Dark Necessity
Dark Necessity is a cozy, art-forward café designed as a unified experience system. I led the end-to-end product design—from brand foundation and mobile-first UX to the physical touch-points, so the website, voice, and space all tell the same story: Coffee. Art. Community.
From Flow to Framework
Texture Becomes Interface
Designing from the Inside Out
Project Details
-
Role: Principal Product Designer & Founder
-
Year: 2025
-
Team: Solo design lead; collaborators for fabrication, roasting, photography
-
Platform: V0 (prototype), Figma (system), lightweight CMS
-
Focus: Mobile-first UX, brand system, physical-digital cohesion
Why I Cared
I wanted to prove that a café can be designed like a product, where every decision, from typography to table height, shapes a repeatable ritual. The goal was to create a place that
already feels familiar when you first walk in, and a site that feels like the room you’re about to enter.
Research Approach
• Field walkthroughs of comparable cafés to observe flow, seating behaviors, and dwell time.
• Competitive review of café websites with a mobile-first lens (navigation clarity, menu legibility, load speed).
• Informal interviews with neighbors, artists, and café-goers about what makes a space feel ‘yours’.
• Constraints mapping: small footprint, reclaimed materials, easy content updates without devs.
• Content architecture testing to prioritize the first scroll: Menu, Events, Visit Us.
Personas + JTBD
The Neighbor — Regular seeking warmth, speed, and predictability. Needs quick access to hours and menu.
The Creative — Local artist wanting to showcase work or attend events. Needs easy submission and RSVP flows.
The Remote — Student/worker seeking a welcoming nook. Needs ambient seating, coffee, and Wi-Fi basics.
Brand Style Guide
Pillars → UX:
Reclaimed & Real → textured UI
Local Art → submissions & gallery
Slow & Intentional → clear hierarchy
Warm & Grounded → neutral tones & microinteractionsTypography:
Serif headlines, clean sans body
Palette:
Off-white, charcoal, warm wood, olive green (accessible contrast)
Components:
Menu cards (no PDFs), event tiles with RSVP, artist spotlight, Visit Us block with open/closed logic
Voice:
Friendly, grounded, concise; CTAs that invite, not shout (‘See What’s Brewing’, 'Submit your art')
Physical Space
The space was designed with the same UX mindset: reclaimed church bench for community seating, vintage file cabinets as the counter base, plants, and exposed brick for warmth and rhythm. Sightlines guide newcomers to the counter; zones support both lingerers and quick visits. These material choices informed the website's textures and tone.
Reflection
Can a space feel like a product? Can UX shape how a latte tastes? Dark Necessities proves yes. The same design logic governed the brand, the site, and the room—so the first scroll and the first sip feel like one continuous experience.
Launch impact:
-
We are opening doors and pushing the site live together in late November 2025 - Intentionally aligning the physical and digital rollouts to reinforce one experience system.
-
Anticipated Impact: Community Engagement - Increase in local artist participation and RSVPs for events. Customer clarity - Faster access to menu and hours compared to PDF based competitors. Brand differentiation - Positioning dark necessity as not just another cafe but a platform for art and connection.
I designed more than a cafe or a website - a unified product. Early interest and engagement from local artists and community members already validate the concept.
The Impact will be measured not just in sales but in the rituals it enables: daily coffee, shared art, and a space that feels like home.