Okay, so let me tell you about this “honore branding niemann” thing I tackled. It was a wild ride, lemme tell ya.
It all started when my buddy mentioned this new cafe, “Honore,” that needed a brand refresh. Apparently, the old branding was kinda…blah. Didn’t really scream “delicious coffee and pastries,” more like “sad beige walls.” So, I volunteered. I mean, I’ve done some branding stuff before, thought it’d be a fun little side project.
First things first: I grabbed a coffee (ironically, not from Honore at this point) and sat down to do some research. I looked at their existing stuff – website, menu, even their sad little Instagram page. Then I dove into their competitors, local cafes, even some fancy Parisian bakeries online. Just to get a feel for the vibe. What’s working? What’s not?
Next up: brainstorming. This is where it gets messy. I literally just scribbled down every word, image, feeling that came to mind when I thought about Honore. “Fresh,” “homemade,” “community,” “cozy,” “a little bit fancy,” “but not snobby.” You know, the usual. Then I tried to connect those ideas, find a central theme.
Then I started sketching. Rough, ugly sketches. Logos, fonts, color palettes. I’m not a pro designer, mind you, but I can usually get the basic idea down on paper. I played around with different fonts – something classic but modern, you know? And for colors, I was thinking warm, inviting tones. Maybe some earthy greens and browns, paired with a pop of something brighter, like a mustard yellow or a soft pink.
After a few days of that, I picked out my favorite sketches and started mocking them up digitally. Used Illustrator for the logo, played around with different layouts and variations. This is where the real work started. Tweaking, refining, making sure everything looked just right. I spent hours agonizing over kerning, if you can believe it.
Then came the hard part: presenting it to the owner. I was nervous! What if they hated it? I put together a little presentation with my logo concepts, color palettes, font choices, even some mockups of how it would look on their coffee cups and signage. I tried to explain my thinking behind each decision, why I thought it would resonate with their target audience.
Luckily, they loved it! Well, mostly. They had a few minor tweaks – a slightly different shade of green, a slightly bolder font. But overall, they were really happy with the direction I was going. It was a huge relief.
So, I made the changes, finalized the logo and branding guidelines, and handed everything over. Now, Honore has a brand that actually reflects the quality of their food and coffee. And I got a few free pastries out of it. Win-win!
- Research: Competitors, target audience, trends
- Brainstorming: Word association, mind maps, mood boards
- Sketching: Logo ideas, font explorations, color palettes
- Digital Mockups: Refine sketches, create variations, test layouts
- Presentation: Explain design choices, get feedback, make revisions
- Finalization: Deliver logo files, branding guidelines, style guide
It was a lot of work, but honestly, it was super rewarding. Seeing my work out there in the real world, helping a small business succeed…that’s what makes it worth it.
