Petal & Cycle
90-Min Flower Delivery By Bicycle
Partners
Agnieszka Dolata (Photography)My Role
Branding Art Direction Content Strategy Web Design Front End Development
Client
Richa Bhalla (Owner, Petal & Cycle)Challenge
After a few years working in San Francisco with Y Combinator and a few small tech startups, Richa Bhalla decided it was time to go after her life long dream of starting her own company. She came to me with an idea for a flower-by-bicycle delivery service that would launch in her hometown of London. My task was to design a complete brand identity package and responsive e-commerce website that would engage a market of millennials, age 20–40, and encourage them to "spread a little joy."Problem
Flowers in the city are prohibitively expensive, especially for same day delivery, which discourages the younger generation from gifting. Texting and twitter are also far more popular modes of communication with millennials than a gesture like flowers. How do you set a new trend?Solution
Petal & Cycle offers bright and bold bouquets in small doses. With just 4 arrangements to choose from each week, it's easy to find a simple gift to meet that last-minute need. Prices are approachable and include the cost of delivery. But finally, Petal & Cycle stands out in the crowd with its lively and personable voice, neighborly bicyclist service, and incredible customer service.Research & Moodboarding
The creative process began with research and analysis of the competition. Most floral sites that I came across felt over-crowded, and the selections were often too traditional or too extravagant. Richa’s aim was to limit her offerings to 4 bouquets each month, for a quick and easy selection process. With such a limited product line, the website and florals needed to hook viewers instantly. Moodboarding helped define a visual language to guide the brand's voice and tone.Logo Sketches
Final Logo
Josefin Slab, a clean, rounded typeface is simultaneously friendly and refined. The perfect circle counters and slab serifs call to mind the wheels and spokes of a bicycle, and the “e” tilts gently for a sense of motion.
Bicycle Icon
I adapted the ampersand to transition easily into a bicycle icon, when shifted from vertical to horizontal orientation.

Brand Pillars
Bold
Sometimes the smallest gesture can make the greatest impact. Petal & Cycle challenges us to stop texting and send a real message. A rich color palette of fully saturated hues supports this agenda and commands attention.Whimsical
The owner had a charming idea to derive bouquet names from words invented in her favorite British & American literature. Petal & Cycle's playful and witty copy deals out fresh inspiration with each product release.Energetic
The brand is youthful, fit and lively. Petal & Cycle epitomizes the expression "be there with bells on," with excellent customer service from our friendly neighborhood cyclists.Approachable
Finding the right gift, or the right words to say, can be daunting. Petal & Cycle saves the day with a simple selection and ordering process. While the flowers do the talking, brand extensions keep it clean, minimal, and open.Brand Statement
With this foundation, I helped to formulate a brand and mission statement to set Petal & Cycle in motion:Petal & Cycle is bringing flowers back. We deliver vibrant floral arrangements—in small doses and at affordable prices—to anywhere in Central London in 90 minutes or less. And what’s more, we do it all by bicycle.
In an age of increasing technological shortcuts in communication, we aspire to break the mold of passive texting and emails. We dare our generation to be bold—to send a REAL message with flowers.
Brand Positioning
Petal & Cycle is the youthful and approachable alternative to traditional floral suppliers. While most floral shops in London cater to an older demographic and special events with expensive and elaborate floral arrangements, Petal & Cycle offers rich textures and bold color pairings to pack the biggest wow in the smallest package. The only thing more charming than the flowers are the wind-swept faces of our friendly neighborhood cyclists.
Product Development
With the brand statement, characteristics, attributes and positioning clearly defined, I translated these ideas into floral and photography style guides. The colors of the brand are highly saturated, photographed in low contrast to capture rich midtones. Floral arrangements play with scale, pairing small and large blooms with textures of wildflowers or berries for truly unique designs.
Brand Extensions
The print collateral has a vintage inspiration with dotted and solid line treatments resembling that of old telegrams. While the color palette has a modern, clean finish of solid hues against black or white, care cards and packaging are cut from recycled brown paper or burlap and tied with twine.
Responsive E-Commerce Website
The final step was to design and code a unique theme for the online point of sale under the Shopify framework. In response to site analytics, the homepage layout evolved from a long-scroll landing page that introduced each product with animated brand statements to a simplified hero and how-it-works section as the site now remains.