Designing Little Loaf
Once our loan was approved last September, the excitement of “oh my god, we’re opening a bakery!” quickly morphed into “oh my god, we’re opening a bakery…” We had a mountain to climb—kitchen design, front-of-house flow, hiring, permits, all the little things we needed to order, and of course the construction itself.
But even before construction began, we were thinking about how people would feel in the space. The flow, the lighting, the energy of our team—all of it mattered. But so did the seemingly little things that aren’t actually so little: the artwork, the packaging, the bulletin boards, the merch. Every touchpoint is a chance to tell a story, spark connection, inspire action, or simply make someone smile.
So, we’d like to walk you through our design process and introduce you to the folks who made it all happen.
PS: Our beautiful plant friends are a HUGE part of this—but we’ll spotlight Karen (aka the Plant Aunt) and all of our green friends in another blog!
Credit: Gabriella DeSantis Photography
Our Approach = Our Values
Everything we do stems from our purpose, our vision, and most importantly, our values. These guide our decisions across the board—from what kind of merch we make to what kind of pastries we serve.
We talk about them a lot internally, but we haven’t really shared them publicly before. (Maybe one day I’ll write a longer post on this.) And just as an aside, we use “purpose” instead of “mission,” because to us, mission implies a fixed destination or an aggressive “at all costs” attitude. Purpose, on the other hand, feels like a guide. It reminds us why we’re here and helps us remain present for the journey rather than fixated on the destination.
Purpose & Vision
Values
Help Each Other: We look for ways to support each other, our customers, our community, and our planet, while also knowing when to ask for help ourselves. This helps build and sustain an environment where we all feel considered and cared for.
Create Joy: We look for ways to provide daily moments of joy for each other and our customers, whether through pastries, personal interactions, or contributing to a positive work environment. The smallest bit of joy can change someone’s day for the better. Including ours!
Try Something New: From adjusting our process or swapping an ingredient, to responding differently in a conversation, we stay curious and open to new ways of doing things. We don’t assume we have all the answers—or that we need to figure things out alone (this goes into asking for help!). Curiosity is how we learn, grow, and evolve, both individually and as a team.
These values were front-of-mind as we began thinking about how our space and how our packaging and merch would look, feel, and function out in the world. How do we bring small sparks of joy into someone’s day? How can we create moments of connection? Is there a new way we can approach our packaging, especially, to do something different? How can we infuse our little loaves as much as possible (aka our cats)?
Oh—and in case you didn’t know—we’re named after our cats, Cheddar and Apple. They’re our original “little loaves,” because sometimes they look like loaves of bread when they’re chillin’. If you have cats, you know!
But before we get into any of that, we need to introduce you to the designers who worked on *all of the things.*
Our Designers
Scott Carr (he/him) and Kate Lashua (she/her) are the design duo behind so much of the visual joy you see in and around Little Loaf. We first met them both in late 2022, back when we had just opened our pop-up at the Poughkeepsie Underwear Factory in Poughkeepsie. And wow, was that a stars-aligning moment.
Scott Carr
Kate Lashua
Kate specializes in print and pattern design and is currently a Senior Designer at Rifle Paper Co., a job she adores where she gets to work on patterns for wallpaper, textiles, and home goods. On the side, she’s hand-painting a floral mural up her staircase, making embroidered felt toys for her daughter and nieces, and dreaming up her next DIY idea.
Scott is a designer with a background in art and illustration, who got his start hand-painting signs as a Store Graphic Artist at Whole Foods before transitioning into digital design. He now works at snack company Rip Van, creating standout packaging and visual branding—continuing his unexpected but fitting journey through the world of food. Outside of work, Scott is always making something, whether it’s comics, paintings, songs, or his latest project: a comic about aliens called Specks of Dust and a tabletop game in the works.
An advanced civilization of aliens called “Specks" travel around the cosmos in search of enlightenment.
Chill Out
One day, Scott mentioned he’d done hand-lettering for Whole Foods and offered to help if we ever needed it. When we checked out his work, we realized he did so much more—packaging, illustrations, posters—coincidentally, all of the materials we were looking to have designed for our new space! When we mentioned also needing a muralist or wallpaper designer for our bathrooms, he immediately said, “Kate does that!” So we asked them if they’d be interested in working with us on the new space…and thankfully they said yes! Soon we were dreaming up packaging, merch, custom art, bathroom murals, and more.
