Building the Visual Identity of AIM Café in Riyadh
The real test of any visual identity is not the day it launches, but years into operation: has it remained in use as designed, and has the brand become recognisable from a single element? The identity of AIM café in Riyadh was built in 2022 and remains the brand’s identity in use today.
Brand Identity · 2022Context
A new café in a crowded market. In 2022 Riyadh saw a wide wave of specialty café openings, and many of their visual identities converged: earthy tones, thin Latin typefaces, and the same specialty-coffee vocabulary. What was needed was a brand recognisable from a distance that would keep its presence over time, not an identity following the trends of its season.
The idea
The name AIM means the goal, and the brand line is Your aim is a step away. From this meaning the identity was built on a single idea: the café is a short stop on people’s way to their goals, not a destination in itself. The logo was designed with solid, steady letters, and the dot inside the A became the symbol of the target, then a pattern repeated across every surface of the brand.
Fewest elements, highest recognisability
The most important identity decisions were about what was left out: a single colour, a calm green alongside black, no ornament, and minimal text on packaging. The green cup with the black logo became one of the brand’s most prominent marketing tools, because it is recognised in the hand of whoever carries it, from a distance, without reading a single word.
Illustration: the dream of adventure
To balance the rigour of the identity, a human layer was added: line illustrations of people climbing, jumping and raising a flag on a summit. Not a decorative element, but a visual translation of the idea of the goal itself, giving the brand a consistent voice across social platforms, menus and the walls of the space.
The space as part of the identity
The identity extended into the architecture: a white façade with a rough texture, a prominent logo, and a light interior holding the green on a single long table. The visitor sees in the space the same identity seen on the cup, and this consistency is what fixes the brand in memory.
Three years on
The result that matters to a brand owner is not a design award, but an identity that stays in use and serves a growing business. The café operates in Riyadh today with the same identity launched in 2022, and with a high public rating from hundreds of reviews.
Source: Google Maps and the café’s Instagram account, October 2026.
Open the location in Google Maps · The café’s account
What this means for your brand
An identity that holds for three years in operation is not a coincidence, but the result of one clear idea preceding any drawing, and the discipline to exclude whatever does not serve it. If you are founding a new business or rebuilding an existing identity, this is what the “Concept Building” package delivers: defining the idea that will carry every element, then building the identity on it rather than around it. If your brand already exists and you want to know whether its identity needs rebuilding or a limited adjustment, the first step is a brand diagnosis.
Idea and creative direction of this identity in 2022, from the concept to its applications, through House of Idea: Mohammed Alhasoon. Execution was the work of a team of designers, photographers and architects, and this page presents the thinking that brought their work together into a single brand.
Founding a business or rebuilding an existing identity?Start with a free 10-minute call to determine whether the right step is Concept Building or a diagnosis.
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