Pufftown Bakehouse is a Seattle bakery with a sweet and savory twist on croissants. With a traditional background in hospitality and pastry, founders Daniel and Serena took their hobby of fun croissants to the next level. EightySeven was tasked with developing a brand that people could fall in love with while bringing a new, quirky, innovative tradition of croissant creativity to life.

Founders Serena Rodriguez and Daniel Durand found themselves recently moved to Seattle baking crazy, weird croissant creations in their kitchen for fun while Daniel was working as a pastry chef during the week. Pretty soon, the hobby became and obsession, and as all magical things do, needed to be shared.

As a classically-trained baker, Daniel Durand took pride in his unique ability to combine traditional craft with creative experimentation that drew attention. With sweet and savory concoctions ranging from Fruity Pebbles and cereal milk icing to stuffed with chorizo and cheese, the obsession quickly became a business.

However, while the flavors and process were being refined in the kitchen, there was no name for this bakery concept, let alone a brand. The team needed a creative way to present these fluffy, puffy, and delicious croissant creations.

Working with the founders, we took them through our 87Core workshop to help identity the personality, voice, and vision of what the bakery could be. From the onset, it was clear that this should be familiar and fun, while avoiding feeling like a traditional French bakery.

Starting with the name, we wanted to create a sense of playful friendliness into every component of the brand. We combined sensory language (“Puff”) with a friendly sense of place and community (“Town”). To give the business room to expand their offerings beyond croissants in the future (“Bakehouse”).

We wanted the name to evoke the idea that these are special creations that can’t be found anywhere else, and these flavors and combinations will take you somewhere you’ve never been before. To us, it was crucial that we created a name that avoided baking tropes, generated intrigue, and inspired people to try something new.

Once we’d landed the name, we wanted to craft a look that was equally playful. To stand out, our team chose a minimal blue palette that was welcoming and fun, and paired with GT Maru by Grilli Type that are anything but traditional.

Within the logo itself, to further push the experimentation and “polite punk rock”, we flipped “Bakehouse” upside down in the logo while still maintaining legibility. To compliment these elements of the brand, we dialed up the whimsy with a cast of croissant characters that would dance their way into the hearts of Seattleites.

This quirkiness was also applied to the brand’s voice. When it came to naming and describing Daniel’s menu offerings, we replaced more direct and descriptive conventions with creative, personable stories that played up the quirkiness of the ingredients, making the Pufftown menu an experience worth exploring.