Restaurant Branding and Illustrations | Café Caleta

Located on Caleta Street in Old San Juan, Café Caleta is a café by day and bar by night. The project centered on developing a simple, timeless logo and a cohesive system of illustrations that captured the café’s unique atmosphere and daily rituals.

Each drawing was created to mirror the real interior and experience of the bar — from the coffee equipment to the arrangement of guests and baristas behind the counter. The linework, deliberately clean and minimal, balances warmth with precision, allowing the visual identity to feel handcrafted yet contemporary.

Rather than replicating the styles common among local illustrators, the project sought to establish a distinct aesthetic language, one that reflects authenticity through composition, proportion, and restraint.

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Design Concept

The restaurant branding includes detailed depictions of coffee tools, cups, glassware, and bar elements, all drawn in a coherent line style. Together, they build a visual narrative of the café’s dual identity — a calm morning café that transitions into an intimate nighttime bar.

The color palette draws from the café’s interior tones: deep greens paired with soft neutrals and wine-inspired reds. These hues create a sense of natural sophistication and rhythm, echoing the café’s environment and culture of craft.