Hàng Ba Cafe

Southern Vietnamese architecture as the baseline

In culturally rooted identity projects, there is always an urge to reach for the cultural shorthand that reads fastest. So for us, the real challenge was stepping into a space that already existed, excavating the traces of life it had accumulated, and building an identity from what was already there.

Located in Southern Vietnam, Hàng Ba inherits an architectural language shaped by warm wooden interiors, meticulously tiled floors, and sunlit open courtyards. These became our source material to build a world that breathes life and feels deeply local.

Lái Thiêu Ceramics, a vessel of Southern collective memory

Among the vases and kilns present emerged something that eventually became an anchor for our visual identity: Lái Thiêu Ceramics.

During their golden age, Lái Thiêu ceramics found a place in almost every Southern household, from living rooms and gardens to ancestral altars. They were less an object of decoration than an ever-present fixture in everyday life. That familiarity made them a vessel of Southern collective memory, and the foundation upon which the Hàng Ba identity was built.

The almost child-like curves of the ceramics, their imperfect edges, hand-painted motifs, and simple depictions of life gave us a visual vocabulary to build from. The principle was simplicity, and by that we mean seeing the birds and the sky, the trees and the forest. We paid attention to the ordinary forms that have carried memory for generations, and allowed them to become visible again through the brand. 

Extending architecture into identity

While its forms are informed by the proportions and spatial rhythm of old Southern Vietnamese architecture, the linework of Hàng Ba's designs borrows the expressive, hand-painted quality of Lái Thiêu ceramics.

The imperfect curves and subtle irregularity of the artisan's hand give each motif its warmth and character. Together, they allow the identity to carry both the spatial memory of the place and the human touch embedded in its material space.

Maintaining the dual spirit of Hàng Ba across touchpoints

And this is where the branding work really begins. A cultural idea can sound convincing in a brand book, yet lose its meaning once it reaches the actual touchpoints of a business. So we worked to keep the source visible.

We made sure the idea survives its journey from inspiration into application, carrying something of its original character – whether on a cup, a menu, a uniform, a bag, a sign, or somewhere else entirely.

Each touchpoint extends the idea of distillation: preserving cultural details, local materials and spatial memories, then refining them into a contemporary brand experience.

Together, these applications allow Hàng Ba to be a brand that pays homage by carrying a place forward, allowing the memory already held within Hàng Ba to continue living through everything the café becomes.