Switchback Sandwiches Needs YOU to Create a Modern, Clever Logo for Conscientious Consumers

Switchback Sandwiches

Switchback Sandwiches is a Bay Area based foodservice business. Our primary product is bagel sandwiches; we may expand into healthy alternatives (more on that further down).

### Our Target Market ###

- Age: 20 - 40ish (millennials and younger Gen Xers)
- Even split between women and men (neither strongly masculine nor strongly feminine)
- Frequent lunch buyers, above-median income
- Comfortable spending ~$10 on a sandwich
- Pursue an active lifestyle. This may include outdoor pursuits (hiking, camping, skiing/snowboarding, rock climbing) as well as indoor ones (yoga, barre, other fitness classes)
- Conscientious consumers. They recycle, and they may donate to “green” causes. They care about where the things they buy come from
- Brands they wear: Patagonia, Prana, Lululemon, Athleta, Smartwool, Arc’teryx
- They care about the quality of the food they eat. They shop at Whole Foods at least some of the time. They don’t eat 100% organic, but they choose it when it’s convenient
- They aren’t all necessarily vegans or gluten-free… but their friends are. They want and expect those options to be available
- Services/subscriptions they have: Netflix, Amazon Prime, Spotify
- Other places they may be buying lunch now: Sweetgreen (https://www.sweetgreen.com), Chipotle (https://chipotle.com), gourmet burger joints like Five Guys (http://www.fiveguys.com) and Shake Shack (https://www.shakeshack.com), take-out sushi restaurants, Saladworks (https://saladworks.com), Corner Bakery Cafe (https://www.cornerbakerycafe.com)
- Where they do NOT usually buy lunch: McDonald’s, Taco Bell, Wendy’s, KFC, Burger King, Papa John’s

Please note: for now I am starting with a logo, but I will have more design needs in the future (WordPress theme design, other branding work)... my intention is to reach out first to the winning designer (and other designers whose entries I liked) for those future needs.

### Elements of Our Positioning and Story ###

1 — Quality Ingredients

We make a better sandwich partly by using better ingredients than our competitors.

We source as much of our produce as we can get from local growers.

For our meats and cheeses, we use Boar’s Head exclusively.

Our artisan New York-style bagels come from a longtime Bay Area maker and are picked up fresh daily.

We’re considering adding sides/snacks to buy alongside the sandwiches - most likely this will be veggie chips, trail mix, dried fruit, or something else lighter and healthier than the typical bag of chips that other sandwich businesses offer as sides.

2 — Unique Preparation

Most sandwiches are either served cold or are toasted. Ours are neither.

After we build our sandwiches, we turn them into warm, melty, delicious blends of flavors and textures. To do this, we take filtered water, superheat it to above 212 degrees, and dry-steam them. The result is unlike any other sandwich you’ve ever had.

3 — Environmentally Conscious

In all areas of the business, we look to minimize our impact on the environment. Current examples include:

- Biodegradable gloves
- Local ingredients (where possible)
- All our packaging is either recyclable or compostable
- Environmentally friendly cleaning supplies (where possible)
- Food prepared using only electricity and water - no gas-burning ranges or ovens, no greasy fryers

Future plans (assuming the business grows) include moving to 100% renewable energy as well as donating a portion of our profits and time to environmental causes.

### Thoughts on the Logo ###

IMPORTANT: these are THOUGHTS AND IDEAS, not requirements. I am open to concepts besides what I’ve written here. That said, I am curious to see how concepts based on the information below might look.

- The company name (Switchback) refers to a feature in hiking trails where, in order to go up a mountain, the trail runs across the mountain and gradually climbs, then changes direction (switches back) and goes back across (and up) the mountain in the opposite direction. This creates an “S” pattern in the trail. (Example of a trail with switchbacks is attached.)

Since the company name, Switchback, also starts with an "S" I'd like to see some logo/icon iterations that are centered around or incorporate that "S."

- When I think about words and phrases that might describe the logo, I think of things like: vibrant, full of life/energy, clean, healthy, strong, optimistic/positive, and delicious/tasty/satisfying.

- I think the logo colors should support the brand name (Switchback) and what it represents. When I think about what that could mean, I think of colors found in nature: greens and blues, oranges, yellows, reds. (The logo certainly doesn’t have to involve every single one of those -- I encourage you to try color palettes that you think fit the brand.)

- Something I DON'T want... when I browse logo contests for other restaurants and food businesses on 99designs, I see a lot of stuff that looks intentionally vintage or old-fashioned... very text-heavy and typography-driven, with a minimum of iconography. They often look somewhat like a rubber stamp or passport visa.

Here are a few examples of this style from other 99designs contests:

https://99designs.com/profiles/cbt/…ns/1048651
https://99designs.com/profiles/proj…ns/1000214
https://99designs.com/profiles/digg…gns/530002
https://99designs.com/profiles/proj…ns/1013812
https://99designs.com/profiles/1bek…ns/1431172

This style fits a lot of brands, but I don't think Switchback is one of them.

- One way I think of a logo as being memorable/recognizable/“good” is whether you would still know it if someone blurred it out or removed part of it. For example, you could blur out the McDonald’s logo and people would still know what it was; the same goes for Coca-Cola, FedEx, Starbucks, Nike, Subway. (See also: this quiz/exercise https://www.sporcle.com/games/teeds…food-click — even with the names removed, these are highly recognizable)

Another way I think about this: if I’m walking down the street, how likely am I to notice the logo as I pass it? From how far away do I notice it?

- I want to be able to display the logo with the brand name as well as without the text. The icon should work well both with and without the brand name present.

- I think I’d prefer a flat design. Most of the logos I liked while researching this project are pretty flat. I also think it fits the clean/healthy/vibrant messaging that I want to convey with the logo. Plus when I think about my target market and what other brands target them, I mostly see flat logos. That said, I am still open to seeing designs that aren’t flat.

- Some other sandwich or food businesses who I think did a good job with their logos: Subway, Potbelly, Ike’s (Bay Area sandwich chain), Jimmy John’s, Shake Shack, Sonic, In-N-Out, Panda Express, Qdoba (the old logo with the cactus, not the new text-only one), Peet’s, Blue Bottle Coffee

### Format, Deliverables ###

- File format: AI and EPS
- Fonts: include name(s) of any fonts used. If font requires a paid license, please clear with me first (I may or may not be OK with paying to license a font, depending on the cost)
- Colors: details on any colors you used (Pantone, CMYK, and RGB - I will definitely use the logo online, and will also print things with the logo on it)
- Convert any text in the logo to outlines