Upper Crust Bakery

For Upper Crust Bakery, I was given a brief regarding the creation of assets for a local bakery. They needed a full logo, branding suite, and stationery. I utilized a mix of Adobe Illustrator and Adobe InDesign. The colors were picked to match their roots in France with an extra accent. I utilized InDesign for the creation of the business card and letterhead as this program is best for print assets. This shows great knowledge of graphic design software, as it shows I know which programs are most important for the type of work you’re doing. This is to ensure the highest caliber deliverables.

            I utilized a lot of negative space with the designs of these pieces. I wanted the logo to stand out on its own, as this is what the company would wish to be memorable. I used color and contrast for a lot of the elements. Particularly the pattern I created, which is in a cream color, against the darker red. This is so that the pattern would stand out. This was not a requirement, though I felt it was a great extra element to the stationery and could be used on packaging. There is hierarchy to the logo in all pieces, again, repetition throughout to create unity.

            When originally creating the design, I researched French bakeries to get a feel of their vibe and the type of products they served. I then brainstormed ideas, and created initial sketches which included a croissant, the Arc du Triomphe, baguettes, and of course the final cake design I chose. I added the French flag to emphasize the family roots of the bakery. I believe this shows creativity and originality because I took the time to understand the brand and their heritage, creating something that would speak to the products they have as well as their home. There is evidence of application and ethical guidelines, as I took the time to ensure this wasn’t a design already taken and that it stuck to the guidelines.

           When it came to critiquing this work specifically, I tried to advise on improvements in a way that would improve hierarchy and readability. For example, when one of our classmates Kameron posted their Upper Crust Bakery design, I had critiqued the typography used for ‘Bakery’ and how it expanded out of the circle. Though I noted that the design was good overall, the expansion of the text would be lost against an envelope or anything else white. While I had missed the chance to emphasize the principles of design here, it does strike on the principle of contrast and color. Where there is no contrast, the information will get lost.

            For this piece, I was to create stationery, logo, and instructions for suck with a rationale. I created all of these, offering clear instructions for how not to use the logo so that the company would continue to use it in a way that was clear and readable. When it came to refining, one of the comments I received was to make the business card text bigger. I played around with this for some time and was able to improve it. I don’t believe this deviates from the original intent, the design still follows the project brief but is a marginal improvement overall.

            The final design shows excellent craftmanship through the knowledge of design principles and elements. What is created is a series of cohesive designs, with assets that can be utilized on multiple items. Each was saved in an appropriate format; the logo as an AI file that can be added to multiple assets and PDF files for the print ready elements.