Continuing in my execution of the branding process for counting cake, this week I tackled exploration of color palettes, fonts, and logo sketches. I began with conducting visual research through Google searches, Pinterest, Behance, Dribbble, and exploring the branding of other healthy dessert blogs. It was important for me to get a sense of the types of branding that is currently out there for healthy dessert blogs and find a way for Counting Cake to stand apart. I took inspiration from images, colors, other logos, and the meaning behind the brand to start the creation of the branding assets. I reflected back on my brand research and the brand personality, aiming to craft a brand that can visually represent its values and appeal to the target market audience. 

My Visual Research

Pinterest & Dribbble

Logo Sketches

I completed 16 logo sketches that I will use to move forward with the final logo design. From what I have created so far, I do have a favorite logo I would like to explore more, adding the color and fonts, as I think it could be a good fit for the brand. I wanted to explore being more detailed or the “old” style bakery, while also exploring a modern style, which, in my opinion, I think is a bit more fitting for the brand. Counting Cake is honest and reliable, but most importantly, playful and creative. Thinking a bit more outside the box with the logo, instead of being super detailed, is more representative of the brand and more appealing to the target market.  Counting Cake is about creating a “diet” experience that does not lack the sweet treated people love and the logo needs to reflect that. 

Colors

For the color palette, I took inspiration from the mood board, as well as exploring colors through research, images, and the color palette generator, Coolors, which I used to put together and experiment with color options. I wanted the colors to be fun and I experimented with bright colors, as well as softer, more homey colors. I am happy with the colors so far, but I will not have a finalized color palette until I try out different colors on the finalized logo. I want to see how to colors will work together in the branding before choosing the exact palette. 

Fonts

With these fonts, my goal was to test out different styles, from more creative and script fonts to a harder, more defined font. These fonts will really change the look of the branding and like the colors, it is important to find the right font that fits well with the final logo. They will need to meld together to tell a cohesive brand story. With these fonts, I experimented with both my potential title fonts, as well as, the copy font. As Counting Cake will be a blog, having a legible font for the copy of the blog is an important aspect to be considering when picking the font, and is not something that can be overlooked. If people can’t read the font well, they can’t read the blog.

While there is still more that needs to be done with this part of the branding process, I have been able to establish a significant amount of the assets to play around with and mix and match the fonts, colors, and logos, until I find the perfect fit.