Blue Umbrella Bakery
A thoughtful, community-driven brand refresh for a growing neighborhood bakery.
Amy, Owner of Blue Umbrella Bakery
meet amy hobb
Amy Hobb is the owner of Blue Umbrella Bakery, a once home-based bakery that has grown into a thriving brick-and-mortar main street stop for fresh baked cookies, pastries, and creative Cakealities.
When Amy first reached out, she was struggling to create a brand that represented her bakery and helped her attract the right customers. She initially came to me for a logo, but after discussing her goals, we realized a bigger need – a brand strategy that would guide her business forward.
We worked together to define her core audience, refine her messaging, and create a visual identity that aligned with her vision. As a result, Amy saw double the orders within her first year, built a loyal customer base, and eventually expanded into a full brick-and-mortar bakery with a space that is ready to grow with her.
The Sticky Situation
Let’s rewind a bit. Before Blue Umbrella Bakery had a storefront, before the Cakealities, before the community vibes–it was Amy, a home kitchen, and a whole lot of custom cake orders.
Amy knew she had something special. Her cakes were a work of art, her customers were happy, but something was still off. Marketing felt frustrating. She was getting business, sure, but there was no actual brand – just a name and some Facebook posts.
She tried figuring it out herself, but between the baking, the orders, and running the business, branding kept getting pushed to the back burner. When she reached out to me, she was looking for a logo – but after our first chat, we both realized she needed something much bigger: a brand strategy that would give her direction, clarity, and confidence moving forward.
2019 Blue Umbrella Brand:
our solution
Amy’s brand transformation didn’t happen overnight – it was a journey in two parts. In 2019, she booked the Identity Innovator (but at this time, it didn’t have a name) package to establish her bakery’s brand from scratch. We started by identifying her ideal audience – moms planning birthday parties and couples ordering wedding cakes – and built a strategy that made it easier to market her business and connect with the right people.
The result? Her orders doubled in the first year, and she quickly became a go-to vendor for local weddings. The Blue Umbrella Bakery logo was everywhere in the wedding scene.
By 2024, Amy’s vision had grown beyond custom cakes – her new brick-and-mortar bakery brought in a whole new opportunity and type of customer. She booked Identity Innovator again to refine her brand and ensure her strategy aligned with this next phase. This time, we focused on segmenting her audience into three distinct groups – bakery customers, wedding clients, and dining room guests – ensuring her messaging and visuals reflected the full scope of her business.
This was the strategic evolution of the Blue Umbrella Bakery brand – supporting her continuous growth while staying true to the original roots of Amy’s brand: creating community.
“You aren’t buying a service, you’re buying an understanding of your business in a new way.”
So, without further ado, here’s what we worked on:
Brand Strategy and Audience Clarity (2019)
What we did: Defined Amy’s ideal audience and refined her messaging to directly speak to her primary buyers – moms planning birthdays and couples ordering wedding cakes.
Why it mattered: Before this, Amy resisted the idea that her primary buyers were moms. Once she saw the data and how her sales aligned, she embraced the shift, which made her marketing much more effective.
The outcome: With a clear audience and messaging strategy, Amy’s engagement skyrocketed – leading to double the orders within just one year and securing Blue Umbrella Bakery’s reputation as a go-to vendor for local weddings.
Visual Identity: Logo, Color Palette, Typography (2019)
What we did: Designed a custom logo, icon set, color palette, and a typography lockup to create a cohesive, memorable brand presence.
Why it mattered: Amy needed a recognizable and professional brand that reflected her creative, extraordinarily detailed cakes while remaining approachable.
The outcome: Customers started recognizing her brand, and Blue Umbrella Bakery became a staple at local weddings. You’d hear the photographers say, “Blue Umbrella Bakery is at every wedding I shoot.”
Brand Strategy Update & Audience Segmentation (2024)
What we did: Updated her brand strategy to reflect her expanded bakery, dividing her audience into three clear groups: bakery customers, wedding clients, and dining room guests.
Why it mattered: With the addition of a dining space, Amy’s audience changed, and her messaging needed to reflect that shift.
The outcome: She can now market each segment effectively, ensuring she’s speaking directly to the right people at the right time.
Refreshed Visual Identity & Brand Guidelines (2024)
What we did: Refresh the style of the logo, typography, and brand color palette to reflect Blue Umbrella Bakery’s next chapter. I also created a new set of icons to better fit the style and vibe of the brand – The signature blue umbrella, a cinnamon roll, a brownie stack, a few mix and matched coffee mugs, and some chess pieces.
Why it mattered: Amy wanted to shift the overall vibe of her brand and the current colors and fonts did not reflect that. We were going for a moody, nostalgic, library nook sort of vibe – the color palette came easy and after a bit of back and forth on the script, we finally landed on the perfect fit.
The outcome: The brand refresh gave Amy renewed confidence and practical tools to align her brand across in-store, online, and marketing materials as she continues to grow.
2024 Blue Umbrella Brand:
the sweetest success
By the end of our work together, Amy had a brand that genuinely reflected her bakery, the community she is building, and her future goals. What started as a home-based bakery with no real branding evolved into a thriving brick-and-mortar business with a recognizable, well-loved identity.
Some project highlights include:
Doubled orders within one year of implementing her first brand strategy
Became a go-to vendor for local weddings, with her brand becoming a staple in the wedding industry
Successfully transitioned from a home bakery to a brick-and-mortar business, expanding her reach
Refined her messaging and audience segmentation, ensuring each customer type was engaged in a way that resonated with them.
Created a more strategic, intentional brand presence, giving her the confidence and tools to market her bakery and guide creative brand decisions with ease.
The refreshed brand and visual identity supports her continued growth across in-store, online, and additional branded materials.
Amy now has a clear understanding of how to connect and communicate with her audience, a brand that feels fully aligned with her vision, and the confidence to grow her business with clarity and purpose.
"Kirstin asks all the right questions and really dives deep.
I have worked with Kirstin in the past and had a great experience so when I decided to rebrand, I knew where to go. Kirstin is professional while still making the process easy to understand and communicate openly.
When you put so much of yourself into your business, it's hard to let go and you worry whether they will see the vision, but Kirstin asks all the right questions and really dives deep to understand what you want from your business and the message you want your business to say.
Kirstin knows what she is doing and will help you through the process step by step so that you are still in control, but not having to do it all on your own.
It was really hard to let go of my first brand, but change is good sometimes and Kirstin helped me see why I needed it and I felt heard throughout the whole process.
— Amy Hobb, Owner, Blue Umbrella Bakery
ready to bring your brand into its next chapter?
You don't need a new logo. You need a brand that aligns with your vision, connects with your audience, and grows with your business. That's exactly what we'll do in Identity Innovator.