Defining brand idenity
Little Cocoa Bean Co., Nourishment Through Collaboration
Co-Op Pro bono branding — 2020/2021
Tracy found baby food options limited to common veggies and wanted foods from her culture. She started Little Cocoa Bean Co. to bring African Diaspora foods to baby food. Mara, Jerry and I were excited to help.
Learning the vision
We met with Tracy and worked together to define a process and timeline that worked for everyone. After several interviews, we really got to know her mission, goals, vision, customer base, and upcoming plans.
We then researched the CPG space and landed on three possible directions for Little Cocoa Bean Co. Tracy wanted to see a combination of two!
The Urbanite — Shedding the frills, contemporary.
Simply Food — Pure ingredients & history.
Folklore — Illustrative connection to culture.
Establishing a clear mission
Tracy and I worked closely to create the brand's voice. Through meetings and messages, we shaped this part carefully. Tracy had a vision, and together we made her ideas clear through a series of branding exercises.
Inclusion —
We engender a culture of inclusion and love by championing diversity.
We honor and recognize our past by creating hope, love, and health for the future.
Heritage —
We recognize parents for their efforts. We’re all doing the very best we can.
Recognition —
Positivity —
We try not to say ‘no’. We affirm our mission using positivity as our north star.
Building the brand visuals
Mara and I worked together on visuals highlighting African Diaspora in children’s food. We took ideas from Caribbean folk music, Central American and Indian textile designs, and the bright colors and shapes of papaya and mango.
When the pandemic started, Tracy changed the plan, moving focus from food to products parents use to feed their kids. We stopped the illustrations and concentrated on the website instead of packaging.
Bringing it to customers
In comes Jerry! He had been observing and collaborating for a long while, offering comments here and there, but the website is where he truly shined. Jerry, Mara, and I worked through user flows, wireframes, and UI, and finally applied the look and feel.
Jerry took it to Tracy for the all-clear and then started developing. Little Cocoa Bean Co. launched their site and began selling their feeding tools to families!
This was a weird time...
This was a weird time...
Things shifted, priorities changed, jobs were lost, daycares were shuttered, new jobs were gained… I wish we could have continued to refine the brand for Tracy… and kept working with Mara and Jerry… but circumstances didn’t allow us to do that. We got LCBco. up-and-running and said goodbye.
This was an incredibly rewarding experience, filled with challenge and newness and fun, in the middle of a not-so-fun era.
With that — I’m so grateful for it.
Tracy Skelly — Founder, Little Cocoa Bean, Co.
“I didn’t have a brand before working with Dylan. I had a business. He changed the course of my work in so many positive ways.
Little Cocoa Bean Co. is what it is because of Dylan’s thoughtful approach to the branding work and because of his exceptional talent and subject matter expertise.”
Little Cocoa Bean, Co. has kept on growing!
Tracy had to adapt a lot—she changed models, got funding, got press, rebranded, opened a pop-up in Boston’s Seaport, and a store near me in Jamaica Plain. The brand looks new (love the illustrations now!), and it’s great to see the Brand Values on the website, knowing I helped Tracy create them. Check out the new Little Cocoa Bean, Co.!
