Battery Life Challenge: April 2019
Sometimes, I like to challenge myself to create a project, start to finish (as best I can) within the battery life of a single charge to my laptop. (This also roughly corresponds with the run time of Avengers: Infinity War, so I tend to watch that while I work.)
That being said, I decided to do a re-brand and website design this time, which is my first ever post of one of these quick-turn projects. (With the quick timeline, they tend to be trash.) It’s not perfect, it’s not polished, and it’s not what I would actually deliver to this specific client, but it gives an idea of one direction I would go if I were tasked with this brand. In the spirit of my weekend travels back to my hometown, I decided to re-brand and create a website design for Mi-Lady Bakery, the one and only place in the world to get donuts. (Everything else you’ve been eating is a lie, and I’m sorry to have to break it to you this way.)
In the 2.5 hours I worked on this, I created a new logo, some business cards, and the main nav of a new website. I took into account their interior aesthetic, long history, iconic name, and current content to create the brand and website, consolidating their current website experience into something a little more friendly and food-focused.
Enough prelude, let’s get straight to dessert.
New branding. This bakery is known for its donuts above all else, and with a name like “My Lady,” I thought it would be perfect to inject some pink script and organic shapes.
Business cards for the new brand. I love how the front looks like a sticker-sealed box. Of donuts. That I bought. For myself. And ate the entire contents of.
I only designed for above the fold for this page, but it would be chock full of content about the history of the bakery, which is documented across its brick walls in antique signs, packaging, and souvenirs.
Mi-Lady serves a killer lunch, but I designed for what I care about most. Which is obviously donuts and cake.
Not the strongest Contact Us design I’ve ever done, but with tight time (and more of a focus on the food), I put together the bare essentials. Also, gotta put those hours on there. I try to go on a Saturday every time I visit. PLEASE OPEN ON SATURDAY, MLB.
There is a ton of information MLB could be using on their site — videos, UGC for Instagram, reviews from TripAdvisor and local media, and so on. I built this 3x3 grid to reflect their iconic black and white tile floors, which you can see (a rough simulation of) in the top right corner. They also use checkerboard-print tray liners, so if I were to do another option for this brand (and I might), it would hinge on that classic checkerboard 1950s flair of the interior decoration.
Thanks for checking this out! Not the strongest work I’ve ever done, but a fun exercise in time-limited expression. What would you like to see me design on the clock next time? Cheers! And go grab a donut. You deserve one. Unless it’s not from Mi-Lady. Nobody deserves that.