Toast Cafe - Butter Side Up
Brief: An agency called Elmwood visited our studio for a one day brief. They each gave us a slip of paper with something we had to brand, our task was to brand a Toast Cafe. Myself and my partner would like to extend this brief and brand our own toast cafe that will invite the public to immerse themselves into the traditions of Britain and have some nice home comforts.
Tone of voice:
- Friendly
- Simple
- Relaxed
- Sociable
Research:
Source: http://metro.co.uk/2016/02/18/tradition-of-cups-of-tea-and-slices-of-toast-are-dying-out-5702589/
'The Great British tradition of tea and toast is in decline.
Data that tracks changing food habits through the generations suggests people are moving away from the classic combo.
But Britons have also reduced the amount of bread they eat by 40 per cent since 1974. Based on a 40g slice from a medium sliced loaf, the amount people are eating has fallen from 25 to 15 slices a week in the last four decades, the figures suggest.
Tom Blair, Yorkshire Tea brand manager, said: ‘This is all a bit of a storm in a teacup. People aren’t drinking as much tea but when they are, they’re choosing quality, which is why we’re the only standard black tea brand in growth.'
Changing technology, with an increase in freezers and microwaves, has also led to shifts in what we are eating. Consumption of ready meals and convenience meats have increased six-fold since 1974.
Take pizza for example. When both frozen and not frozen pizzas are combined, it has become over 26 times more popular (from 2g to 53g per week). And takeaway pizza purchase has increased by 1,000% over the same period.
My analysis:
From this article it appears that research has been gathered on the consumption of tea and toast in Britain. It suggests that the British tradition is in decline, there are many contributing factors such as the consumption of ready meals and visiting restaurant/cafes instead. This shows that there is a market to be filled for a toast cafe and bring back the tradition to us Brits.
Source: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/news/british-cup-of-tea-and-toast-on-decline-as-junk-food-increases-in-popularity-a6879926.html
The traditional cuppa is in decline, the slice of toast is on the way out, but junk food is still increasing in popularity. The changing eating and drinking habits of UK consumers through the generations have been revealed by data which shows that old favourites are losing popularity.
But Britons have also reduced the amount of bread they eat by 40 per cent since 1974. Based on a 40g slice from a medium loaf, the amount people are eating has fallen from 25 to 15 slices a week, the figures suggest. The Great British “cuppa” has also declined since the 1970s, with tea consumption falling from 68g per person per week to just 25g. With a teabag or portion of loose tea weighing around 3g, that means Britons are drinking on average just eight cups of tea a week today, down from 23 in 1974.
Analysis:
Again from this research its suggesting the decline of Britons consuming tea and toast. With other teas on the market and people opting for healthy snacks than 'toast' it supports the fact that there is a decline in how much people consume, that means there is a possibility of a gap in the market that will bring people together again and keep the British tradition.
Source: http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2014/jan/15/posh-toast-costs-250-slice
TToast is trendy. Yes, you read that right: toast. Obviously we're not talking marge on Mighty White, but rather the artisanal slices served with hand-churned butter and homemade jams that have been popping up on "toast menus" around San Francisco and now New York. And if that all sounds too yuppy and insufferable for words, brace yourself: there's more. Some of those slices are selling for $4 a pop. That's about £2.43 a slice at the current exchange rate. Unsurprisingly, this pricey fad has attracted lots of column inches in the States, with some blaming California's well-paid tech workers for fuelling the craze. So if $4 toast is storming San Francisco, could it be headed to Britain, too?
Before we get too sneery about the artisanal toast trend, it is worth taking five minutes to read this thoughtful piece by Pacific Standard's John Gravois. Interested in the origins of the trend, he traces it back to Trouble, a coffee shop in one of San Francisco's "foggiest, farthest-flung areas". He meets the owner and discovers that for her, toast is both "comfort" and salvation – a symbol of her attempts to tackle mental illness. From Trouble, the toast trend spread to other SF cafes such as The Mill, which serves Josey Baker sourdough with sounds-like-a-spoof accompaniments including "small-batch almond butter" at around $3-4 a slice.
Britain seems a natural home for the artisan toast trend. After all, our love affair with hot bread goes back centuries. According to the Oxford Companion to Food: "Toast has a long history in Britain. 'Tost' was much used in the middle ages, being made in the ordinary way in an open fire."
Food writer Tonia George went one further with her 2009 book Things on Toast, which contains some of the most drool-inducing photos of butter melting into bread you'll ever see. "I'm a complete toast junkie," she says. "I wasn't trying to tap into a trend. I didn't know other people liked toast as much as I did until the book started selling well and got reprinted."
George now sells artisan toast at her two Ginger & White cafes in London. For £3.50 you get two slices of Flour Station sourdough toast, Somerset salted butter and jars of homemade peanut butter ("completely fresh, no preservatives") and English jams. At Gail's, a growing chain of bakeries, you pay £2.50 for two slices of toast (from a selection of 30 kinds of freshly baked loaves), Lescure butter and organic French jam. At E5 Bakehouse in Hackney, the sourdough toast – baked on site – is £1 a slice.
Analysis: From this research it shows there is a growth in the UK and USA for 'Toast' cafes which sell baked goods and home comforts, as highlighted above one person mentioned that toast is both "comfort and salvation" which helps tackle her mental illness. This shows that toast has contributing factors which benefit people on a much more personal level. Also highlighted is British people that have taken toast into their own hands and are producing locally sourced traditional goods such as butters, jams etc to sell in their cafes, this proves there is still love and demand for toast in Britain today. To strengthen this research I would like to investigate into the mental and physical benefits of tea and find the origins of which it came from.
