- Work
- Milk Bar
Milk Bar
Codifying a brand’s DIY challenger spirit to fuel national and CPG expansion.
An identity and extensible design system for Milk Bar to ready the NYC-based bakery for new channels and nationwide scale.
Challenge
How do we grow nationally without losing our NYC cool?
After a decade of success as a cult favorite, the bakery’s ambitious leadership team came to Redscout with a question: how do we grow to new cities, audiences, formats, and channels without losing the NYC vibe that makes our brand special?
Solution
Milk Bar’s mashup DIY spirit isn’t a barrier to growth — its the key to it.
The bakery’s edgy flavors and high-low creativity made it a fan favorite. To scale the brand outside of NYC, we’d need to mix in playful New York reference points that consumers in every corner of the country could relate to.
Our brand solution for Milk Bar cues ‘bodega dessert lab,’ with bold streetwear-inspired style that translates coast to coast. We used the ultra-bright convenience store as inspiration for the entire ecosystem — from packaging design, retail experience — and created a high-low graphic toolkit to spark social content.
The brand’s NYC flagship store — it’s largest and most ambitious yet. Rooted in the idea of ‘a love letter to New York’, the concept and layout we developed for the flagship gives a nod to iconic places in the city, from mini marts to classic canteens to dive bars.
Milk Bar NY Flagship Store. Credit: Alex Stanlioff for Eater
Results
The new visual identity and redefined brand ethos continue to fuel Milk Bar’s brand expansion on the national stage. It is now nationally available on .com, Amazon, Whole Foods, and at a grocer, Milk Bar store or pop-up near you.
