When I started Kake and Cupkakery or rather when they merged I was very much inspired by two programmes DC cupcakes which focused on a cupcake bakery called Georgetown cupcake https://www.georgetowncupcake.com/ the owners are sisters Katherine and Sophie who gave up their jobs and opened a cupcake shop, and have since gone on to open another 5 bakeries.
My other inspiration was Unique Sweets which I love and and has been featured in one of my earlier blog post.
This programme focused on American baking,unique sweet treats and bake shops across America.watch an episode here https://vimeo.com/38222903
When I started my focus and goal was to one day open my own bakery with the feel of an American bake shop with shops in the midlands, up north and down south, where I create all my celebration cakes as well as being open to sell coffee and cake. Think Cake boss, bakery downstairs workshop upstairs
Well if your going to dream dream big I say.
So when I think of my business I’m always thinking how this would translate into a bakery, even though currently my biz is primarily operating online http://www.kakeandcupkakery.co.uk which has great advantages and is working well I always imagined what it (a bakery) would look and feel like and me rebranding I very much have this in mind as that’s my ultimate dream/goal.
Yes I make cakes but I overall I just love to bake so even though I have a core focus of Cupcakes-celebration cakes-wedding cakes in my business I feel like I’m an all rounder as I do have a bit of a patisserie background so I’m always open to trying new ideas and exploring flavours that I feel are authentic and natural.
Every aspect before I started Kake and cupkakery was carefully considered just like any business and with the rebranding and how the business is operating my logo or rather brand has to represent everything I now do. I thought about my packaging and how it needed to be generic so that a man would feel comfortable carrying a box of cupcakes as well as a woman and in this I mean escaping anything to pink, swirly or overtly feminine, I’m not saying men can’t do pink but when thinking about what I wanted to do I had to break it down and be really clear who I wanted to cater for even though females are my primary market I just didn’t want to be too feminine so that’s why I opted for a generic plain kraft style box with no window but also have packaging I could dress up. I love the boxes and they’ll be staying how I can improve on presentation remains to be seen.
What I offer:
My flavours for my cupcakes I would describe as gutsy and unusual and I like to think a little unique I like to let the cake do the talking so for my current logo I stayed neutral and minimal because in the early stages I didn’t know where the business would lead, but now I know what I do and my customer base it needs to reflect that.
I create celebration cakes for all occasions catering for busy mums who want a special cake as well as those special birthdays and christening etc this is the fun element and a core part of my business.
Weddings is a market I need to get further established in but offering something a little different as there are many wonderful wedding cake designers whose cakes are beautifully executed so I have to think what I can offer that is different that I can bring to an already crowded market place.
And if you know me personally I’m a people person also a chatterbox and a little extroverted with a quirky sense of humor, I’m very expressive with my hands when I talk (true story)
So my brand has to represent all or most of the elements above as well as some of my personality.
So first meeting was a brand discovery meeting back in April which dug deeper into me and my business and elements of what I’ve discussed above, Nancy wants to bring into my branding and get it to represent the different things I do as well as my personality.
I was already working and focusing on certain aspects of the business because I had been working on a business planner Ive spoken about in previous post called Dream|Plan|Do by the Design trust http://www.thedesigntrust.co.uk/ and is one of the reason for the brand refresh as it really makes me think about what I’m doing.
So back to the brand discovery meeting,some of the questions Nancy wanted to know were:
- Who my customers are- I used analytics from my social media to determine who interacts and responds to my pages especially with boosted post and adverts plus who I sell too.
- What do I do? – artisan cupcakes, celebration cakes a few wedding cakes, and recently a macaron or two.
- Words I use to describe my business- authentic, quirky, unique, approachable etc…
- Who I want to attract- More customers who like artisan products
- Business I admire and why- kute cake,crumbs and doilies, Lilly vanilli, Apple, Georgetown cupcake,
- Design styles I like- I used Pinterest to help me
- What my packaging is like- kraft brown boxes which me and my customers love and I will be keeping.
So Nancy went away and looked at all the information I gave and sent to her and she in turn sent me a mood board which is based on some visuals I sent to her as well as our conversations.
She is so collaborative and really wants to know what I like and dont like and unlike previous times where I’ve had a logo design there are loads of questions and suggestions been made that I’ve never thought of, and I really appreciate her expertise and creativity of thinking outside the box.
The images below are a combination of looks and colours sent to me to get my response. Its been a mixture of feeling overwhelmed, excited and wow.
We also went through a Pinterest board I created (feel free to have nose, the board is called Brand refresh) and went through aspects of design I liked and didn’t like so I can see she is building up a picture about me and Kake and Cupkakery
This is not the final look but was just to judge my reaction to colour which is a huge leap from my muted monochrome look.
There is still work to be done on:
- Colour palette
- Logo
- Typography
- Pattern
So the next stage will be to see some colour palettes as well as a logo design.
I’m absolutely loving this process and while this is happening I’ll be tweaking everything else such as website,looking at my price point and product offering.
It’s all very exciting and that’s why I want to share this process with you through my blog post.
Next update coming soon
Adventures in Kakeland 