Source: http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2013/10/history-toast/
The history of toast begins, of course, with bread. The earliest archaeological evidence of flour dates back some 30,000 years, and it’s likely people were making flatbreads around that time, too.
Along with being a staple food in many civilizations, ritual bread was sometimes used as an offering to the gods in Ancient Greece. Wheat and barley were a few of the first crops domesticated in the Fertile Crescent—despite not being as nutritionally rich as other food sources that could be gathered, the bread that resulted from grain crops was able to sustain a larger population. It’s thought that the ability to make bread was a factor in ancient peoples being able to end their nomadic lifestyle and settle in one place.
Bread as we know it today was likely invented in ancient Egypt. The Egyptians learned that if they left dough sitting out for a while, it would rise. When baked, the bread would retain its risen shape. This was, of course, due to yeast spores in the air finding their way to the dough. The practice of toasting bread became popular in the Roman Empire. The word “toast” actually comes from the Latin “tostum,” which means “to burn or scorch.” The first breads were likely toasted by laying them in front of the fire on a hot stone. Later, simple devices were created to toast bread in the fire, such as wire frames to cook the toast more evenly, or even sticks like those we use to toast marshmallows over a campfire today.
Analysis: Researching into the origins or bread and toast it has came apparent again that bread has been used as a form of symbolism for 'home' and something which brings comfort. With bread being offered to the gods in Ancient Greece and the Egyptians and Romans using the bread to 'burn and scorch' after it has gone stale supports that toast has been around for a lot longer than people think.
This video came up when researching. This pretty much sums up the extremes Brits go to to show their love for Toast. Enjoy.
Source: http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/health-benefits-english-breakfast-tea-2406.html
English breakfast tea is simply black tea without added herbs or other ingredients. According to the Linus Pauling Institute, this beverage, made from the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant, is the second most widely consumed drink in the world, after water. Because black tea can retain its flavor for years, it has been a popular article of trade for centuries, creating important relations between nations throughout the planet. People who drink English breakfast tea each morning can enjoy a variety of health benefits from its flavonoid content and from other nutrients it contains.
Benefits from English Tea:
- Artery Health
- Cancer Prevention
- Dental Health
- Kidney Stone prevention
Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/5281046.stm
These polyphenol antioxidants are found in many foods and plants, including tea leaves, and have been shown to help prevent cell damage. They found clear evidence that drinking three to four cups of tea a day can cut the chances of having a heart attack.Public health nutritionist Dr Carrie Ruxton, and colleagues at Kings College London, looked at published studies on the health effects of tea consumption. Some studies suggested tea consumption protected against cancer, although this effect was less clear-cut. Other health benefits seen included protection against tooth plaque and potentially tooth decay, plus bone strengthening. Dr Ruxton said: "Drinking tea is actually better for you than drinking water. Water is essentially replacing fluid. Tea replaces fluids and contains antioxidants so it's got two things going for it."
https://www.behance.net/gallery/34655239/Radosti-Coffee
Looking into existing cafe brands helped gather research on how they were communicating to their audience. Rodosti Coffee took elements from the coffee bean plants and created an identity that was simple yet effective to their audience.
The main idea of visual identity is strongly connected with the atmosphere of this place, full of green plants, light and air. Wood, plywood, concrete and natural brick dominate in the interior. The logo represents а Р-shaped sprout, which also starts from the letter R (Р in Russian). This growing sprout theme glides through all the identity, sometimes changing its shape or height, but still being recognisable.
This is something to consider when branding our own 'Toast Cafe' as using something so simple can still be effective and communicate what the cafe has to offer.
https://www.behance.net/gallery/31286537/Bronuts-Brand-Identity
https://www.behance.net/gallery/36475847/The-Flour-Pot-Bakery-Made-in-Brighton
This is another approach a bakery has taken for its brand identity. The brand has taken 'flower' and replaced it with 'flour' to make it sound as though its a floral shop when in fact it is a bakery, it is to communicate the time and care that goes into the goods it sells just like a florist would take to arrange and present flowers. The clever concept is supported by the simplistic but cute design, the colour scheme however, does not communicate anything about the baked goods, nor does it give off a friendly and approachable atmosphere. The contemporary approach may have been chosen for them to target a higher cliental and be more suitable for an audience that will pay more money for quality.
https://www.behance.net/gallery/7296915/Elinas-bakery
This branding for this bakery has also took a clever approach at designing the logo.
"In the creative process of designing the logo, major role played the following key elements: How elina's bakery is coordinated by one person and particularly from a personal space (home). At the same time we had in our mind that it contains a vision and an ambition, in case elina's bakery develops, to maintain its original value (homemade sweets). Also key was that it is not targeting only in a specific product (cupcakes, which is well-known) but also in more sweets. Ultimately the logo includes all of the above and the way to capture it is as follows.
A home oven with a roof. The features of the logo are the recognizable home oven with the buttons and the glass of the facade. That is the core of the design of the house which is closed and protected by a roof. The rounded corners and soft contour make the logo more friendly and work together and consistently with the soft rounded letters. The verbal part of the logo is written in lowercase letters in order to verify the friendliness and immediacy."
The logo works well at communicating that the bakery sells home-made goods. Combining elements from a house and a oven has created a hybrid logo that resembles both, the simplicity of the design works effectively and clearly. The colours selected also communicate cleanliness and hygiene whilst offering goods of a high quality.
