering in a sense of place before the space even exists. The audience I had in mind: young people who love ideas and solitude, but still want somewhere to belong.

A brand that feels like somewhere you'd actually want to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Twelve coffees. Twelve days. One box that had to make each reveal feel like a gift. Counter Culture Coffee's holiday advent calendar set was part product, part experience — and the design had to carry both.

I handled the full design scope: box and label packaging, the accompanying booklet, a physical scratch-off element, and the interactive landing page.

The tricky part? I didn't have detailed tasting notes for all twelve coffees when I started designing. So instead of leaning on specific flavors, I built a flexible visual system that could travel. The concept became a world tour through coffee — passport stamps, postage marks, the feeling of opening something that came from far away. That language ran consistently through the booklet and labels. On the landing page, each day's coffee was hidden behind a clickable element that revealed it with a small animation, echoing the scratch-off mechanic on the physical packaging.

A cohesive holiday experience that worked across print and digital — where the design itself became part of the daily ritual.