Gretel scales Hart Bageri’s craft-driven identity across 10+ locations

When Gretel first designed Hart Bageri’s identity in 2018, Richard Hart was opening a single bakery in Copenhagen's Frederiksberg neighbourhood. The visual system – anchored by Freehand Blockletter and Graphik, rendered in stark black and white – captured the focused intensity of a baker obsessed with craft. Seven years later, Hart has grown to over 10 locations with a product line extending far beyond traditional baked goods. The identity needed to grow with it. The challenge wasn’t just about adding locations. “The real challenge, beneath all the tactical requests, was maintaining soul at scale – preserving Hart’s unique character while building a strong and flexible visual framework for years of continued growth,” explains Head of Design, Dylan Mulvaney. It’s the familiar tension facing any brand that succeeds: how do you systematise without sterilising? Gretel brought in illustrator Bráulio Amado to evolve the hand-rendered elements. Rather than ask him to draw baguettes and croissants, the studio took a different approach. “The brief we shared was specific: create objects, characters, scenes and patterns that evoke Hart’s tone and ambience rather than literally representing products or processes,” notes Mulvaney. The exploration ranged wide – different media, drawing styles, varying levels of abstraction – exploring how human-like or abstract the characters should feel. Patterns suggested waves of music rather than arrays of coffee beans. Through multiple rounds of refinement, the illustrations were tested across applications from coffee cups to mural walls. The result captures Hart’s spirit without literalism – gestural, analog, and adaptable across the expanding system.