Maison Marou is a cafe, patisserie, and gourmet chocolate factory in Saigon, Vietnam. Maison Marou is an experimental space where the chocolatiers can tinker and create new kinds of chocolate bars, bon-bons, or pastries from local flavors on a weekly basis. For this reason, Rice Creative created a movable type system for the menu. Marou’s typeface is applied to chocolate-bar-shaped metal plates which can be arranged and re-arranged for menu wall as well as overhead signage. The letter forms are also molded into small rubber pieces which load into custom made stamps for labelling all packaging and printed matter. Rice Creative found in Marou’s own ‘Marou-mobile’ (a 1973 Vietnamese La Da Lat), an important symbol, which literally connects the cacao farms to the cafe. The illustrated car, often appears in the space and on packaging, tracing a line that the brand rides, between rugged and sophisticated. Uniforms at Maison Marou are inspired by the linen ‘jungle-shirts’ that the Marou founders wear out in the field. A flexible new set of brand elements play across the space. A rough illustration style expresses the rugged side of the brand, while a custom script draws inspiration from classic shop signage. The primary color palette bookends the well known spectrum of Marou’s origin-range chocolate bars. An additional green is sampled from the founders iconic ‘jungle shirts’, while Marou’s bright gold is an ever present accent. Finally, the logo itself simply puts a roof over the Marou brand. Maison Marou requires an ever changing range of packaging. A flexible system was developed to apply across a plethora of shapes and sizes. Fields of color are divided by a horizon line drawn behind the ‘Marou-mobile.’ This horizon line is also traced around the entire perimeter of the space. Beyond packaged goods, the space welcomes the brand to create merchandise. The design elements give an unlimited amount of playful possibilities in tandem with straightforward copywriting.