Bringing Icelandic cuisine directly to Kalamazoo, Askja Rim (ahsk-ya, translation: Caldera Rim) is a cozy coffee house that capitalizes on Iceland’s beautiful volcanic landscape, cross-stitch embroidery, and foods meant to keep warm in the harsh winter.
Iceland has a rich history of embroidery and cross-stitching, so I wanted to highlight that through the geometry of my design. I got stuck early on; the side view of the volcano felt cliché (and quite frankly, Japanese...) — until I considered what a volcano might look like from a bird’s eye view. I leaned entirely into the hot, volcanic direction with a warm color scheme, also echoing the warm atmosphere of coffee.
Being assigned a “counter-service” restaurant for this project, I juggled the aesthetic line of approachability & comfortability while recognizing that cafés are typically nicer than other restaurant types in this category.