Create and Design brand identity and Logo for DRIFT Cafe

Context Matters: DRIFT and the Wild North Ethos

DRIFT Café sits in Cresswell, Northumberland, a raw stretch of coast where wind, light, and landscape do most of the talking. It’s not a place that needs visual noise or nostalgia-for-nostalgia’s-sake branding. It needs honesty, space to breathe, and room to evolve.

The Final Design:

Importantly, DRIFT isn’t a standalone business. It lives under the Wild North umbrella — the parent brand created by Matt Bishop and Reece Gilkes, better known to many as The Sidecar Guys, founders of the Armchair Adventure Festival, and long-time advocates of authentic, community-led adventure culture.

I’d already designed the Wild North brand identity, so DRIFT needed to feel connected — not copied, not diluted — but clearly part of the same family.

That relationship shaped every decision that followed.

The Brief (Unspoken but Clear)

Like many good projects, this one didn’t begin with a formal brief (although most do). It began with a WhatsApp message:

Translation: We’re moving fast. We need something solid, usable, and future-proof — and we trust you to help us not screw it up.

The practical requirements came quickly:

• A logo that works on basic staff T-shirts

• Something simple, flexible, and recognisable

• No retro clichés, no tired seaside tropes

• Easy to roll out across print, signage, socials, and merch

• Able to evolve gently without shocking the existing vibe

And, crucially, it needed to sit comfortably beside Wild North, not compete with it.

Design Thinking: Less Literal, More Lasting

Early on, I was clear about one thing:

I deliberately avoided anything literal — no waves, no mugs, no anchors. Literal graphics age fast. Abstract forms, when done right, last.

The DRIFT mark was designed to:

• Feel coastal without being illustrative

• Be modern but not trendy

• Work in one colour just as confidently as in full colour

• Scale cleanly from Instagram icons to exterior signage

Colour was treated carefully. No forced “heritage café yellow”. No default navy blue nostalgia. Instead, soft, modern coastal tones — colours that feel like air, sand, overcast skies — with black-and-white versions doing the heavy lifting when clarity mattered most (which, as Matt freely admitted, suited his “boring black and white man” tendencies perfectly).

Structure & Usability: Designing for the Real World

One of the most important decisions wasn’t aesthetic — it was structural.

We explored stacked and separated layouts:

• Symbol + text locked together

• Symbol free, text below

• Location used as optional supporting text rather than a fixed element

My preference leaned toward separation. Not because it looks clever, but because it gives the brand freedom:

• The symbol can live alone

• The wordmark can stand independently

• Both can adapt as the café grows without redesigning everything from scratch

That flexibility matters when brands leave the screen and enter the real world — embroidery, signage, contracts, merch, menus, packaging.

Design that looks great but fails in use isn’t good design. It’s decoration.

The Approval Moment: Gentle Confidence

When Matt came back with:

—that was the signal the design had done its job.

No drama. No ego. No need to shout.

Just confidence that it fits — and that it can grow with the business rather than box it in.

Seeing the DRIFT logo alongside Wild North was the final confirmation. The shared DNA was there: restraint, clarity, confidence. Different voices, same values.

Below is a copy of one of the 16 pages from the 'Brand Book' which I supply to each brand client, providing guidelines and a clear methodology on how the logo in it's many forms should be best used to ensure brand consistency. This page also details the carefully chosen proportions of the logo and the amount of space around the logo that should be used for logo placement.

Why This Project Worked

This wasn’t about trends or designer ego. It worked because:

• There was trust

• There was conversation

• There was a shared respect for longevity over novelty

• And everyone involved understood that branding is a tool, not a trophy

DRIFT Café didn’t need a loud identity. It needed an honest one.

That’s always the hardest thing to design — and the most rewarding when you get it right.

Thanks for reading.

Simon ThomasFounder, Nomad Graphics - Co-founder, 2 Ride The World

Designing brands for people who value substance over noise — and stories that last longer than trends.

If you need a rebrand or would like to get in touch for any graphics or design work, please drop me a line. Phone: 07534 692684 or email at simon@nomad-graphics.com