I am delighted to introduce Hot Bread Kitchen’s new branding, designed by Abbott Miller of the renowned international design firm Pentagram. We believe that our new branding communicates the essence of our mission and the quality of our unique line of breads.
As part of the rebranding, we have added new text to our logo to describe what we do: the phrase “Authentic Multi-Ethnic Breads” was chosen to underscore the international breads we produce and the backgrounds of those who make them, while “handmade” was selected for the bottom text to reinforce the artisanal nature of our products. At the bottom of this new logo is our original motto: “Preserving Tradition/Rising Expectations,” highlighting our commitment to the cultures from which our breads derive and conveying through the pun on rising bread to convey our goal of changing cultural perception of immigrant communities.
Adding to the unique visual richness of the branding is the patterned background that Pentagram has created. From afar it looks like a woven or batik pattern; however, if you look closely, you’ll notice that each row depicts a different ingredient used in the production of bread, such as corn, almonds, honey, milk, and wheat. Expanding upon Hot Bread Kitchen’s view of bread as a global staple that can communicate certain cultural aspects, Abbott has created a veritable iconographic language that conveys bread’s universal nature independent of the written word. You will also notice that our packages now feature, when applicable, the name of the bread in its native language, which we hope will further reinforce a respect for other cultures and our shared connection to and love for bread.
Pentagram has chosen a color palette that is atypical for an artisanal bread company: eggplant, bright blue, and an accent palette of bold, saturated colors. While I’m sure many of you liked our former branding, Pentagram noted that this palette was not differentiating us in the market as effectively as it could. Moving away from our previous organic palette of kraft and cranberry, they went in an entirely new direction and gave the brown palette of our artisanal breads a whole lot of pop! Read more about our newbranding and see additional photos on Fast Company.
At Hot Bread Kitchen, we sell bread to train immigrant and minority women so that they can get better jobs in food manufacturing and to br-educate NewYorkers about the contribution of immigrant communities. Pentagram’s generous donation of design services will make it possible for us to expand our services and change the lives of more women and their families.
Like a perfectly made challah, our new branding braids together our products, employees, and mission, and we hope you enjoy looking at and reflecting upon it as much as consuming our breads. We extend our deepest thanks to Abbott and the Pentagram team for all their hard work.
Sincerely,
Jessamyn W. Rodriguez
CEO & Founder
Hot Bread Kitchen
