Over all evaluation

Over all evaluation

Just like my zine project before, I've really enjoyed working on this project and testing my artistic skills by working on a commercial and faux-company based brief.

I thought that working on something that I've never tried before could be a great way to test myself and build up a good range of commercial work for my portfolio. Designing packaging and interior layouts was quite difficult for me since I've never tried to tackle anything like this artistically before.

If could do anymore for this project, I would have liked to have designed and made my own cups, plates and cutlery as well as table clothes or patterned aprons. These are things that I intend to tackle in the future as I'm always trying to challenge myself by working in different fields.

I would also have liked to have visited more cafes or diners since a lot of my research was sourced online. I couldn't' afford to visit many cafes or bakeries during this project.

All in all, I'm happy with what I've produced and I'm proud of what I have achieved by pushing myself to try something new.

Stickers and gift tags

Stickers and gift tags

I've also made some gift tags and stickers with my cafe mascot and pattern designs. The tags I made were printed onto thin card and would probably be attached to the handled cake boxes I've designed.

I also created some small stickers. I've printed some onto two types of sticker paper, matte and glossy.

Interior/furniture concepts

Interior/furniture concepts

For the interior of my fictional cafe, I decided to colour the furniture in pale, pastel colours and the furniture I've drawn looks cozy and 'shabby chic' style, which is what I wanted the inside of the cafe to feel like. I kept it looking slightly small since I've noticed that most chain brand cafes are small in size.

Man-eating cake papercraft box

Man-eating cake papercraft box

While I was search for templates for my cake boxes, I found a small template for a cake slice shaped gift box. I used this template to design and make a man-eating cake gift box out of card.

(Above: Template and design)

(Above: Finished box)

Cafe staff shirts

Cafe staff shirts

The staff shirts I designed are supposed to reflect the pastel and angel and demon theme. I made two variants, one angel version and one demon version.

Cake box designs and construction

Cake box designs and construction

Using free to use box templates I found online, I've designed and constructed my cafe cake boxes which also features the repeated patterns I designed.

I've used three different types of box templates (one a wide handled box, one a squarish handled box and a typical folded lid cake box with viewing window) just to show some kind of variety in my cafe's products. The box templates I've created are featured below:

I began construction of each of the boxes by printing them onto A2 card paper.

And here are the finished boxes!

A zombie ate my cupcake !

A zombie ate my cupcake !

'A zombie ate my cupcake!' is a quirky recipe book by Lily Vanilli which shows you how to make gross and gruesome horror-inspired cakes and biscuits, such as skull cookies, bloody glass cupcakes and marzipan beetles.

(Above: Bloody bleeding heart cake, made with red velvet sponge and cherry sauce)

The cakes and sweets in this recipe book can look disgusting and horrific to some but they also look like they would be a lot of fun to make, plus both kids and adults would enjoy how skin-crawlingly great these spooky sweets look, which is sort of the same edgy appeal I would want to use in my artwork for the fictional cafe to also attract an adult market as well as the younger market.

(Above; Gingerbread graveyard cupcakes)

This recipe book inspired me to make another repeat pattern reusable print. I digitally drew up two cakes covered in icing, both with sharp teeth. I also coloured this print in pastel colours just to keep with the cafe's colour theme and also to offset the creepiness of the man-eating cakes.

Reusable pattern designs

Reusable pattern designs

I've created three repeated pattern designs that I'm planning to use for packaging purposes. I've drawn each of them digitally. This first one is a pattern with cake and ice cream. 

The second is a repeating cupcake pattern.

and the third was made from one of my first initial wall paper concepts.

Menu designs

Menu designs

I've decided to keep my cafe menus simple and focused on just dessert based food. I've used a blue and yellow pastel colour palette for the menu with decorative stars and clouds. I was originally going to add drawings of cake and coffee cups to the menu but I thought it would make it look too cluttered.

Here are my final menu designs:

Cafe mascots

Cafe mascots

I thought that designing some mascots for my fictional cafe would work well with it's theme and would increase the over-all appeal of the cafe. Mascots are designed to be recognisable and visually appealing to the general public as well as representing a certain brand or company.

Some well-known mascots that also fit with my cafe's theme would be characters such as Hello Kitty and Rillakuma. 

(Above: A Hello Kitty muffin and mousse cake from the Sanrio cafe in Japan)

(Above; Rillakuma branded strawberry roll cake and strawberry flavoured kit-kat bar. Rillakuma often appears on Japanese sweets packaging. He's become so popular, he could actually rival Hello Kitty)

After thinking it over and getting continuously stuck in an idea rut as to what my mascots should actually be, I decided to make them little angels and demons, two boys and two girls. 

This is the first drawings I've done of them all and I'm really happy with their designs. The angels are based on the servers you would find in a maid cafe crossed with modern fairy kei fashion (as you can see from the angel girl's pastel coloured hair and frilly clothes and the angel boy's pastel two-toned star print suit and ear studs). The demons were inspired by Rockabilly fashion (this was taken from the common occurrence of 50's American influence in cafes and diners) but they also have some Fairy Kei inspired clothes (such as the demon girl's stockings and the demon boys pastel coloured jeans).

I decided to make them angels and demons since I thought their designs could be fun and appealing to young children but also a little edgy and geared also towards teens and young adults.

I've also drawn them in a more regular proportioned style from the waist up, so they can also be used in promotional work without having to shrink them down too much.

I thought giving each of my mascots different body types could increase their visual appeal towards a wider audience who could also relate a little to them if they were similarly proportioned.

I've also used the smaller versions of the angels and demons mascots on four different card holders I've designed, which would be displayed in the cafe itself.

