Apple Cafe - Part Two

Logo
When creating our Apple Cafe logo, my biggest obstacle was to find a way to create a new, fresh logo using an often over-used object: the much loved apple.

I solved this problem by forgoing the typical red, and going with a bright yellow-green shade instead. Also, by halving the apple and exposing a scattering of seeds, I found a way to show off the apple in a new, unusual form. When drawing the apple shape, I drew clean, curved lines, skipping outlines and creating deliberately simple shapes. i wanted the apple in our logo to be able to stand alone, without the need for words.

When adding words to my design, my goal was to maintain the simplicity of the logo. I chose a simple sans-serif typeface. Because this will also be the logo of our Apple Nutrition store, I created a logo that will be easily interchangeable between the two businesses. I placed the word "cafe" in small caps, a contrast from the lowercase letters of "apple". I did this deliberately to create a visual separation of the two words. The Apple Nutrition logo will be exactly the same, only with the word "nutrition" replacing "cafe".

And so, after much research, many sketches and thumbnails, the Apple Cafe logo was finally born:

Design
After creating our logo, everything else began to fall into place. We had a definite color palette, a logo, a sans-serif and script typeface, and had established several repeating design elements:

Menu Board
The visual center of Apple Cafe is the menu board, and everything pretty much revolves around that, as the most prominent design piece.

The biggest, most obvious problems with our current menu board was that there are no pictures, and it is very hard to read. Nothing about it says "smoothies", and it is very dark and boring.

My initial plan was to create something similar structurally wise to the existing piece. But, after much thought and research, we decided to head in another direction. And this is what we created:

It was different from anything we'd seen, but very modern and fresh -- a series of wooden hanging frames, painted Apple Cafe colors, and matted with the much loved Arcadia fabric. We wanted to keep the menu boards themselves very simple and easy to read. So, the added fabric would give the entire piece a bit of pattern, texture, and added visual interest. Also, dividing the sections into different frames gives us the ability to switch out new pictures easily as promotions change.

Now it was just a matter of taking all our ideas and inspiration and making it a reality…

puddle jumping

I can't help it... I love rainy days. There is something about them that makes me feel refreshed and so, so happy. I almost love rainy days more than sunshiney ones. Mysterious and soft, like a kitten padding across a bed, gentle summery rains are so soothing and delightful. The sky lowers and heaven is merely inches away. Colors are vibrant and the whole world is misty and glowing with dampness.

I love it.

Timmy had never gone puddle jumping. This was remedied.

Apple Cafe - Part One

New Look
EN Organic Smoothie Bar is getting a new name and a new look: Apple Cafe. Compliments of yours truly.

EN Organic Smoothie Bar is a smoothie bar/cafe, located in Harbor Athletic Club. It's menu boasts over 20 different smoothie flavors, all divided into handy categories like 'fat burner' or 'protein' or 'just fruit'. Best. Smoothies. EVER.

It also offers delicious coffees, hot chocolate, and teas. Additionally, there are rows of shelves full of the very best nutritional supplements, vitamins, whey protein, etc. And the customer service is amazing.

Have I mentioned that the owner/manager of Apple Cafe is my husband? And I am oh, so proud of him. Yes, he is a 24 year old entrepreneur extraordinaire.

The original design work for the smoothie bar was created before I came along, and there really wasn't any sort of consistent theme, just a bunch of mismatched signage -- and lots of red and black. So, the first step was to determine a cohesive theme for Apple Cafe.

We analyzed our customers and age demographics and determined that we wanted Apple Cafe to emanate a trendy, modern feeling, while still being warm and family oriented. This was especially important, as we realized that our audience ranged from toddler to senior citizen. Harbor Athletic Club is a very family oriented gym, and not overly frequented by hard core muscle builders or professional weight lifters. Our look needed to appeal to men, women, and children. Our goal was to find a way to mesh natural and modern; classy enough to appeal to Middleton adults, but bright and colorful enough to catch the eyes of kids walking by. Our business is located in a gym, so we already have an advantage. Our problem is not how to get the customers IN, but how to catch their attention as they hurry in and out.

New Name
Wait a second... you're probably wondering, why Apple Cafe? Well, we chose the name Apple Cafe for several reasons:
1) Apples have a very healthy reputation, and we want everyone to know that Apple Cafe is healthy, too!
2) Apple Cafe indicates that there is more to our business than just smoothies, with the name pointing to the other items on our cafe menu.
3) We are planning to open a nutrition store named Apple Nutrition in 2010. We want Apple Nutrition and Apple Cafe to be a unified chain, sharing the same name and look.

Inspiration
Sometimes all it takes is one glimpse of an object, brimming with inspiration, and you know, just know that you've finally got it. And by "it" I mean, the completion of all the mismatched design thoughts whirling around your mind.

I found the perfect fabric.

This perfect fabric line is named Arcadia, designed by Moda fabrics. It is deliciously unique and modern. The colors are perfect. And, in an instant, I had the entire Apple Cafe look planned out in my mind.

When I came home, clutching several yards of Arcadia fabric, I proudly showed it to Timmy with a huge smile, full of ideas. He stared at it for a while, but didn't really understand how a pile of fabric could become anything very wonderful. I guess it is something only a designer can understand, although I will try to explain it the way I explained it to Tim.

Every design starts with an idea, and every idea starts with something to inspire it. From that first spark comes a series of sparks and thoughts, but all you need is that first spark to get the chain reaction going. So, when I look at this fabric, I see more than just a bunch of material. I see clean lines and geometric shapes, mixed in with natural silhouettes. I see a beautifully harmonized color palette that perfectly shouts "nature! apples! modern!" I see simple color and shapes, curved lines and repeating patterns. And this is all a starting point, leading to where my designs will eventually end up. I may not even USE the fabric for anything other than inspiration.

But it is a good starting point.

To be continued...

friday favorites

I love the color pink, and I am obsessed with raspberry smoothies and hummus. Autumn speaks to my heart, and flip flops make my toes giggle. Pinklepurr is my favorite fuzzy orange kitty who is currently living with my parents (because her fur makes Timmy sneeze). I love picnics in the sunshine, (especially picnics accompanied by cute husbands and peanut butter sandwiches). I love rainy days and operas, reading and traveling. I love creating and designing. My favorite flowers are forget-me-nots, and my favorite place is home. I have absolutely amazing favorite parents, and two favorite sisters.

But my very favorite favorite is my sweet Timmy. Truly, he is my best friend. We have the most marvelous adventures together, and I get tummy tickles when I look into his amazingly blue, blue eyes. Nothing else in the world matters when he is holding my hand. We are SO happy. And want to know the very best part? The Lord is SO happy, too. He brought us together, and constantly blesses our union with big God smiles from heaven.

(isn't he just, SO darling? I love this boy.)

just because.

I tried and tried to come up with a clever way to introduce myself into the world of blogging. I COULD tell you that I started this blog as an outlet to my creative passions. I COULD mention that I decided blogging would be a good excuse to talk about my darling husband (my all time favorite subject), and keep in touch with beloved friends and family. Or that I fell in love with blogging when I first "met" Design Mom (www.designmom.com). I could even say that a teeny part of me hopes to eventually use my blogging to promote my freelance design business.

But really, as I type this, nobody even knows this blog exists. (Except my previously mentioned darling husband, who I will read this post to later tonight. I love you, sweetest!)

In the end, I created this blog just because. Just because I love to write and share my art. Just because there is something glamorous about having a BLOG. :) Just because I know it will make me happy.

Happily, Becki