Crafting a brand that follows the cycles of nature

Client

Okells

Location

Cheshire

Discipline

Brand

Signage

Sectors

Built Environment

Food & Drink

Retail & Leisure

Aerial view of an allotment garden with rectangular planted beds separated by intersecting paved paths and mixed shrubs

For Okells, everything returns to nature’s quiet cycles. We worked closely with their team to create a brand identity that captures this ethos, centred on a bold circular mark.

This mark reflects the ‘O’ of Okells, the cycles in seasons, plants, water, and nature, and the roundness found in seeds and blooms. A deliberately minimal and neutral colour palette is designed to showcase the vibrant colours of plants, products, and produce.

The result is an identity that feels effortless and human. Thats is designed to sit gently within its surroundings.

Person mostly obscured by a large potted peace lily with glossy green leaves and white spathes, held in front of a white tiled wall.

Icons that catch the eye

Clear and considered, the roadside signs feature simple icons shaped with the same rounded forms and clean lines as the Okells logo. They communicate the three core offerings: plants and garden, gifts and home, coffee and kitchen. The charcoal palette and minimal design ensure they’re easy to spot for passing drivers.

Design in the details

We extended the identity across a range of touchpoints, from product tags and gift cards to staff uniforms and tote bags. Using uncoated, recycled papers and clean typography, these pieces were designed to sit naturally within the different spaces, complementing rather than competing with the vibrant greenery around them.

Tall black sign featuring a large white O above the word OKELLS and Garden Home Coffee, hedge in the foreground.

Brown folded card standing on a grey stone surface printed with a large black O and the text OKELLS Garden & Home.

Three line-icon circles side-by-side on a white background: a house with gift box labelled Gifts and Home, a coffee cup with fork and knife labelled Coffee and Kitchen, and potted plants labelled Plants and Garden.

Three photos side-by-side inside an Okells garden centre: staff in Okells polo shirts among plants and flowers, and a staff member at a till point serving a customer.

Breathing life into Hoole

When Okells opened their second site in Hoole, they took over a former Co-op building in need of restoration. The renovation has brought this 100-year-old space back to life, giving it a new chapter as a neighbourhood garden centre. The result is a welcoming space that feels part of the community and full of character.

Red-brick building with large white OKELLS sign on the gable, dark metal gate and a cyclist riding past on the street.

Brick gable wall with large white painted letters reading OKELLS diagonally across it, blue sky and a gutter at the right.

Three photos side-by-side: the red brick exterior of the Okells shop on Walker Street, a close-up of the 33-35 Walker St signage, and staff in Okells t-shirts serving food inside the cafe.

Walled courtyard garden with raised planters, mixed flowering plants, outdoor seating and a small olive tree.

Dark green storefront labelled OKELLS with a man entering through double doors and a bicycle parked outside.

Two overlapping photos of the same corner building: a modern colour photo of the Okells shopfront, and a vintage sepia photograph of the original Chester Cooperative Society building with staff in aprons standing outside.

Heritage

Okells Hoole is housed in the old Co-operative shop, built in 1906. A beautiful building with many original features and great scale. There’s a pleasing poetry in transforming a space that sold groceries, meat, and household goods a century ago into one that now offers plants, coffee, and gifts.

Two overlapping construction photos showing the Okells shop renovation: painted OK lettering being added to a brick gable wall, and a workman on a ladder repainting the shopfront below.

Signwriting with soul

For the Hoole site, we worked with signwriter Harry to hand-paint the exterior fascia and gable wall. This traditional approach was chosen to suit the age of the building and to avoid any overly modern interventions. The result feels sensitive to the building’s history and adds a quiet craft detail to the streetscape.