First art concepts

First art concepts

While trying to come up with ideas for the interior of my fictional cafe, I digitally drew three pattern swatches using Fairy Kei inspired pastel colours and shapes.

I was thinking of maybe using these conceptual drawings as designs for wallpaper or reusable patterns.

Krispy Kreme doughnuts

Krispy Kreme doughnuts

Today, I visited a Krispy Kreme doughnut store in Newcastle. I thought that visiting a store that was owned by a massive chain brand would help me visualise what a typical brand owned shop would look like. Krispy Kreme is a chain store brand that specializes in selling doughnuts.

The inside was slightly small, what I would describe as average cafe sized, and it had a glass case counter top where the doughnuts were displayed. It's interior was very minimal, with it's walls painted off-white and it's chairs were green padded vinyl seats. 

One of the things that did interest me was the packaging designs of the doughnut boxes. I really liked the design and over-all look of the doughnut boxes and I think that I could maybe use them as inspiration for the cake boxes I'll be creating for my project.

(Above: Baker's dozen sized Krispy Kreme doughnut box)

Maid cafes and 'Fairy Kei'

Maid cafes and 'Fairy Kei'

While searching for ideas for my cafe project, I came across something that has grown incredibly popular in Japan and is also cafe-related. 

Maid cafes are found all over Japan, usually in Akihabara. In these cafés, waitresses dressed in maid costumes act as servants, and treat customers as masters (and mistresses) in a private home, rather than as café patrons. The first permanent maid café, 'Cure Maid Café', was established in Akihabara,  Japan, in March 2001, but maid cafés are becoming increasingly popular. They have also expanded overseas to countries like China, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Australia, Hungary, the Czech Republic, France, the Netherlands, Mexico, Canada and the United States.

(Above: Interior of the 'Maidreamin' maid cafe, the largest maid cafe in Akihabara)

(Above: Interior of a maid cafe in Osaka)

Food and desserts served in maid cafes are usually made to resemble cute animals or flowers or other cute things. A blog I found named 'threemilk' posts pictures of Japanese desserts and sweets that you would order in a maid cafe daily. Here are some examples of typical 'cute' desserts from their blog:

(Above: Strawberry meringue shortcake, strawberries are very popular to use in Japanese desserts since they are considered to be a 'cute' fruit)

(Above; Chocolate and vanilla parfaits, made to look like cute bunnies!)

(Above: Japanese wagashi sweets, 'sakura' flavoured)

Another interesting find while looking for cafe inspiration was the 'Fairy Kei' fashion movement. Japan is overflowing with different outrageous dress styles and fashion tribes but one of the most recent teenage fashion movement devised is the 'Fairy Kei' style. 

'Fairy Kei' is a softer, sweeter and more casual version of the Japanese lolita fashion trend with a hint of 80's. It uses mostly bright pastel colors (like lavender, baby blue, light pink, mint green, pale yellow, etc.), star or heart printed fabrics and elements and accessories from Western toy lines of the 1980s and early 1990s, such as My Little Pony, Strawberry Shortcake, Rainbow Brite, Popples, Jem and the Holograms, Barbie,Wuzzles and Care Bears. Wigs are often used and are often decorated with large bows, star clips and other hair accessories. Fairy kei originated from Sauri Tabuchi, the eminent Tokyo fashion figure's store Spank. 

(Above: Japanese pop star, Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, dressed in typical Fairy Kei fashion)

(Above: Japanese model, Kimura U, in Fairy Kei clothing)

I love the pastel colours and strange sugary 80's style of the Fairy Kei fashion style and also the 'cutesy' desserts served in Japanese maid cafes and  I'm planning to incorporate both of these aesthetics into the work I will produce for my cafe project. I think it would appeal towards both younger children (because of the bright colours and cute, cartoony designs and desserts) and also towards teens and people in their early twenties (since they might see the pastel-y 80's influence as nostalgic and fun but also unique and visually interesting). 

Pet Lamb Patisserie

Pet Lamb Patisserie

My tutor, Amy, recommended that I checked out a patisserie in Newcastle called 'Pet Lamb Patisserie'. It's a small shop located in Newcastle indoor Grainger market that specialises in cupcakes, tray bakes, cookies and special occasion cakes that can all be made to order. 

I've visited the shop recently. It's quite small, with just a display case counter and shelves to show off the cupcakes for sale. The interior walls are painted blue with white tiling. The floors are also paved with black and white titles, reminiscent of a typical 50's diner. There's also little chalkboards hung up on the walls displaying what kinds of cupcakes have been specially made today.

( Their official website : http://petlambpatisserie.com/cupcakes/ )

(Their blogspot, which features reviews of restaurants in newcastle, upcoming events and recipes : http://www.petlambgirls.blogspot.co.uk/ )

(Their facebook page : https://www.facebook.com/Petlambpatisserie )

Happy Daze Ice Cream Parlour

Happy Daze Ice Cream Parlour

Today, I visited the small ice cream parlour, 'Happy Daze' to help me think up ideas for my cafe project.

'Happy Daze' is located in Hartlepool and is situated near The Marina line, along with many other different restaurants. The ice cream parlour also doubles as a 1950's-esque American diner and mainly specialises in selling huge American-style ice cream floats and sundaes.

The diner itself is quite small, with only three seated booth areas and a long counter with swivel stools. It's decorated in typical 50's diner style with plush red vinyl seats, 50's memorabilia hung up on the walls and tiny replica jukeboxes on each of the booth tables.

Apart from ice cream, milkshakes and sundaes, they also serve hot and cold drinks and American style hot dogs. I ordered a small strawberry marshmallow sundae, it was delicious!

(Above: A creme egg ice cream float, an easter specialty at Happy Daze)