Their respective talents were obvious from the start, but just as importantly—if not even more so—is that they shared our values and understood what we were trying to do. Not only did we want to show people how delicious and flavor-forward vegan baked goods could be, we also wanted to build a place that felt warm, inviting, and safe, especially for the queer community, and give folks the opportunity to just be. And if we could bring a little joy and laughter to someone’s day, even better.
Right away, Scott and Kate dove into researching all things New Paltz and compiled ideas from every angle they could think of—from the history of the Esopus tribe of the Lenape people, to the stories of alien sightings in the area, to the enduring hippy legacy.
“Research was fun—we used it as an excuse to eat more Little Loaf pastries! But we also spent time as a family exploring New Paltz and the surrounding towns a little more closely and consciously. Who is the customer? What are they doing? Where are they going and how can we help make them not just stop in, but come back for more?” -Kate
“Between the university, the rail trail, and all the tourists and locals that pass through - there's a lot of cool stuff to connect back to the Little Loaf brand that Rian and Colleen had already established.” -Scott
From there, they mapped out who might come through the doors and what their experience could be like—including longtime locals who were curious about the new spot, day-trippers on their way to nearby hiking trails, or people just looking for a good cup of coffee and a place to work. Throughout the whole exploration of various customer journeys, Scott and Kate were focused on not just making something look good–but making it feel good too.
This research paved the way for the next phase of the work—sketches and initial directions, which we go into in detail below. It was a blast working alongside them and seeing all of their insights and expertise shape our brand in a way that perfectly matches us and our new space.
Packaging
The Pink Boxes
We started using pink boxes early on because, well, we ran out of our kraft boxes and it was all that Restaurant Depot had and they were more on-brand than the white boxes. They weren’t anything fancy—but they were something easily recognizable. Soon, we started having people come up to us at almost every market saying, “We kept seeing these pink boxes everywhere and had to find out what was inside!”
Credit: Amy Bandolik @ the Beacon Farmers Market
Credit: Sabrina Moore / White Muck Photography
The pink boxes quickly became a staple of our visual identity out in the wild—and a non-negotiable for any future packaging.
Moving into our new bakery felt like the perfect moment to level-up. Thanks to our Kickstarter campaign (thank you to everyone who supported us!), we finally had the funds to place a bulk packaging order and the storage space to keep it all (thanks to our team for moving all these boxes with us!)—and we were about to make a lot of first impressions as the new kid on the block.
This also gave us a chance to tackle a couple things we’d been wanting to improve with our boxes: sustainability and durability. We have a hunch that food businesses will eventually be required to offer customers returnable packaging, and we wanted to be ahead of that curve. And that is a new habit for people to build—kind of like when we all had to learn to bring our reusable shopping bags with us, but a little trickier, since these boxes take up more space. We figured folks might need more of an incentive to do that.
So we worked with Scott, Kate, and the folks at noissue—who specialize in sustainable, customizable packaging—on a sturdy box design that included a stamp system. Every time someone brings their box back, they get a stamp, and after collecting four stamps, they could redeem their box for a free pastry—just like a punch card. We hadn’t seen anything quite like it elsewhere, but we figured, why not give it a try?
Credit: Gabriella DeSantis Photography
Credit: Gabriella DeSantis Photography
Credit: Gabriella DeSantis Photography
It’s been a hit. People return their boxes visit after visit—some even keep going after their built-in stamp rows are full. It’s helped make sustainability a little more tangible and fun. Plus, it saves us a bit of cash on packaging, and customers get rewarded just for holding onto their box for a few days (or even weeks!).
The branding benefits have been huge, too. Our boxes end up living in people’s cars, kitchens, and by their front doors—a subtle reminder that a pastry is in their near future. And if our boxes were going to be sticking around people’s homes and cars for a while, we wanted it to look good!
The boxes looking good also helped us to provide an engaging, on-brand backdrop for our pastries. We love how often we’re tagged in photos of products—so providing a whimsical interior (that matches our bathroom—more on that below) and an exterior that's instantly recognizable really helps set the stage for these pastries to pop. And of course, we had to make sure there were cats involved.
Our Cups
Scott also designed our custom cups—bright, fun, and color-coded by size using our brand palette. The little pink one is especially cute! While we don’t have a stamp system for them (yet!), they are durable (noissue packaging again) and can be used a couple of times—and are fully recyclable. Just give them a quick rinse before tossing them in the recycling bin!
