Custom T-Shirts for Café Laata
When Café Laata reached out to Unmatched Graphics, their vision was clear: they wanted something that wasn’t just wearable, but meaningful. As a café rooted in the heart of Dehradun, Café Laata has always celebrated local culture, community, and the calm spirit of the mountains. For their merchandise line, they commissioned us to create five custom t-shirt designs, each reflecting a unique side of Dehradun. This wasn’t just another clothing design project—it was a chance to illustrate the soul of a city we love.
Café Laata is more than just a hangout spot. It’s where creativity brews with coffee, where stories are exchanged over Himalayan tea, and where the young and old connect over shared love for the hills. As part of their brand expansion, they decided to launch a merchandise series that would represent the essence of Dehradun and the lifestyle it fosters. We were given full creative control, with just one simple brief: “Make every t-shirt a postcard of Dehradun.”
We broke down Dehradun into five moods—five micro-stories, each capturing a different emotion, setting, or memory attached to the city: - Forest Trails & Rainy Tales A design inspired by the misty monsoons, pine trees, and forest walks that define Dehradun’s outer fringes. Illustrated in deep greens with soft line art, this shirt gives off calm, poetic vibes. - Clock Tower Nostalgia Featuring a minimal yet bold take on the iconic Ghanta Ghar (Clock Tower), this piece celebrates the heart of old Dehradun with a vintage twist. - Momos, Maggi & Mountains A fun, quirky take on the everyday street food experience—perfectly messy, undeniably Doon. This was the crowd-favorite with playful icons and layered typography. - Sunset From Mussoorie Road A more scenic, dreamy design featuring gradients and silhouettes that mimic the golden hour view on the Dehradun–Mussoorie drive. Soft hues, fading light, and a touch of magic. The Laata Life Inspired directly by the café’s own energy—carefree, raw, and full of local lingo. We integrated hand-drawn doodles, Dehradun slang, and a chilled-out vibe into this one-of-a-kind shirt.
We kept the designs minimal yet emotionally rich, using a blend of custom illustrations, muted color palettes, and unique typefaces. Each design was carefully crafted to work across different t-shirt base colors, maintaining both print clarity and style. Café Laata appreciated our attention to detail—from stroke thicknesses to how the folds of the shirt would affect print visibility. We created mockups for each design and provided a full handover kit with color codes, scalable vector files, and merchandise usage guides.
The designs were a hit not only with the Café Laata team but also with their customers. The t-shirts quickly became conversation starters, souvenirs, and even gifts for travelers passing through Doon. At Unmatched Graphics, we don’t just design clothes—we wear stories. This project let us showcase how design can become an emotional souvenir, capturing a city not in photos but in fabric.
