Entirely drawn by me
Started as coursework
2022, but my retirement goal
Ten pastries with faces
Every box, cup and bag
Entirely drawn by me
Started as coursework
2022, but my retirement goal
Ten pastries with faces
Every box, cup and bag
Entirely drawn by me
Started as coursework
2022, but my retirement goal
Ten pastries with faces
Every box, cup and bag
Entirely drawn by me
Started as coursework
2022, but my retirement goal
Ten pastries with faces
Every box, cup and bag
Ingredients
A bakery that is my retirement plan, built like it exists today.
Started as an academic study turned into a long-term passion project. When the time comes to let go of the office grind, I shall start humblepie.
The academic brief: take a new brand into a crowded market, differentiate it with the existing players.
I picked a bakery, because I love baking and who doesn't like a pie?
Makes one bakery
serves everyone
a dash
name, inspired from an idiom
a cup
brand identity with custom typeface
a handful
mascots, the more the merrier
a batch
of what i love to bake
a sprinkle
bits of packaging
a pinch
of marketing
2022
brand, illustration, packaging, UI/UX
all by me
Prep work
A slice of cake should not be gatekept behind a massive paywall.
In India, bakeries with good food usually come as a luxury experience.
From the storefront, to the ambience to the packaging - all of it is created and marketed to the well-off.
The food may be exactly the same as a corner-store bakery, but the appearance is FOMO-inducing and the pricing is definitely eye-gouging.
Prep work
Every fancy bakery follows the same recipe.
Dark, brown everything
Gold lighting, dark green ambience.
Might have walked into a palace?
Serif or script logos
The type borrowed from luxury brands.
The store inspired by LV's facade.
A privilege to have
Served hot if you can afford it.
A "one day I will go inside" if you cannot.
Prep work
So, eat a humble pie.
The name works twice.
↑ pie, because pies come first
Humble, as in price
modest
down to earth
open to everyone
A bakery anyone can walk into, without the good stuff costing a week’s groceries.
Humble, as in attitude
eat humble pie
drop the pride
drop the assumptions
Don’t crumble with pride. Not every bakery has to be luxurious, some should be humble.
Proofing
You're as good as your values,
the name doesn't lie
The brainstorm to bring humblepie to life. The values I hold dear reflected in to what I would like it to look.
became a look decision
pies
cakes
desserts
pastries
bakery
personal touch
love and care
attention to detail
high-quality products
passion
happiness
modesty
down-to-earth
affordable
not luxurious
casual look
accessible
mass appeal
attractive
bright colour palette
shade of pink/red
legibility
sans-serif typeface
informal
humanist typeface
Oven
A custom type,
stretched like dough.
The logotype had to carry the brand’s values: friendly, approachable, a casual place to hang out with friends.
ascender
x-height
baseline
descender
stretching
Pulled tall, the way
dough is stretched
in baking.
rounded corners
Soft edges make
it feel friendly.
easier to read
A large x-height stays bold and legible at any size.
Oven
The classic, from above.
The mark is the lattice on a good old apple pie, the first thing anyone pictures when you say pie.
inspired by the classic
stretching
Each strip flares at the ends, like dough pulled to weave a lattice.
rounded corners
Every cut is softened, to match the type.
Icing
Bright, not brown.
Most bakeries lean on browns, greens and neutrals. Humblepie picked four colours, each after a feeling.
happiness
& wellness
In many cultures a light red means happiness. A fresh pie can bring that to the saddest face.
cherry red
#F16371
Pantone 709 C
C0 M77 Y43 K0
calmness
& tranquillity
The calm, comforting feeling after something delicious.
comforting blue
#201850
Pantone 273 C
C99 M100 Y30 K39
euphoria
& relief
The sugar rush after way too many muffins.
calm purple
#B4B2D9
Pantone 270 C
C28 M27 Y0 K0
plain white
#FFFFFF
Pantone 000 C
C0 M0 Y0 K0
Icing
The menu is a star-studded cast.
The menu doesn't have to be boring. They are the soul and the stars, doing their own little thing. Simple shapes, so they read at any size.
Taste test
A brand is a product other people run.
A child lost in pies, a baker in a rush, someone across the road. Humblepie has to work for all of them, on good days and bad, without me in the room.
01 · Context
Loud in public.
Quiet at home.
Each piece is seen by a different person, in a different place. The more public it is, the louder the brand gets. In private, it lowers its voice.
02 · States
Bad news gets a face too.
One of the first mascot rules: not every mascot is happy. That turns out to be how the shop delivers bad news without sounding like a notice board.
The happy path. The window shouts the tagline.
03 · Real world
Real life pushed back.
Printers, prices and new menus each tested the system. Every push left a rule behind.
Every order is a different size.
Five sizes, one kit.
The box changes; the name, the mark and the cast don’t.
Screen
CMYK proof
Pantone 709 C
Screen red printed dull.
Spec the ink, not the pixel.
Nobody eats a milkshake.
Leave a slot in the tagline.
Let it go with the flow.
Not everything fits in a box.
Bread and doughnuts go in white paper bags.
The cast still comes along.
The payoff
Out of the oven and onto everything.
Bags, cups, boxes, menus and cards, all carrying the same lattice, the same colours and a cast of characters who never sit still.
reach out
Always up for a good conversation about products, brands, or an idea that needs making. Based in Bengaluru.