When we began First Press Coffee, we weren’t just trying to make coffee. We were trying to build a brand that felt real to us and reflected what we care about. The elk logo became a big part of that story.

At the time, we had three values that summed up what we were chasing: Freedom, Vitality and Strength.

Freedom was the big one. It was the reason we started a business in the first place. We wanted to work for ourselves, make our own decisions and live life on our own terms.

Vitality came from the product. Our cold drip coffee was (and still is) a cleaner, healthier way to enjoy your daily brew. No sugar, no preservatives, just pure, strong coffee that fuels your day.

And Strength. That one speaks for itself. Our coffee is strong and it gives you strength. Simple as that.

When it came time to design a logo, we wanted something that truly represented what we stood for. Not just another cup of coffee or a pile of beans. One night, after a few wines, we jumped onto a site called 99 Designs, a platform where designers compete on your brief for a prize. Ours was $800, about 20% of our available capital at the time.

We sat there waiting for the designs to roll in, excited to see what people would come up with. But when the entries started arriving, they were all wrong. Coffee cups, steam, beans. It was like no one had even read the brief. None of it captured who we were or what we were about.

So we decided to take a different approach. Maybe an animal could represent our brand. Something symbolic and memorable. We wanted something that would stick and didn’t scream “coffee brand” at first glance.

We plugged our values into an animal symbolism website. The result came back: Elk.

We looked at each other and straight away thought, that’s it. The elk had everything we wanted to represent. It was strong, free and full of life, just like what we wanted our customers to feel with every bottle of First Press Coffee.

We sent the designers in that direction and that’s when the ideas started to click. The elk became our mark, a symbol of what we believed in and what we were building.

Fast forward to today and we’ve grown a lot since then. The brand has evolved and so have we. We’re exploring new and more adventurous directions in ready to drink coffee and we feel it’s time for our elk to evolve too.

We’ll always have a deep connection to that original symbol. It’s part of who we are. But as we keep growing and branching out, we’re ready to give the elk a new life. One that reflects the next chapter of First Press Coffee.

Stay tuned, something exciting is coming.