Shaping a café that feels at home in Manchester’s ‘New Berlin’.
Most modern coffee shops fall into the same trap: sterile interiors, safe branding, and a copy-paste aesthetic. They offer a place to sit, but rarely a reason to stay. In a creative hub like Stockport’s Underbanks, playing it safe just doesn't cut it.
The mission for Convene was to create a visual identity and brand that balances high-end quality with a warm, community soul. From the core design system to the digital content, I helped a new local icon find its voice.
Identity & Experience Curation
In daytime hospitality, there is often a disconnect between the brand promise and the physical reality. At Convene, I ensured that the identity isn’t just a layer of paint, but instead was the strategic foundation to every aspect of the company. I developed a typography-led design system that reshaped inspiration from the cafes of Berlin and Copenhagen in a way that made sense within the context of Stockport’s Underbanks. A clean, high-conviction aesthetic throughout.
This vision informed the entire environment. Working alongside local architects, I provided creative oversight on the floorplan and interior finishes to ensure the spatial design lived up to the vision for the cafe. I engineered staff workplaces for commercial efficiency without compromising customer-facing aesthetic.
From the design of commercially printed menus to the curation of staff apparel, every detail was executed to function as a cohesive engine for brand equity and long-term customer loyalty.
Social Media & Marketing
In a saturated social landscape, high-growth social strategies often fail by overwhelming the business they are meant to support. For Convene, I shaped and executed an organic launch strategy that scaled the cafe from 0 to 4,000 followers within a month, with zero paid media spend during the period.
Convene’s growth wasn’t a simple volume play; it was an exercise in strategic restraint. I implemented a staggered touchpoint model, purposefully delaying mass-exposure channels like Manchester’s Finest in favor of niche, hospitality-focused creators. This allowed us to cultivate "cool" credibility while ensuring operational capacity kept pace with demand. To sustain this growth, I developed a 12-month roadmap of content series, handling the end-to-end execution—from conceptualisation and design to recording and post-production. By controlling the cadence and quality of the brand’s output, I ensured the digital presence remained as high-conviction as the physical space.
Strategic Evolution of Convene
Successful commercial brands don’t just launch and call it a day. They constantly iterate.
At Convene, my role moved from visual creator to long-term strategic partner. I continue to provide high-level oversight across financials, creative partnerships, and creative operations, ensuring that the commercial operations of the brand, which launched as a daytime cafe with the intention of moving towards private events, evening service and more, remain premium.
As the business scales, I continue to lead its evolution. I developed a flexible framework for expansion, designing everything from bespoke packaging for house-made produce, to event identities and limited-run merch for staff and customers.
By bridging the gap between high-level creative and ground-level operations, I’ve ensured that Convene isn't just a one-off opening, but a future-proofed brand capable of diversifying its revenue and deepening its market share.
Client: Convene SK Ltd
Publication date: 2025-26
Role: Creative & Operations Lead