Graphic Design Showcase
Brief: Fetch Dog Cafe
Brief:
Keswick dog friendly café:
Keswick attracts a lot of tourists and since due to its unique placement in the lake district. The large increase of visitors has risen since covid and attracted a lot more visitors. Numbers rose from 1.9 million visits in 2016 to 2.2million in 2019. The rise in dogs has also increased since covid and this poses a problem in the lack of dog friendly places to dine. As of 2019, the UK was positioned as the second-highest ranking European country in dog population, Germany was first-highest. Comparing 2021 and 2022 the percentage of dog owners in the UK, jumped to 33%. which highlights the potential of this concept.
Dogs are now very much considered part of the family now and due to the lack of venues suited to their needs they are sadly considered as an after thought for businesses that provide a place to dine for the public. Dogs can often be left at home and miss out on away days, left outside of a venue at risk or left in the car which can have dangerous consequences.
A new company would like to address this issue by making the dog the star of the show and ensuring they are “treat” as they should be, as one of the family.
The company wishes to open the ‘doggy’ theme café and would like a brand identity that would ensure passes by not only notice the business, but talk about it afterwards.
Target Audience:
Dog owners on holiday, demographic include both male and females aged between 18 – 65 years old.
Strategy:
People are coming to the area for a holiday in masses. There is lots of footfall past the shop and so one of the largest areas of the branding is the shop front. This needs to be inviting and arouse curiosity. Brand awareness will be made through other promotional material such as posters, social media, an inviting website and table tents.
Deliverables:
-Logo
-Menu Selection
-Front of shop design/Window art
-Branded Dog Treats
-Promotional poster
-Social media
-Website
Research:
I looked at dog products on the market to see what logos, packaging, colour schemes and styles were being used. The designs found were very playful and a little kiddy(ish) or a little bland and dated.
I carried on looking at designs and found some that were playful, but felt a little more mature, sophisticated and edgy. I like a playful style choice as I feel dogs can be daft and people love talking about them in ways they can be so. I like the simpler designs here as they feel more high end.
I looked at logos next. This would potentially inspire a name for the cafe and also help me consider typography and graphic style. Again I found I like the simple designs with a playful edge. Some of these I found a little too simple and made me think they felt a little 'kiddy'. I may explore typography initially that speaks for itself as a logo and then consider an image that may add quirk to the brand.
I looked at window displays and existing dog cafes to see how others in the market have executed them. There wasn't too many that I was blown away with. I would like to push the concept a little further. I believe to stand out for great execution and lack of good design in this area could allow for 'niche' attention and spur on conversation and interest.
Im not an illustrator and like the simple nature of shapes that can be emotive and link a particular feeling. This I feel is essential for the personality of the brand. While playful, images like these don'e feel too childish and may be a good path of exploration.
Further Visual Research:
This development page struggles with lots of images so I have linked further research below to my Pinterest page.
I wanted to let my head wander and explore ideas for the cafe, copywriting, promotion ideas and names. I also wanted to think how I can emote feelings that I wanted the brand to have. Research suggests brand personality is a high indicators for successful relations with consumers. I thought the language a person might say to a dog, or things a dog might say to its owner could may work well here and connect through resonance. These are just ideas at this point and won't be able to do everything but it will help me evolve ideas during the design process none the less.
Name & Typography:
I limited the names to three...
- Dog-eat-dog
- Wags
- Fetch
I liked dog-eat-dog because of the saying and the fact it was an eatery with a link to dog but given the negative connotations of the saying and also possible associations of cannibalism (eeek!)....I chose another one. Fetch felt fresh, appropriate and catchy!
I started to explore typography. I searched far and wide, but limited images to the ones shown below. I wanted to find something playful, bold and quirky. I will try using them with logo designs to see which I feel work well...
Logo/DesignExploration:
I explored a few different logo options, some are vary similar but was exploring type weight, placement and composition.
The more I explored the more I felt too much was going on in some of them...
I am still undecided but wanted to move on to other assets needed to the brief. Having assets to attach the logo to may help me decide what looks good on the actual materials that will be used by the cafe.
