branding Archives – Swiss Cottage Designs

Poppy’s Catering + Events

March 22, 2013

Well it’s actually a bit of a funny story: A girl walks into a bar… no really, I met Jamie last year at a bar in Brooklyn to discuss her wedding invites. We drank warm beers and discussed her rustic, Upstate vision. At the time Jamie was head of events and catering and The City Bakery in Manhattan. She was all business and I knew she’d be great to work with. A few months later, we moved into a new apartment and I noticed Jamie’s unique last name on the neighboring mailbox. I sent her a quick email and asked if she happened to live in this building (thinking probably “no” since what are the odds) and sure enough, we were neighbors. Jamie was pumped because she got free shipping on her invites and I was excited to know someone in the building. We became friends and after Jamie’s wedding she started telling me about her idea to open a catering business. Naturally I was all about it and offered to do the branding. I figured she’d take a several months, get her plans sorted out and then baby step into the process of owning a business. Clearly, I didn’t quite know Jamie yet. This girl pushed on the gas and went full steam ahead! With clients like Tory Burch, J.Crew and Coach, Jamie’s business is already a huge success. Poppy’s Catering + Events in located at 243 Degraw Street in the Cobble Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn. They offer drop off catering in your home, office, or on set, as well as full service catering for corporate events, weddings, showers, etc. handling all details from the staffing to the decor. The amazing setups that Jamie and her team come up with never cease to amaze me. Her eye for detail is impeccable and every event looks better than the next. I also really love reaping the benefits of their leftovers.

When working on Jamie’s branding, it was pretty easy. She has a very clean and simple aesthetic and wanted everything on the logo to serve a purpose. I was gearing up for a long branding meeting but Jamie walked in and pick something from the first round and that was that. As the business continues to grow, I’ll share more pictures of the evolution of the Poppy’s branding. But here is your first taste of Swiss Cottage Designs new bestie: Poppy’s Catering + Events!

The Poppy’s Logo:

Logo Variations:

Poppy’s Website {complete with a pic of Poppy himself, Jamie’s grandfather and inspiration for her business}:

The owner, Jamie, and her number one gal, Rachel:

A few pics in and around Poppy’s:

follow Poppy’s on instagram @poppyscatering

Branding: Dupree & Co.

July 20, 2012

Man, we’ve been busy over here! July is a big month for design work, sorry for the radio silence! Whenever I feel stressed or overwhelmed, I can always count of my good friends, wine & cheese, to make me cheer up Charlie! So when Dupree & Company asked me to work on their branding, I really couldn’t say no. I mean, their shop is my idea of heaven! (all that cheese? stop.) The owner, Ethan, is a Brooklyn guy gone Islander. He opened his first shop on the island of Nantucket last year. I showed a little sneak peek of this design back in the Spring, but this June I was able to see the work in action.

Ethan wanted the logo to feel very French inspired but not too over the top. He also wanted to convey that it is a brick and mortar cheese shop. We created two main icons, a vintage cheese slicer and an actual cheese wheel. I think a common misconception with branding is that everything needs to “match” and I don’t think this is always the case. With Dupree & Co. we created two logo options and played with fonts and borders. We wanted it to feel well merchandised but not matchy matchy. The sign of a good logo is when it can be deconstructed to create more, simple logos.

Below are a few snaps of the shop and the work. Bravo Ethan!

Soft & Sophisticated :: Caroline Cole Branding

November 3, 2011

Here is some fresh branding for you all today. Caroline Cole, an interior designer based out of Nantucket, needed a complete look for her new business. We wanted to set her up with a whole suite of all the business essentials; custom cards, social notes and the always classic letterhead. Caroline radiates warmth and was looking for a clean and sophisticated way to represent that through her paper products. Everything was letterpress printed on a cool gray Strathmore stock that we special ordered for the job. For the business cards we went for a double thick, duplex stock with a unique letterpress blind impression pattern on the top and crisp fonts to play up the sophistication factor. The real kick is the delicious edge painting {my fav!} that adds a modern punch. Her letterhead and stationery work the clean and cool theme we have going on and custom envelope linings seal the deal.

RUMMAGE

August 29, 2011

I am a big fan of all things funky and vintage so when Kishani Perera got in touch with me about designing the site and logo for her new store, RUMMAGE, I couldn’t have been more excited. Rummage is a funky, eclectic assortment of all things vintage and are hand picked by Kishani. Kishani, who is an interior decorator by trade, knew exactly what she was looking for in terms of look and feel. We wanted to make the overall site feel very vintage glam but still be user friendly and simple. Sometimes when you collaborate with other designers it can be tough given that you both have strong ideas but with Kishani it was incredibly easy. There was lots of great back and forth and fun ideas flowing throughout the process. While I designed the layout and feel of the site, it took the magic of Josh at Every Angle Media to make it a full on functioning site.

If you’re ever in L.A. you must be sure to pop by and check out all the little treasures RUMMAGE has to offer.

Here is the original inspiration board that Kishani and I started with…