Blue Owl Coffee https://www.blueowlcoffee.net/ is a local shop known for their brews, comfortable spaces, and venue for musicians owned by Nick Berry. Blue Owl’s mission statement reads: “We are united as a family, anchored in the cause of bringing lasting hope to the world around us through music, coffee or by whatever means possible.”
When Nick approached Michigan Imagery we did not expect the challenge he had in store for us. We were his third attempt at finding a metal vendor to cut his very complex owl logo. His idea was definitely the most intricate metal art design that had come into our shop. After some graphic design reworking, we came up with a logo and finalized it to be cut on our plasma table.
For their East Lansing location, Nick and Rich came to us with a very specific theme, France in the midst of the industrial revolution. They wanted French teahouse, but with a little bit of a fabricated flair. We created a flush-mount back-lit sign for the exterior of the building sporting their big, iconic Blue Owl logo.
Upon entering, behind the counter there is a gigantic french scroll work menu board with organic looking metal flowers. From there you’ll notice more french scroll work with three custom chandeliers adorned with light blue owl feathers. To the right of the counter space is a large window, we created another French scroll work arch that is used to display local art and serves as a backdrop for performances in the venue. Last but not least we needed a birdcage style table base used for a coffee table near the rear of the cafe.
The Old Town space is cozier, and more reminiscent of their REO Town location. Nick’s theme for this shop was Alice in Wonderland meets shabby chic farm. We created a menu board with the main structure being a tree branch as a nod to the tree that Alice falls into. For the individual menus we thought it fitting to use pocket watches and customize the frame of each watch to be unique. The final finishing touch was creating a focus pocket watch. We added “Blue Owl Coffee, Old Town Lansing” into the frame of this watch. We wanted a way for people to engage with the space and create a sense of place that shows it is in Old Town Lansing.
We can’t wait to help Blue Owl formalize their next vision wherever they may pop up!