A Heritage Brew | How VAAN Transformed Graffeo’s Digital Storytelling
Graffeo Coffee Roasting Company has been a San Francisco institution since 1935, a family-run business rooted in Italian tradition. Known as one of North America’s oldest artisan coffee brands, Graffeo built its reputation on a unique roasting process passed down through generations. Their tagline, “Simply the World’s Finest Coffee,” speaks not just to the quality of their beans but to the legacy of craftsmanship they’ve cultivated for nearly a century.
The Challenge: Breathing New Life into a Storied Legacy
As Graffeo’s influence grew and partnerships expanded, their website became a roadblock to their brand’s evolution. Outdated and uninspiring, it failed to capture the essence of their heritage or the artisanal care that defines their brand. When Graffeo partnered with VAAN, their goal was to reflect Graffeo’s deep connection to San Francisco and its legacy of excellence, all while moving away from a traditional ecommerce approach in favor of a storytelling-driven design.
VAAN tackled our deceptively tough challenge: build a sleek, updated site that still felt homegrown. VAAN "dialed in" our vision and brought it to life with skill and subtlety.
Honoring Heritage
The heart of Graffeo’s identity lies in its legacy. For nearly 90 years, the brand has been a cornerstone of San Francisco’s coffee culture, known for its handcrafted approach and deep connection to the city. When VAAN took on the project, we knew that the design had to center on this story—an homage to their heritage while appealing to the sensibilities of today’s coffee connoisseurs.
“Graffeo is unique in their history, processes, and sensibilities. We brought this across on the site by creating a design that felt elevated but not pretentious, modern and usable but also had a nod back to their history without being gimmicky, all while staying true to their principles of simplicity.”
To bring this vision to life, we drew inspiration from Graffeo’s history. Influenced by Bauhaus and Art Deco aesthetics, the design incorporated bold yet simple typography, ample whitespace, and vintage photography that captured the spirit of 1930s San Francisco. Every detail—from the textured backgrounds reminiscent of craft paper to serif fonts evoking a handcrafted feel—was carefully chosen to reflect Graffeo’s artisanal and heritage-driven identity.
Editorial Over Ecommerce: A Narrative-Driven Design
The site’s design centers on Graffeo’s story. Rather than leaning into traditional ecommerce conventions, the new site embraced an editorial-first approach. Visitors are welcomed with a custom video on the homepage, showcasing Graffeo’s traditional roasting process and its deep ties to San Francisco’s vibrant coffee culture. Vintage photographs, including snapshots of Graffeo’s original San Francisco location, deepen the narrative, while the Visit Us page replaces a typical contact form with a video celebrating the city’s brewing traditions, further connecting Graffeo to its roots.
Design elements—like handwritten fonts and premium textured details—help mirror the quality of Graffeo’s coffee. The result is a site that feels less like a store and more like a beautifully crafted coffee table book, inviting visitors to explore the artistry behind every cup of Graffeo coffee.
Efficiency Meets Creativity
While the design celebrated tradition, the process behind it was driven by innovation. The Graffeo redesign marked the first use of VAANGO, our custom component library. VAANGO allowed us to build reusable modules that streamlined both design and development, speeding up the timeline while maintaining a bespoke feel.
Figma Variables further enhanced consistency across the site, ensuring typography, spacing, and other elements aligned with Graffeo’s branding. By combining these tools with a structured feedback process, we were able to deliver a site that balanced UX best practices with the uniqueness Graffeo required—all within a tight four-to-five-month schedule.
Results
Customers weren't just browsing; they were buying. The Add to Cart rate was 19.6%, showing that visitors were highly engaged and eager to purchase.
The ultimate measure of success, the Conversion Rate, reached 11.3%. More visitors than ever before were becoming loyal Graffeo customers, drawn in by the brand's story and motivated to experience the "Simply the world’s finest coffee" for themselves.
The data told a compelling story of overall conversion funnel health with 61% of those who began checkout ultimately converted. This meant the site wasn't just attracting visitors; it was effectively moving them through the purchase journey. The new Graffeo website proved that a focus on heritage, storytelling, and user experience can not only honor a brand's past but also pave the way for a prosperous future.
“Working with VAAN was a joy. They’re both remarkably organized and responsive to creative explorations. Even with an aggressive timeline, they delivered on schedule and within budget. Their creative instincts run deep, as does their cultural sensitivity, backed by significant technical and e-commerce expertise. They know how to use all sides of their brains.”
Celebrating a Timeless Legacy
Graffeo’s new website is now a digital tribute to a brand that has spent nearly a century perfecting its craft. By blending traditional elements with modern design sensibilities, VAAN created a site that is as refined and enduring as Graffeo’s coffee itself.
Visitors can now experience Graffeo’s rich legacy through a visually stunning and narratively rich platform that honors their past while embracing the future. The before-and-after comparison proves that even the oldest brands can find new ways to tell their stories in the digital age.
