In my on-going effort to transfer some of the content management of this blog over to you, the readers, I’m showing two images today that may just spark some debate. They were suggested by a friend and P*S* Reader, and I agree with her for the most part, but I think some of you won’t, and I encourage you to leave some comments and hash it out.
Pr*tty
This growing chain of bake shops has a thoughtful and well-implemented identity system that goes well beyond this charming logo with the handsome type and quirky jester character. The name is also quite nice.
Sh*tty
I’m decidedly not a fan of the tie-dye aesthetic, first of all. I imagine it’s a production nightmare, but it also evokes the nasty, bitter taste of frosting overloaded with food coloring.
My other big beef with this is one I blogged about a few weeks back. The logotype is meant to look hand written, but it’s a font (and a questionable one at that). Obviously the point is to give it a personal touch, but, while the cupcakes may be baked by Melissa, the name clearly ain’t written by her.
Thanks to Katie Kosma for the suggestion.
Posts
Not even the cutest logo or brand identity can hide the fact that Crumbs cupcakes are nasty. I agree, though - that second logo is a disaster.
ReplyDeleteThe second logo and business name is good for a place that makes "special" brownies...
ReplyDeleteIf you're going to use a "handwritten" font to be tricky, make sure whatever you're writing doesn't have repeat characters. The "ss" in Melissa is a dead giveaway.
ReplyDelete...or if you insist on using a "handwritten" typeface (rather than hiring a professional calligrapher, or if you are a tightwad, doing it yourself), outline the darn thing and change the repeated letters a tiny bit so they don't LOOK like just a font.
ReplyDeleteOh YAY! I'm so excited you put this up. And, I have to admit - i don't *totally* love the Crumbs jester. I think it could stand a mini-overhaul and become more graphic and less hand-done looking. It would work with the typography then...which...admittedly...is just Gotham with a stroke. But still. So Crumbs could use a bit of a redo, while Melissa's (whose cupcakes are SO MUCH BETTER THAN CRUMBS) needs to be trashed & redone entirely.
ReplyDeleteWTF does a frickin' jester have to do with cupcakes. I hate this logo. The jester has one hand out in front of her like she's blind and the other hand on her stomach like she's going to spew. Plus she is clearly going to drop all three cupcakes into some street grit and then sell them to us anyway. And what is that little flap on top of the cupcake on the right there? Duct tape?
ReplyDeleteIt's especially beautiful in three dimensions on their storefront: http://instagr.am/p/gOcgF/
ReplyDeleteI gotta be honest... I hate Baked By Melissa. Those cupcakes are literally the size of a quarter and way overpriced, plus they taste like shit. So... I don't get why anyone like that place. It just seems totally overhyped to me. Not to mention how nasty-looking that logo is. It looks like someone dumped a vat of dye into cupcake mix and it all bled together into one ugly muddy mishmash of colors.
ReplyDeleteCrumbs, on the other hand, actually has a good product and a delightfully charming design with neat type in sweet, understated colors.