Urbanangel

A modern approach to ethical eating

Branding for a small hospitality business with exacting standards.
Branding, packaging, digital

We have been making subtle interventions and additions to the Urban Angel branding since 2009.

It is a privilege to have such a longstanding relationship with the café, which is held in high regard by locals and visitors alike—and recently featured in Condé Nast Traveller as Edinburgh’s No.1 brunch spot.

Branding mood board with hand drawn wings, packging labels and fair trade typography.
Visual of urbanangel cafe exterior showing paint colours and graphics for window decals.

Established in 2004, Urban Angel serves diners from historic premises in the centre of Edinburgh.

Ethical and local sourcing has been part of the brand from the beginning; food and service are inspired by the freshness and style of Antipodean all-day dining.

Urbanangel interior close up. Blackboard and jars of dried ingredients.
Urbanangel exterior photo. Man leaving the cafe with take away in paper bag.
GT web Home case study sketches7c
GT web Home case study sketches7d

Everyday doesn’t mean ordinary.

Serving restaurant-quality dishes to eat in and take away, Urban Angel feels like more than just a café.

Urbanangel chutney jars with graphics on brown paper lids tied with green twine and packaging labels.
Urbanangel take-away packaging cartons with kraft labels and green branded neck labels.

Sustainable packaging

Stylish, economical packaging makes takeaway recognisable on the street.

Over the years we’ve worked with recycled and sustainable materials for containers, labels and tags—in tune with the Urban Angel ethos. The logo (which already existed) has remained unchanged, although occasionally it now appears in a textured form.

Urbanangel green and kraft paper packaging tags tied with green twine.
Urbanangel kraft box and postcard for take-away sandwiches.

Art direction

Baking and patisserie are highlighted in a library of beautifully shot food photography.

When we first started working with Urban Angel there was very little food photography, and the in-house baking wasn’t shown off. Prospective diners can now see the quality of food and drink and the care taken in making it.

Website design for hospitality

Relaxed and unobtrusive detailing continues the brand identity into the digital realm.

Photography comes into its own in a website (the second we’ve built for the café), which includes useful features for the client.

Opening times are centrally edited and appear on all pages, there is a neat system for menus and some clever reconfigurations for mobile.

Visit urban-angel.co.uk

Visual of Urbanangel website, brunch page.
Visual of Urbanangel website, coffee page.

Brand design

Intentional design contributes to the brand.

Printed collateral is all designed to be consistent within the brand look-and-feel, and menus are straightforward enough to be updated by staff.

Front and back of Urbanangel loyalty card. A free coffee when you reach cloud 9.
Urbanangel paper bags inside a wooden drawer.
Close up of person in striped apron holding wooden board with freshly baked bread.

Branding for a small business

An independent, city-centre business needs to take design seriously.

The café has a discerning clientele. Within a few hundred yards there are premium, national retailers and prestigious office buildings (in addition to other eateries).

With a high-quality offer and considered branding, Urban Angel sits comfortably in its context.

Gail has always been particularly brilliant at thinking of cost-effective solutions in design and packaging that work for our brand.
GILLY MACPHERSON
Founder and owner, Urbanangel
 

Team

Branding, packaging, print and digital design Gail Turpin Design
Information architecture, content design, development Ast & Red
Copywriting Sarah Milne
Photography Angus Bremner