Welcome to my blog series, Let’s Redesign, where I reimagine the branding, logos, and websites of LGBTQ+ owned and inclusive businesses based solely on my first impressions of their online presence. In each post, I’ll walk through my design process, explain the decisions behind what I create, and explore how thoughtful visual identity can evolve.

The goal is simple: to celebrate and connect with the incredible LGBTQ+ businesses I discover along the way (and hopefully they hire me haha).

Starting With the Logo

A logo is often the first visual decision people think about, and for good reason. It’s the most recognizable element of a business and the anchor everything else eventually connects to. Long before someone reads a mission statement or explores a website, they encounter the logo.

This logo redesign case study explores how I approach visual identity work for LGBTQ+ owned businesses, starting with clarity, scalability, and long-term usability.

For this project, I began with a logo redesign for Cake Life, an LGBTQ+ owned bakery in Philadelphia. At this stage, the focus was intentionally narrow: to create a logo that could stand confidently on its own before introducing any broader branding elements.

Not because branding isn’t important, but because a strong foundation makes everything that follows more cohesive.

Why I Start Every Redesign with the Logo

A logo should feel complete in its simplest form.

Before color palettes, patterns, or supporting graphics are introduced, the logo needs to be clear, legible, and recognizable. That means it should work in black and white, hold up at small sizes, and translate easily across both digital and print environments.

If a logo only works when it’s large, colorful, or surrounded by extra elements, it’s doing too much heavy lifting. Starting with the logo alone keeps the foundation strong and avoids building unnecessary complexity too early.

Design Goals for This Logo Redesign

The goal of this redesign was to create a logo that felt:

• bold without being overwhelming

• playful without sacrificing clarity

• confident and established

• flexible enough to scale across platforms

At this point, the priority was structure, balance, and proportion. Every decision was made with longevity in mind, knowing the logo would eventually live in many different contexts.

Reviewing the Current Cake Life Logo

Before redesigning anything, it’s important to understand what’s already working.

Cake Life’s existing logo has a lot of strengths. The bold lettering gives it strong visual presence, and the rolling pin motif is an immediately recognizable reference to baking. Together, these elements create a sense of personality and make the logo feel grounded in what the business actually does.

There’s a warmth and expressiveness to it that feels intentional rather than generic, which is a valuable foundation to build from.

Scalability and Legibility Challenges

Most of the challenges with the original logo aren’t about style. They’re about how the logo functions across different sizes and contexts.

As the logo is scaled down, some of its finer details begin to lose clarity. The small lines radiating from the rolling pin add visual interest at larger sizes, but become difficult to read when the logo is used in tighter spaces. The same is true for the three-dimensional effect in the lettering. While it looks polished at full scale, it becomes visually dense and less legible when reduced.

These details aren’t wrong, but they do make the logo harder to use consistently across modern applications, especially digital ones.

My Take on Cake Life's Logo

"Baking naturally overlaps with the queer experience; it is an authentic, creative expression with the power to build and heal our community…"

That framing stayed with me throughout this process. Cake Life isn’t just a bakery. It’s an inclusive, sustainable, and joyful space run by LGBTQ+ owners. I wanted the logo to reflect that energy—something celebratory, expressive, and unapologetically queer—while still feeling aligned with the brand’s existing voice and values.

Typography

Typography became the foundation of the redesign.

I chose a base typeface that felt fun, bold, and expressive, while still being highly legible. The rounded forms reminded me of cake itself—soft, inviting, and a little indulgent—without becoming cartoonish. The weight and structure of the type allow it to stand confidently on its own, even at smaller sizes.

For the secondary text, I paired it with a complementary font that maintains that sense of playfulness while introducing contrast. This helps create visual hierarchy and keeps the logo from feeling too heavy or monotonous.

The goal was to strike a balance between personality and clarity—something warm and joyful, but still functional.

Rethinking the Symbol

I chose to remove the rolling pin motif entirely.

While it was charming, it felt more literal than necessary and introduced fine details that didn’t scale well. Instead, I replaced it with a flame cutout in the “A” of Cake. When paired with the “I” in Life, it forms a subtle candle motif—an idea that feels much more emotionally connected to the brand’s name and purpose.

The flame adds a sense of warmth, celebration, and community without relying on a standalone icon. It lives directly inside the wordmark, making it feel integrated rather than decorative.

Designing for Scalability

One of the biggest priorities was ensuring the logo worked across real-world applications.

That meant removing details that would blur, clutter, or disappear when scaled down. Three-dimensional effects were flattened, and delicate elements were simplified. This allows the logo to remain clear on everything from storefront signage to social icons.

Because the flame element is consistent across both stacked and horizontal layouts, it can also stand alone as an abbreviated logomark. This gives the brand a flexible visual shorthand for smaller spaces without losing recognition.

Why This Approach Matters

This redesign wasn’t about “fixing” something broken. It was about aligning the visual identity more closely with what Cake Life already represents: queer joy, community, celebration, and care.

By building the logo around those ideas—and making sure it functions well in real-world contexts—the result feels expressive without being fragile, and bold without being overwhelming.

Conclusion

And thats it! The logo is complete and we are ready to move on to branding, the next natural step in creating a visual identity.

If you enjoyed what you read/saw here and want to follow along with the rest of this businesses redesigns in this series, check back often!

If you have an LGBTQ+ business you'd love to see my take on a redesign, leave a comment below and let me know!

OR if you'd like to work together, visit our Contact Us Page by clicking the button below and let us know what kind of projects you have in mind. We can't wait to hear from you.

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Thanks for reading!