01 / 09
Served with a smile.
The smiling cup is everywhere a guest looks: on the cart front, the apron, the cups and the counter, so the brand feels as friendly as the person serving.
Case study · Brand identity
A happy little brand for a café on wheels.
We shaped the Little Weekend identity: a hand-lettered smiling logo, a warm palette, a friendly voice and a brand book, tested across 26 real-world scenes.
- Client
- Little Weekend, UAE
- Sector
- Food and drink, mobile café cart
- Services
- Brand strategy, logo, identity system, brand book, app icon
- Year
- 2026
- 21pages in a brand book covering logo, colour, type, voice and icon
- 26mockups across venues, packaging, print, apparel, events and social
- 6brand colours, each checked for text contrast
- 3typefaces, including an Arabic companion
Two young founders, one cart, and a small happy pause in someone's day.
Little Weekend was started by two young entrepreneurs. They wanted the best part of a day out, a good drink, something sweet and a friendly face, to be easy to find wherever people gather.
The cart serves coffee, refreshing drinks and pastries at sports venues, events and exhibitions across the UAE. It opens at a university event, then moves to a new venue every week. Its guests are young adults, sports fans and eventgoers, and its booking partners are the organisers who want a cart that adds warmth to their space.
Turn a quick drink into a small, happy pause, on any day of the week.
- 01
A brand on the move
The cart is somewhere new every week, so people have to spot it from across a court or an exhibition hall.
- 02
One logo, every size
The same mark has to read on a 32 pixel app icon, a cup sleeve and a three-metre backdrop.
- 03
Two audiences
Guests want something fun and fast. Organisers want a partner that looks reliable and professional.
- 04
Any day, not just weekends
The name says weekend, but the cart works every day, so the voice could never sound weekend-only.
- 05
Two languages
In the UAE the brand needs to sit comfortably in English and Arabic.
How we worked.
Every decision came back to one question: does it make someone's day a little better in a few minutes?
- 01
Find the idea
We worked with the founders on who the cart is for, where it shows up and how it should feel, and wrote it down as one brand idea.
A small, happy pause - 02
Refine the logo
We refined the hand-lettered wordmark and the smiling cup: stroke weights, lid swirls, dots and highlights, so it holds up at every size.
One master logo - 03
Build the system
Dark Green and Warm Cream lead, Sunny Orange adds energy in small doses, and Bricolage Grotesque, DM Sans and Readex Pro carry the words.
6 colours, 3 typefaces - 04
Write the voice
A tagline, Your happy little stop., plus a personality and clear do and don't examples that anyone running the cart can follow.
One tagline, six traits - 05
Test it in the world
We put the brand on cups, bags, signs, uniforms, banners, social posts and an app icon, and checked contrast and small-size legibility.
26 mockups
Brand and design
A smile you can spot from across the court.
The logo is one hand-lettered drawing: the words LITTLE WEEKEND beside a cup with a smile, a lid, a straw and little lines of energy. Everything else in the system is there to let that smile do its job.
A smile at the centre
The smiling cup is the heart of the brand. It always stays upright, and no other food or drink icons crowd it.
Hand-lettered, never retyped
The wordmark is drawn, not typed, so it keeps its warmth. It is never redrawn, rearranged or set in a font.
Green and cream lead
Dark Green and Warm Cream carry the brand. Sunny Orange appears in small doses, for the moments that need energy.
The tagline stands alone
Your happy little stop. always appears as separate copy, on packaging, signs and sign-offs, never locked to the logo.
Brand colours
- Dark Green
#2C3C2CPrimary - Warm Cream
#E4CCB4Secondary - Sunny Orange
#F28C28Accent - Milk Foam
#FAF6EFLight neutral - Espresso
#201B17Dark neutral - White
#FFFFFFUtility
Type
- Your happy little stop.Headings: Bricolage Grotesque
- Iced Spanish latte, AED 19Body and menus: DM Sans
- قهوة ومعجناتArabic: Readex Pro
Where the brand shows up.
02 / 09
A first stop on campus.
The cart opens in a university courtyard: the smiling cup on the front, pastries on show and branded cups stacked and ready, in the same green and cream as every other stop.
03 / 09
Order here, collect there.
A clear menu board with prices in AED, a counter sign and a bright collection sign keep the queue moving at busy events.
04 / 09
The logo travels in every hand.
An iced latte, a green hot cup and a fresh orange juice each carry the smiling cup, so every drink takes the brand across the venue.
05 / 09
Pastries, packed with care.
Kraft and cream pastry bags and two takeaway boxes use the mark on its own, simple and easy to print in small runs.
06 / 09
Ready for the next booking.
Green and cream business cards help the founders follow up with the event organisers and venue managers they meet.
07 / 09
A team you can spot.
Dark Green T-shirts and polos carry the logo on the chest in Warm Cream, so guests know who to ask at a crowded event.
08 / 09
Seen from across the hall.
Roll-up banners in Dark Green and Warm Cream fit any stand, with the logo at eye level and a clear Order at the cart button.
09 / 09
Where to find the cart this week.
A nine-post grid mixes the logo, drinks, venue updates and the tagline, in English and Arabic, so the feed looks like one brand.
What changed.
One brand at every stop
The cart looks the same at a campus launch, a padel court or an exhibition, so people recognise it wherever it goes.
Ready to use
Logo files, app icons, a brand book and print-ready layouts mean the founders can order cups, signs and uniforms straight away.
Clear at every size
Colour pairs are checked for contrast, and a simplified icon keeps the smile clear down to 32 pixels.
Easy to keep consistent
The brand book shows correct and incorrect use, so anyone running the cart or making a post gets it right.