Building a Premium Brand Before Scale

A limited-drop cookie brand designed with strategy, restraint, and longevity in mind.

Brand Identity · Packaging · Digital Foundation

Overview

DarkButter launched as a premium cookie concept built to feel established from day one. The work focused on creating a flexible brand and packaging system that supports limited drops now and can scale later without redesign.

The Challenge

DarkButter began without an audience, sales history, or launch data. The challenge wasn’t simply to make something look good — it was to design a brand system that could generate desire before scale, feel premium at low volume, and remain consistent as the business grows.

The Goal

  • Build a brand that feels established from day one

  • Create visual desire without relying on ads or discounts

  • Support a limited-drop model with intentional design

  • Leave room to scale without reworking the identity

Scope of Work

  • Brand identity system

  • Logo and mark refinement

  • Color and typography direction

  • Packaging design

  • Digital launch foundation

The Approach

  • Discover — Define category cues and the emotional tone the brand needed to communicate.

  • Define — Establish positioning and a visual direction rooted in simplicity and memorability.

  • Develop — Build a cohesive identity and packaging system across physical and digital touchpoints.

  • Deliver — Create a launch-ready foundation designed for limited drops and future expansion.

Strategy & Key Decisions

  • Lead with a minimal, high-contrast identity to improve memorability

  • Design packaging for recognition at a glance

  • Build a flexible system for new flavors, formats, and channels

Visual Identity

Hand-drawn branding sketches for Dark Butter Bakeryland, including logo ideas with initials D and BB, and various styles of the full bakery name.

Logo Evolution

The initial logo direction skewed too clean and overly polished. Through iterative refinement, the wordmark evolved into a bolder, more rounded form with greater warmth and character. Handcrafted curves, layered depth, and a buttery yellow backdrop improved recognition while reinforcing a nostalgic, premium tone. The refined “Bakeland” tag added contrast and energy, balancing approachability with brand confidence.

Design mockup showing three iterations of a logo for 'Dark Butter Bakeland'. The first iteration features simple black text on a brown background, the second adds curvy elements and a white subtitle box, and the third includes bold serif fonts with retro cues, a yellow backdrop, and red accents.
A color selection menu with five options: Black Coffee, Hershey, Butter, Gray, and Cherry, each with their respective hex color codes. The Butter option is highlighted in yellow.

Deep Flavor is Born in the Dark.

A vertical black sign with white and red text reading 'Dark Butter Bakeland' is mounted on a wooden slatted wall.
Yellow box containing chocolate chip cookies from Dark Butter brand, with branding and descriptions, surrounded by a solid yellow background.
Close-up of a lemon-flavored pastry with glazed lemon topping, on a bright yellow background with text promoting Dark Butter Bakeland Lemon Drfit.
A black tote bag with the logo 'Dark Butter Bakeland' in white and red, placed on a white surface with shadows of leaves.
Brown hoodie sweatshirt with a white, black, and red "Dark Butter Bakeland" logo on the back
Packaging of Dark Butter Bakeland chocolate chip cookie with a visible cookie showing chocolate chips
Sign for Dark Butter Bakeland on a yellow background mounted on a wooden wall.
Colorful foil package of Dark Butter Bakeland on a yellow background.

Next Studio Case

← Previous
Next →

Ready to Refresh Your Brand?

Brands stuck in the past lose trust. I bring yours forward—modernizing outdated visuals into a clear, credible identity your audience connects with, and one you’ll be proud to stand behind.

Refresh My Brand Identity →