K.A.K.E Conceptualization

K.A.K.E (or KakeCo) is a startup company created by longtime friends Katelyn and Keely. The name name KAKE comes from their names (Ka)telyn and (Ke)ely and is to be used as an umbrella name for all their joint ventures. Together they plan to hand craft all natural soaps, balms, lotions, candles, and crochet scarves. In addition to these from-scratch-products, they plan to up-cycle worn outfits and used furniture. Both founding members will do their own projects under the joint name and share an Etsy page.

From their GoFundMe page:

Katelyn and Keely, longtime friends, have been talking about their business idea for years, but something or another has always gotten in the way of making it happen. Now, the logistical Stars have finally aligned to make their dream into a reality. Keely has fallen very ill in the last year and is unable to work a conventional job. She is now determined to use her illness as an opportunity to do what she’s wanted to do for so long. Keely is also currently in the process of getting her bachelors degree in business management, so this is right up her alley! Keely and Katelyn have already joined forces with the creative team at ZebraFox Games to create a company logo, and they have put in their first order for supplies to work on some trial and error for their products.

About our business plan: We are passionate about creating. Our goal is to hand make organic and natural beauty products and household items, along with upcycling and reclaiming furniture and clothing. Each item will be truly unique. Our plan is to start with an Etsy shop and go from there as far as expansion, whether that be online or eventually having our own shop. Our dreams and our passion are huge, but we do need your help. We need to cover our startup costs.

It is difficult to put pride aside to ask for help, but we are so passionate and excited about this idea that we are willing to give this a try. Any little bit will be enormously helpful, and we are truly grateful in advance to all of you.

Before any of this, they needed a logo, both for recognizable brand and for an air of professionalism. After brainstorming the name for a good while and landing on the name everyone could agree on “Kake” I set to sketching up possible logo designs. We all felt that Kake (pronounced “cake”) might be pronounced incorrectly, and thought that having some recognizable symbol for cake in the logo would help clarify. We finally settled on the slice of cake, but there were many ideas floating around, from a full blown birthday cake, to a cupcake, to a bar of soap cut to show a cake filling. Some of my sketches are shown below, which depict the bar of soap idea, as well as the formation of the final design.

A final design was eventually chosen from my pages of sketches. The winning design ended up being circular in appearance as we felt this would most easily translate over to any label that the startup might end up printing out to put on their products. The founders liked the cake prompt for name assurance  and the sprout to represent the new life they give the furniture and clothes they plan to refurnish and refashion respectively. Once a design was selected, we had the artistic director of ZebraFox Games create a final product in Photoshop. Colors proved difficult to choose and changed greatly throughout the design process. We started with a sherbert orange circle, which changed to grey, and then finally to the blue you see today. The green of the sprout started off much more neon in nature, but was ultimately muted; and the sponge of the cake changed from a neon pink to a sprout green to the final orange you see below.The moon, stars, and pale purple of the sky represent a fresh beginning, as through the sun is about to rise. Below is the final product for the logo.

Final K.A.K.E Logo Design

Find out more about K.A.K.E on their GoFundME page, Twitter, or Facebook. Their Etsy shop will be up and running in the near future. As soon as they can order the supplies they need to begin hand crafting products  that many can and will enjoy. If this type of stuff interests you, consider donating to the pairs GoFundMe page.