Part of a small collection of women-owned and independently-operated food service and restaurant businesses, Blue Collar Bakery is a full-service bakery located in Toronto.
Looking to establish a storefront presence on Bloor Street, they needed a customer-facing identity that was confident and clear, familiar, and captured the ethos of their baking — simple natural ingredients.
To achieve a bold yet approachable tone, I engaged a type foundry to customize one of their sans-serif fonts. The details were further refined into something bespoke. Alongside a work-horse neo-grotesque type family for use at small scale, a distinctive serif with architectural details builds up brand attributes like ‘classic’ and ‘trustworthy’. Supporting brand elements evocative of a sourdough boule and bread scoring patterns complete the look. The resulting identity is modern and affable and is cohesive within the larger group of businesses.
The best part of the project has been collaborating with my incredibly hard-working clients, across years and iterations. Thanks Niki and Katy — I never imagined I’d be adding to the city’s vernacular!
