6 Panera logo possibilities

The 6 Panera logo possibilities included in this blog have been rendered in Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop, two incorporating a hand-drawn image.

I may add additional hand drawn logo images to replace ‘mother earth’ as inspiration strikes….

Current logo for reference

Here’s the current logo for reference.

See the previous blog for background information on this logo, Panera Breads, and why I am interested in redesigning it.

The first three logo possibilities use the current ‘mother bread’ drawing and Panera name font.  All three of these drafts are close to the current look, but ‘cleaner’ (less is more).

I would likely include something like this in a sales pitch to Panera, figuring that they (and their customers) may be ready to make their current image more contemporary and relevant, but not stray too far from their original concept.

Logo name change – rebranding

The draft logos all use the name ‘Panera Café and Bakery’ – a rebranding of Panera Breads to better reflect what Panera is all about.

They don’t just bake bread…

This is one of the most critical logo changes I will make.

Color simplification – less is more

The first three logo drafts have been simplified from a color perspective – one color is used – the dark brown that is currently in ‘mother bread’ is carried to the font, and the green and tan background is eliminated.

First three logo drafts… similar to current logo, but cleaner and more contemporary look

The first one places the image at the top over the name a la the current logo, but it is larger, and placed to follow the swooping Panera font lines:

Second draft… Panera on top:

Panera on top with image and ‘cafe & bakery’ sized same width:

Green color option…

I am considering using green throughout the logo to reflect Panera’s commitment to using healthy ‘clean’ ingredients.  It is common to use green in healthy restaurant logos.

A fourth logo that has Panera in green text has been rendered in Adobe Illustrator using shareware for the Panera font.  Here ’tis…

Frustration strikes…

So far I have not figured out how to convert the ‘mother bread’ image from dark brown to green in adobe illustrator despite having searched the internet for nearly an hour. This seems like it ought to be a basic AI skill and easy to find and learn.  No doubt it is.  Will ask for assistance from Professor Groat.

Logo font exploration

So far I have not identified a font that I like better than the current Panera font.  I really like it.  It is available as shareware.  For now, I am using it in the new logo.

If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it.

Pairing fonts…

I have explored what the current Panera font pairs nicely with, and at this point am pleased with Copperplate Gothic Bold for the ‘Cafe & Bakery’ part of the logo.

I need to ID where to get the accent for the letter e…

 

New image explored – contemporary and minimalist

Here’s three images I sketched for the logo – intended to replace the current dated / poorly rendered ‘mother earth’ image, but all inspired by it … the top and bottom inspired by her flowing hair, and the middle by the loaf of bread.

The top image looked too much like an eye with a beauty mark or a swimmer doing the front crawl, so I set it aside and sketched another one.

The middle image was intended to be a loaf of bread with something inside it (green, healthy), but I stalled and moved on.

The bottom image has possibilities IMO… it was inspired by the Nike swoosh logo, Panera’s Mother Bread flowing hair, and this graphic design of hands outstretched and gently holding the earth (found on an Internet search for inspiration of ‘mother earth’):

I decided to pull the bottom image into photoshop and explore it.  I quickly realized that if I moved the smaller curve to the top, it would look like an outstretched hand (mother bread?) holding something (food?), or perhaps a spoon holding food.  Or both…  all good for a cafe & bakery restaurant serving healthy clean food mother bread would be proud of.

So into the logo went the third design.

Or maybe I will be inspired to design a totally different image in the next few days…

I just noticed the three images taken together look like a face – eye, nose, and mouth.  Unintentional, funny, and cool.

Logos incorporating new minimalist image

The next two drafts go a step farther away from the current logo by rendering a more contemporary minimalist image – the one discussed above that was inspired by the current mother earth logo, a Mother Bread graphic art piece on the ‘net, and Nike’s simple swish logo.

So it is official:

The lazy S curve in the image represents mother bread’s outstretched arm, and her hand holding food in it.

The outstretched arm also happens to look like a spoon.

In one of the versions, the ‘food’ is in green, representing the healthy-clean aspect of Panera’s ingredients.

This hand-drawn image will be redrawn in AI if selected.

Second version with ‘food’ in mother earth’s outstretched hand in green:

My resident artist daughter prefers this last design, and has suggested replacing the very dark brown font with a mid-tone brown to move closer to skin color.  I plan to explore this idea.