Brief 5: Miel Handmade Design Boards and Evaluation

It states in the brief to design for a shop/restaurant that would be of interest to you. For a couple of years now I have found that I would love to own and run a shop that sells specialised jams, sweet or savoury, as well as honey and cooking ingredients, so this acted as a sort of preparation for if that were to happen one day.

This was a collaborative brief with an illustrator on Visual Communication, who designed the images of the fruit, vegetables and herbs that are used throughout the branding. These illustrations when combined with the logo and type give and impression of authenticity, and are seemingly quite homey, which fits the nature of Miel Handmade. It is a brand which is designed to remind people of home comforts in an upmarket setting.

While the design and layout of the jar and bottle labels is effective, the label could do with being slightly more transparent, allowing for more o the illustration behind to come through. However, this did make some of the type slightly less legible and clear, which is of higher importance than the illustrations.

The packaging is either a simple tote bag, costing 50p which goes to a charity which varies each month, or can be packaged as a gift in the basket. The incorporation of the basket ensures the rustic and home made theme is continued past just the shop. This is similarly translated on the web proposal, which allows for the products to be bought online.

Ideally I could have spent more time creating a wider range of jar label types and sizes however due the cost of the jars this was not a feasible option. While I would have been interested in going into more depth with some promotional materials, that was not totally appropriate for the brand. I would have liked to have created some sample packs to have been distributed in the opening week of the shop, and spent more time branding the cafe further.

Brief 5: Miel Handmade Photos

The outcome of the jar labels was the one aspect that I was not pleased with at the end of this brief. If I have the time before hand in, I would like to reprint the labels with a lower opacity in order to show more of the illustrations in the background. Otherwise, after changing the business cards, I was happy with the outcome to this brief.

** I have now been able to change the labels on the jars, which work much better.

Brief 5: Miel Menu

I had decided to include a cafe serving breakfast and lunch in the store, all based around the items sold in Miel. I constructed a menu based on recipes I found using honey and jam, or the assortment of oils that Miel would sell, alongside some basic breakfast favourites used the same items.

I carried on the 'honey' idea, and used both of the honey illustrations that i felt worked really well on the letterhead. Each meal has been priced at slightly below what the average I found for the same meals were in other cafe's around London.

I continued to use Nexa Light and Nexa Bold for the body of the text, as I also found it to be readable over the top of the illustration.

I decided to print these on off-white paper and mount them on black, which would keep up with the black border that feature on much of the other designs.

Brief 5: Miel Business Card Redesign

After printing the business card I found that the combination of the illustration and typeface made them appear far too busy. Somehow both these elements were getting lost within each other, and they didn't have the sort of impact I wanted them to have.

I decided to redesign and reprint the business cards. I was really pleased with how the letterheads turned out and, given that the translation of the brand name is 'honey' I thought I would make the honey illustration the focal image for the brand.

I didn't change much on the reverse side of the business card as I really liked the central design and I felt that it balanced the illustration on the other page.

I felt the second version was a vast improvement from the first, and made them appear calmer, and consequently more authentic.

Brief 5: Miel Business Cards/Letterhead

I wanted to use the illustrations Izzy had done as much as possible because I think they perfectly depict the nature of the brand, so I was keen to use them in the business cards and letterhead too, in a much more simplified manner than with the labels.

I also decided I wanted to base the shop/cafe in central London, amongst the shops around Regents Street of a similar nature, eg. Whittards, and Godiva. I found a spot in a small alcove off Regents Street which is currently a cafe, which I thought would work perfectly in terms of location and surrounding shops.

I found that the honey illustration down the side of the letterhead balanced the page well, allowing for the content to be pushed along the page. This illustration was the only portrait image and so fitted well down the side of the page.