Ugly Cookie is a family owned cookie company established in Helsinki, Finland. The company is all about soft-baked, American-style cookies. Hand made in with only the best quality ingredients from sustainable, ethical sources. Belgian chocolate, Finnish butter and real vanilla extract from Madagascar. No palm oil, no glucose syrup and no imitation vanilla. No crap.

But why call it Ugly? “We don’t care much about appearances. It’s not how things look, it’s how they actually are that’s important. We’re curious about what lies beneath the surface. It is substance we’re after. And you can taste it in our cookies. They may be ugly, but we hope to give you a deeply satisfying, rich and delicious experience. Your smile will say it all. We believe in an honest experience. And by the way, that’s pretty much the way we feel about people too.” The Ugly team.

Make room for Ugly. The core of the design brief was to create a brand identity worthy of the straightforward goodness the company represents. The Ugly Cookie brand celebrates imperfection and encourages us to own our flaws, real or perceived. The take me as I am, Ugly attitude is confident and assertive. The word Ugly and changing cookie shapes were used to design a charming little face, a strong and recognisable logotype. The image concept created for the Ugly Brand treat the cookies as sculptural objects to be admired. The contradictions of beauty, are constantly at play.

Ugly AF. Proudly. The tone of voice of the Ugly brand is bold and playful. Perhaps the most visible in the choice of names for the flavour variants, for example, Not Quite White, Plain As Milk, Lowly Lime, So Sad Caramel and Orange You Mad. The use of typography is minimal and direct. With Social Media the Ugly Brand is having the most fun, for example:

Mother’s day messages: Mothering can Ugly, #uglysavestheday
Valentine’s day: Love is blind, #youruglyforever
Ugly can be a gift, #makeroomforugly
Think inside the box. It’s all Ugly. #uglycookie
Ugly duckling. You bet. #uglyAF