Since 1985 Tel Aviv Bakery had been a leading kosher bakery serving the Skokie area before acquiring and merging with Challah house, an at-home, family run bakery husband and wife duo. This brought new life and energy into the bakery’s offerings and baking style, as well as brand confusion and frustration at what their clientele bases saw as two different companies.

For this project I was approached by the owner for a branding project relating to the recently acquired bakery and merger. I was tasked with creating branding and an implementation plan that would ensure brand clarity and inform both customer bases of the merger and new product offerings. 

During the discovery phase, I explored several directions that would support the best of both the bakery’s qualities: modern appeal, historical story, modern luxury, chicago local. Initial identities were developed for each of these directions and presented. Based on community feedback, we found that modern appeal with daily bread messaging resonated deeply.

The serif mark was inspired by the geometry of bread crumb, remaining radically soft yet structured. This final direction included a neutral, warm palette to support the new found homeiness for the bakery’s menu paired with modern graphic motifs that would position the bakery for growth across ecommerce channels and multiple physical store locations.

This direction and brand voice was stress tested in initial merger announcements, which emphasized a single bakery “baked into one”. The implementation plan was developed and given to management to follow along with deliverables, and Manna’s website was designed around the new brand voice. For the first time in Skokie, kosher baked goods were available to order for home delivery fresh from the neighborhood bakery.