Noticed a pattern at a local coffee shop that changed how I organize layers

I was at Brew and Bind in Portland last Saturday and saw the barista had this super simple system for their drink tickets. They used colored tabs for each step like espresso, milk, and syrup. It hit me that I could do the same in my design files by color coding my layer groups by function instead of by page section. Has anyone else tried organizing layers by workflow steps instead of by visual order?

2 comments

2 Comments

stellag2115d ago

That workflow idea sounds smart. Did you use a specific color for each drink type too?

the_gray15d ago

And the real trick is matching the color to the drink's vibe, not just the ingredient. Like, for a bright green matcha latte you'd want a light pastel green, but @stellag21 if you're doing a brown sugar oat latte, a warm tan or even a muted orange works way better than just brown. I learned that the hard way when I tried to use a generic "coffee" brown for everything and it just looked muddy on the schedule. The color coding only helps if you can actually tell them apart at a glance, especially when you're in the middle of a rush.