Studies show that people form opinions about companies within the first few seconds of their interactions with them. As the “face” of your bakery, your logo is a major part of that important first impression, so it’s vital to create a design that conveys the right message.
Your logo appears on every product associated with your company, so it should be unique and instantly recognizable. It should also serve as the basic unit of your larger brand identity and give rise to your bakery’s colors, fonts, and design standards. At first, that may sound like an impossibly large feat for such a small design, but when you break down the various elements that comprise a logo, it starts to make a little more sense.
Here are some examples of how bakers across the country chose the fonts, shapes, colors, and overall look and feel for their bakeries’ logos:
Polkadot Cupcake Shop
Hoboken, NJ
“I wanted my logo to be fun yet sophisticated—to say, ‘We can do your child’s party,’ as well as, ‘I can cater your wedding.’ The warm grey and light pink colors evoked those feelings, and I chose the font for the fluidity of the letters. I also liked how the two fonts complimented each other. Polkadot was mainly a cupcake shop when it opened, so I wanted a cupcake in my logo, too. I chose the round bubbly circle to help the cupcake stand out, and because it looks a little like the bird’s eye view of a pie. I used two designers during the design process. A business’ logo is its first impression, so working with a design team you’re comfortable with and being happy with your branding is really important!”
-Arlene Altschuler, owner and cake artist
Red Truck Bakery
Warrenton, VA
“My partner, Dwight McNeill, and I started our bakery in a small country farmhouse. We purchased a recently restored, 1954 cherry red Ford F100 Pickup to park out front, and thus was born the inspiration for our first logo. An illustrator drew the truck in front of the farmhouse and paired it with 1940's-style typefaces. I used that logo for four years, but as we grew and matured, I wanted a hipper, yet slightly sophisticated update. Last fall, I spent a lot of time playing with new typefaces. I finally found a font that alluded to the Ford logo on the old pickup, but still looked classy on a cake box. And to acknowledge our rural roots, I paired it with a chunky, funky, condensed typeface. Because most of our packaging features a photograph of the old red truck, it seemed redundant to continue using the illustration, although it occasionally resurfaces.”
-Brian Noyes, proprietor and baker-in-chief
Stick&Pop
New York, NY
“Logos communicate the attitude and intention of a company, so we wanted our cake pop shop’s logo to be happy, playful, fun, and sweet. For practical reasons, we developed circular and horizontal versions, both of which are featured prominently in our marketing. The colors, shapes, and typography we chose merge together to present an easy-going, cute brand. Our logos actually feature two fonts of different weights to compliment the name Stick&Pop—stick being taller and thinner, and pop being fuller and rounder. And our logos’ ampersand extends as a ribbon to represent our pops, which are wrapped and tied with a bow. The branding really follows all the way through to our final product presentation.”
-Jacki Caponigro and Christy Nyberg, co-owners
Seven Stars Bakery
East Providence, RI
“After 10 years in business, we needed a logo update. Our old logo was vertical and presented all kinds of challenges, so we wanted something rectangular that would easily fit in print materials, on our website, and on t-shirts, hats, and travel mugs. Blue was our color from the get go, and like our bakery, we wanted our logo to look sturdy and handcrafted. The beautiful hand-drawn font, the wood block, the wheat, and the wonky stars all work together to accomplish that. We’re a proud sponsor of the Providence Children’s Film Festival, and as such, our logo appears on screen before the films. One year when it appeared, a row of five year olds yelled, ‘Seven Stars Bakery!’ I thought, ‘Wow! That’s the power of a logo!’”
-Lynn Williams, owner
Just a Bite
Irvine, CA
“Logos are critical for brand recognition. I didn’t want the logo for my cake pop shop to be too corporate or serious, yet I wanted to avoid anything childlike or cartoonish. I contracted a designer and discussed my vision. I made suggestions about the colors and fonts I wanted and didn’t want, and she assembled the final palette. The cake pop represents our primary product offering and fits our bite-sized brand vision. The sprinkles provide levity and playfulness, as does the casual cursive. And the ribbon ties together the image to create a consolidated look without completely encircling it. We use our logo everywhere we can—our website, invoices, packaging, stickers, signage, apparel, and more.”
-Mindy Himmel, founder and president
La Boulangerie
Chicago, IL
“We hired a cost-effective, experienced designer to create our logo. We exchanged a lot of emails, and it took us three months and dozens of versions to find the final design. We wanted our logo to invoke tradition, modernity, quality, warmth, and a French feel. Our designer suggested the font because it looks like airbrush with flour, and we immediately liked it. We wanted warm colors, and we decided on a square shape so we could use it on our website, menu and marketing materials, as well as on all our packaging: baguette bags, cake boxes, macaron boxes, etc. We also have the wheat bud that we can use alone, if necessary.”
-Chef Vincent Colombet
Implementing a well-designed logo can communicate a lot about your bakery, as well as instantly instill brand awareness, recognition, and loyalty. Over time, your logo can lead to increased mind share within your target market, and eventually, to increased sales.
