EXPLORING LOCAL BRANDS: HIVE BAKERY & CAFE
Lately I’ve been wanting to try this idea out of exploring local brands around me and showing how branding is a whole experience beyond the logo. I want to showcase how brands are doing it and what we can learn from them! So here we go….
The Hive Cafe and Bakery Coffee Cups
I recently visited the Hive Bakery and Cafe with my baby girl. Before the pandemic hit they were working on this cafe. So happy to see it recently opened this year! I’ve been waiting to go there since I knew it was coming a few years ago. Especially because I’ve seen this brand expand now into this new space. (They have a whole brand of other niches and you should check them out)
You can sense what to expect from a brand by how you experience it on different levels. From walking up to the cafe and the greeter at the door I knew to expect an elevated and at the same time casual vibes. Everyone was so kind and the display of the pastries 🥮 made me want them all even if I didn’t know what it was!
It reminded me of being in a café in Paris, France. I tried the chocolate croissant and cinnamon roll and they did not disappoint! Still dream about that cinnamon roll that was so flaky, airy, and soft. I felt transported in there like I was in a garden cafe in Europe.
Now let’s talk branding. Throughout the cafe, they used it with intention and keep it elevated and causal. Just like the experience I had while there. Of course, the green and gold color theme was throughout the café from the greenery inside/outside to the packaging as well. Having the coffee cups and plates branded help create an elevated yet elegant feel while dining in. You didn’t need to dine in to have that feeling with one of the prettiest to-go bags I’ve seen.
I always think it’s smart to have no more than 2 -3 fonts for your brand. Here they have 2 main fonts they use repeatedly everywhere and they do it well. You see it while you dine in and carry it home after buying branded coffee bags and tumblers. Great ways to keep the brand in front of the customers a lot.
The scripted font plays up the reason you are there, the food and coffee. This is great to use for a few words or as a decor element. While the “Hive” font is used for everything else. It’s important to use fonts that are legible especially if there are a lot of words to skim or read. Like menus and web copy.
For those out there who want their logo to do the work take a lesson from Hive Bakery and Cafe. If you have a busy logo it’s best to keep everything else around it simple and clean. It will stand out and not compete with anything you place it on. Also, repetition in how they used the logo and its alternative versions as well can create patterns for your brand. Along with allowing for a variety of different collateral to be branded differently but still stay on brand.
The Point
I hope my sharing this with you gives you some ideas on how to brand your business beyond just using the logo everywhere. The way you use your brand identity system can build the recognition of your business by the way you use it. Like how you use the colors and fonts. You don’t have to use one version of the logo everywhere for people to know it’s related to your brand. Also, the way your use your brand identity creates a vibe or emotional connection with your customers.
So be thoughtful in how you use it to create the right emotions you want to evoke. For example, how they use their green is done in a way that doesn’t scare people away but is elevated with the gold thin decor on it. When you have a brand identity created I hope you see it as ingredients to mix and use to create brand recognition in different ways that fit your brand and uniquely speak to your customers.
ARE YOU READY TO INVEST IN MAKING YOUR BRAND WORK, ACHIEVING YOU’RE GOALS, AND CONNECT WITH YOUR PERFECT CLIENT.
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