Logo

Original logo

Before designing and coding the website, I had to rebrand the logo. When rebranding, this wasn’t the original logo, and I forgot to save the original. This is their current logo. At the time the logo didn’t seem to convey what their bakery was about.

I thought about their cupcakes and what they could put on top of them. I also thought about flowers. Here, to your right, are images I found inspiring.

I was attracted to the vibrant and fun colors. They were dynamic and expressive. I also loved the organic and geometric shapes.

Thinking about the shapes, I started sketching ideas.

Rebranding

When rebranding, I thought about the meaning of the name, the Hawaiian culture, and the bakery, the inspiration.

The name, Hokulani, means heavenly star. I thought about stars but wanted to avoid celestial imagery because I didn’t want to convey the wrong message. This was a bakery, not anything related to astronomy.

Logo sketches

Black and White Explorations

I wanted a handwritten, cursive-like type because I noticed many logos in Hawaii are in cursive, and I wanted to keep that as part of the culture and identity, so I played with some scripts and serifs.

Color palette

While thinking of the color palette, I was thinking of everything Hawaii: the sun, the fruits, the colors of the sky, and the warmth of the islands. I felt summery colors would best fit this project. This color palette is also very fresh, bright, and cheery, just like Hokulani’s cupcakes.

Color Explorations

Final logo

I went with a lower-case typeface for its friendliness, and I also didn’t like the capital ‘H’ in this typeface. I also played with hierarchy, where you read ‘Hokulani’ first and then see the star/flower. We decided on doing that to the ‘i’ because it looked like something they could put on their cupcakes.