Side note: we chose recyclable cups because we haven’t yet found a local service that handles commercial composting—though if you know of one, please let us know!
Credit: Gabriella DeSantis Photography
Merch
Just like our packaging, we wanted our merch to be joyful, functional, and a little weird/campy. But the guiding question was (and still is): Will this actually be used, or will it end up at the bottom of a drawer‚ or worse, the trash?
While we can’t control what happens after someone takes it home, we can do our part by choosing higher-quality, usefulness-focused items—things that are built to last, feel good to use, and maybe even bring a little spark of delight.
For anything screen-printed or embroidered, we work with Lightning Bolt Ink, a queer-owned and operated print shop in Asheville, NC. Their team is not only incredibly skilled and thoughtful, but also remarkably resilient—especially in light of everything the Asheville small business community faced during last year’s floods.
Credit: Gabriella DeSantis Photography
Some items, like our bandanas and beanies, serve double duty. They’re cute enough to sell, but practical enough for our own team to wear in the bakery every day (soon to be joined by baseball caps!). Our tote bags are designed with the same mindset—recognizable and fun, but also strong enough to haul pastry boxes without giving out.
Shirts were a learning curve. A couple of years ago we boldly started with white, only to quickly realized that dough, coffee, and pastry cream don’t play nice with light colors. That, and the humid Hudson Valley summers at the farmers markets led to sweat stains for days. We then had a pink iteration that was mis-printed in kind of a Pepto-Bismol color. So we decided to go with an black shirt with bright pink ink and a fun, pastry-and-cat themed illustration on the back. And yes, our phone number is, in fact, 844-LIL-LOAF.
As for our mugs, we went with MiiR tumblers to make something spill-proof, travel-ready, and designed to travel—whether that’s a car cup holder, bike bottle cage, or backpack sleeve. Camper-style versions (shorter and wider) are coming later this summer!
At the end of the day, our goal is to make items that people actually want to wear or use, and that bring them a little bit of joy along the way.
Oh, and shout-out to Clem, Scott and Kate’s toddler who was born shortly after Little Loaf started, who loves our pink beanie more than anyone we know!
“Clem loves her pink Little Loaf beanie. She wore it all winter...outdoors and indoor. She got quite a few compliments too!” -Kate
The Cafe Interior
After spending two years working under fluorescent or dim lights in a beautiful (but very dark) factory, we were looking forward to moving into a place that had so much natural light. If you’ve been to our cafe, or even just driven by it on Main Street, then you’ve seen the floor-to-ceiling windows in the cafe—they’re hard to miss!
Little Loaf Bakeshop - before we opened!
Little Loaf Bakeshop after an evening event
We worked with Scott to create custom pieces for the café that not only reflect our brand but also add color, movement, and a touch of sweetness to the space. There are illustrations of croissant-shaping, dishwashing (a vital part of any bakery), cats, plants, and even a little still life with coffee and a croissant.
Credit: Gabriella DeSantis Photography
The Bathrooms
And then—there are the bathrooms. We knew right away they were the perfect place for something playful and unexpected. Something that could interrupt someone's day, but in a delightful way. Kate created a concept that still makes us smile every time we step inside. The two bathrooms mirror each other—one pink with green illustrations, one green with pink (our brand colors)—and are filled with hand-painted illustrations of cats, croissants, queer iconography, and just the right amount of silliness.
Credit: Gabriella DeSantis Photography
Credit: Gabriella DeSantis Photography
The Big Picture
In opening our new space, we've done our best to consider every detail through the lens of our values. One value that is top-of-mind these days is “Help Each Other.” Our bakery was shaped by many hands (pun intended for the pastry-shapers), each one contributing something unique. And that’s what makes it so special. We can’t do this alone—“this” meaning the bakery, but also, well, life. There’s simply too much for any of us to carry on our own.
That spirit of collaboration is perfectly embodied by Scott and Kate—our co-creators, collaborators, and friends. Crossing paths with them was truly a gift from the Universe. And they didn’t just “help us out”—they each brought real skill, insight, and vision to our space. We’re not big believers in asking friends to “do you a favor” when it comes to creative work (or any work for that matter); we believe in finding the right people and honoring their time and talents. And sometimes, those right people are closer than you think.
Cat Heimlich - Scott Carr Illustration
Wash Your Toe Beans - Scott Carr Design
Little Loaf Tote Bag Design - Kate Lashua Design