Menu Design/Exploration:
I decided to move on to some menu design and explore logos further. It will be helpful to see how the logo looks on here.
Further Menu Design and layouts:
I think the menu having links to a dog theme could be fun, but I realised upon doing this I need to be careful that it doesn't put people off human food. There is also the risk that too much of these suggestions could become irritating. I feel that leaving the menu black and white with shades in between will allow for further quirky add ons without it being over powering. This may be a good direction for the brand as a whole. I may explore colour later on with other brand assets.
Exploring Ideas/Styling and Layout:
Below are some images of the exploration for design.
I think the menu having links to a dog theme could be fun, but I realised upon doing this I need to be careful that it doesn't put people off human food. There is also the risk that too much of these suggestions could become irritating. I feel that leaving the menu black and white with shades in between will allow for further quirky add ons without it being over powering. This may be a good direction for the brand as a whole. I may explore colour later on with other brand assets.
Exploring Ideas/Styling and Layout:
Below are some images of the exploration for design.
Exploring Branded Dog Treats:
I explored branded treats for the cafe. I decided on a name that was slightly humanised about being on the go that I felt worked well for the brief. Initially I explored layouts...
After closing a layout I liked I made the design a little more sophisticated and added some fun details. These elements could maybe be used elsewhere in the brand to show consistency and help create a 'feeling' for the brand and what the company is about.
I tried mocking this up to see how it would look. After some feedback from those I asked friends and people in the industry, it came to my attention the dog back legs were a little awkward and also the text at the bottom didn't frame the composition very well.
After tweaking the design, I was much happier and mocked it up and with a variety of flavours. I used earthy tones again to keep the design on brand, linked to the lakes (with the cafe based in Keswick and of course dogs. Bolder colours on quirky designs may add more aspects that draw attention and so I thought more subdued colours may help create more balance.
Table advertisements:
I explored table advertisements to help promote the branded treats and make customers aware. This would increase the company sales and also give people a talking point product that would increase brand awareness. A fun use of language which may resonate with many was used. Colour was added here which I liked for the brand.
Cafe front/Window design:
As there is lots of foot-fall in Keswick it makes sense to ensure the shop front is different, eye-catching, quirky, brand consistent and inviting. It's essentially free advertising once it is done, so I will attempt to keep it playful but in a slightly sophisticated way ensuring that the fun quirky side of dogs and their personalities are communicated.
I found imagery that I thought would work well if combined and tweaked to make it look like lots of different dogs, contrasting in looks (yet consistent in there dog attributes of loving food) could longingly be looking in the cafe eager to go in.
I found this difficult to do as I like the concept a lot, but visually it took a while to get it to be visually inviting. The dogs looked quite blocky and a little too much which felt unappealing. I explored a lot until I felt the idea (in my opinion) worked well.
I created window assets that would help communicate what the business was about and reused imagery from the doggy treats to make the brand feel outdoorsy (being in the lakes/dog walks) and show consistency.
I added some plants and tweaked the mockup to brighten the shop front up and make it appear friendlier and more inviting.
Fetch Poster Advertisement:
I thought a quirky eye catching image of a dog that promoted the cafe would be a good way to create awareness and interest in the brand. Also showing this is a place dogs wanted to go...
Doggy Bag:
I thought a doggy bag would be a great way to promote the brand once people leave the restaurant and again would be relatively cheap advertising. I also love the play on words here and thought it worked well.
Tested Mockups of the Doggy Bag:
A matching cup was created in a similar style, again focusing largely on shades of black and white. I felt this looked more sophisticated in nature.
It's a doggy cafe, and the idea to have invitations for dog birthdays was a way to humanise the pets a little and make them a definite, considered part of the family. I thought this would inspire conversation and interest in the brand.
I explored some designs and colours. Some of this exploration is shown below...
I continued to explore the logo on branded cups and other visuals that would link good food and drink. I believe this was important at this stage of the design process. These assets can be used on the website and social media later on.
Some instagram posts for social media were created...
Web design Exploration:
I tried different colour combinations of the colour palette that was starting to emerge as appropriate and working well for the brand. I also explored layout here.
Final assets: