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.

pc_styleguide

Logo Sketches

pc_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.

 

logo_petalandcycle_black

   

Bicycle Icon

I adapted the ampersand to transition easily into a bicycle icon, when shifted from vertical to horizontal orientation.

  petal&cycle_bike    

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.

pc_coverdesign_mock

 

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.

pc_brandcharacter_mock

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.

pc_floralstyles_mock

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.

pc_carecards_flyers

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.

pc_devices