Rye & Roses is a new venture in Machynlleth, to develop a ‘micro-homestead’ and wood-fired bakery. As well as producing great fresh bread, the long-term homestead plan includes growing, sewing, fermenting, foraging, pop-up events, and courses. Owners, Tom and Jane’s vision and passion for their business is to embrace and rediscover the use of traditional skills and locally sourced ingredients, and use these methods in their own artisan produce.
The visual identity needed to convey this vision – contemporary, but using traditional skills.
The key element of the brand, the logo, has been carefully crafted to subtly incorporate the core elements of the business name within the negative space of the recurring R’s – in both Welsh and English versions – a loaf representing the grain [rye], and a flower [rose]. The slashes in the bread can even be seen as the thorns of the Rose above it. The compact R logo forms a strong central icon – so that either the Welsh or English name used around it becomes equally recognisable. The strong arch of the lettering also has the form of a traditional wood-fired bread oven. A strapline underneath quickly conveys the core themes of the business – Earth . Grain . Fire
As part of the visual identity, the essential brand elements of colour, fonts and imagery are also defined. The black and golden brown form a natural, warm and earthy neutral tone. The headline typeface in the logo has a rugged handmade feel and a raised dimension that is reminiscent of Kilner jars and traditional cast iron tools. A guide to imagery also defines the feeling of naturally made, grown and crafted foods and ingredients – the textures of fresh crusty bread, close-ups of growing seedlings, muddy fingers, crops and free range hens. It all helps to create a brand that conveys honest produce, created with care and pride.
The initial identity is being rolled out as the business develops, with initial requirements including a website holding page [while the full site is being built using Squarespace – launching soon], hand-stamped business cards, market stall banner, aprons and information cards. This will undoubtedly be a business that will go from strength to strength, so keep an eye out locally to see more coming soon.
