Once: brand communication strategy
Part 1. Author’s reasoning
How communication theory operates in design and contemporary art
Communication in design and contemporary art cannot be reduced to the simple transmission of information from author to viewer. Instead, it functions as a complex process of meaning production, where the message is shaped and reshaped through the dynamic interaction of context, medium, codes, and audience.
Fundamentally, design operates as a system of signs. This is the domain of semiotics (Ferdinand de Saussure, Roland Barthes), where visual forms, materials, typography, colour, and style act not as mere decoration, but as a structured language. In this system, the relationship between the signifier (the form) and the signified (the concept) is arbitrary and culturally defined. Therefore, meaning is never fixed or guaranteed; it is perpetually interpreted, negotiated, and transformed by the receiver, influenced by their cultural capital and personal experience.
The classical linear communication model (sender — message — receiver) thus reveals its limitations in this field. A more pertinent framework is Stuart Hall’s encoding/decoding model. Here, the creator encodes a message with intended meanings, but the audience actively decodes it, potentially arriving at readings that are dominant (accepting the intended meaning), negotiated (adapting it with reservations), or oppositional (rejecting it entirely based on their own frameworks). This process is further complicated by various forms of «noise"—not just visual clutter, but ideological, social, and emotional interference.
Consequently, contemporary design, particularly in branding, increasingly moves beyond seeking mere clarity. It embraces layered, polysemic communication that allows for multiple, simultaneous levels of reading: intuitive, emotional, and symbolic. It constructs narratives that function as modern mythologies (Barthes), where a product or logo ceases to be just an object and becomes a signifier for broader cultural values, aspirations, or identities. Communication is built not only through explicit verbal messages but through the creation of an immersive atmosphere, curated rituals, and fictional brand worlds that invite participation.
This logic is pushed to its extremes in contemporary art, which often uses communication theory as both a tool and a subject. Artists like Barbara Kruger or Jenny Holzer explicitly appropriate the visual codes (signifiers) of mass media and advertising to critique their power structures, demonstrating how the same form can encode radically different meanings. The work of Mona Hatoum or Ilya Kabakov transforms entire spaces into powerful communication channels where context itself becomes the primary message, and the viewer’s physical and psychological experience is integral to decoding.
As a result, the role of the designer or artist transforms from that of a sole author dictating a single «correct» meaning to that of a strategist of signification. The goal is not to control the message but to design a robust yet open framework for interpretation—a set of rules, codes, and stimuli that guide but do not determine. Communication becomes a dialogic and ongoing process, in which the viewer is an active participant in the co-creation of meaning.
Within this project, communication theory is treated not as an abstract academic framework, but as a vital, practical toolkit. It informs the conscious shaping of every visual and experiential decision, ensuring they are strategically encoded to resonate with, adapt to, and engage different audiences across varied modes of perception and cultural contexts.
Part 2. Presentation of the brand for a general audience
Once — café & bakery
Once is a café and bakery people come to not just for coffee and desserts, but for small moments of happiness.
Here, bento cakes with cute animals — the kind you want to give as a gift, take photos of, and feel a little sad to eat. These cakes become a way to say «I’m thinking of you», to celebrate, to support, or simply to make someone smile.
Once is created for those who love things that are cute, delicious, and sincere. For anyone who still believes joy can be simple.
The Sweet Garden of Once
Once has its own world — a sweet garden where everything is made of desserts, cream, and imagination.
This garden is explored by the brand’s mascots: a bunny and a kitten. They travel through the garden together, tasting sweets, playing, and inviting guests into this gentle fantasy.
The sweet garden is about comfort, safety, and warmth. It is a place you want to return to.
Made by hand
Almost everything at Once is handmade:
- tableware,
- paintings,
- decorations,
- and, of course, the cakes.
Once values handcrafted skill, not factory-perfect surfaces, but something warm, alive, and slightly imperfect. That is why the café also hosts cake-making workshops, inviting visitors to create something with their own hands and take home not only a dessert, but an experience.
Once and for all
The slogan «Once and for all» is about a moment you want to remember. A taste you want to come back to. A gift that always works. People who you love.
Изображение создано с помощью Chat GPT-4o
Part 3. Presentation of the brand for a professional audience
Brand concept
Once is a café and bakery built around the idea of handcrafted joy and the emotional value of gifting. The brand focuses not on dessert as a product, but on dessert as a communicative object — a carrier of care, attention, and affection.
The core value of Once is a return to slow, tactile, human-centered making, positioned in contrast to the standardized aesthetics of industrial dessert culture.
brand logo and discriptor
Positioning
Once operates at the intersection of:
- café culture,
- gift economy,
- Korean-inspired kawaii dessert aesthetics,
- DIY and craft practices.
Rather than competing with traditional cafés on coffee quality or price, Once creates its own territory: emotional desserts as a form of communication.
Gift economy in coffeeshops communication
Target audience
Age: 15–30
Psychographic profile:
- high visual and aesthetic sensitivity,
- active participation in social media culture,
- emotional rather than purely functional consumption,
- interest in cuteness as a form of comfort and self-expression.
The Once audience values experience as much as taste, and visual language as much as function.
Product as medium
Bento cakes function not only as food, but as:
- visual objects,
- gifts,
- social media content,
- narrative carriers featuring characters and story.
Each cake operates as a complete message — easily recognizable, emotionally legible, and highly shareable in digital environments.
Visual system
Style:
cartoon-like, playful, and soft
intentionally imperfect forms
warm, «edible» color palette
Characters: The bunny and the kitten serve as brand mascots and narrative guides, lowering the distance between the brand and its audience while enabling strong visual recognition.
Brand world: The Sweet Garden is a fictional environment in which the brand exists as a coherent narrative rather than a set of isolated visual elements.
Color palette for Once
Handmade as strategy
Handcraft in Once is not a decorative gesture but a strategic communication tool: it signals care and time invested, emphasizes uniqueness, resists standardization.
Workshops extend the brand beyond consumption and transform it into a participatory platform.
Tone of voise
- friendly
- non-hierarchical
- emotionally open
- free from expert distance or moralizing
Once speaks to its audience as equals, encouraging trust and emotional connection.
Slogan
Once and for all
The slogan encapsulates the idea of a singular but meaningful experience — a moment that stays in memory and builds long-term attachment to the brand.
Conclusion
Once is a brand that uses dessert as a language, characters as mediators, and handcraft as a method of building trust. It operates within the field of emotional design, where value is created not through efficiency or utility, but through warmth, care, and play.
The project initially required working with an imaginary brand. However, Once is a real café and bakery that has existed for over four years, during which its communication evolved intuitively rather than through a clearly defined strategy.
One of the project’s authors has been working as a designer at Once for several years and maintains close communication with the brand’s founder. This position provided direct access to the brand’s internal context, values, processes, and real communication challenges.
At a certain point, the founder identified a need to rethink the brand’s communication: to consciously define its strategy, visual language, and ways of interacting with different audiences.
Within this project, Once is approached not as an operating commercial brand, but as a research-based model. The project draws on real experience and internal observation while proposing a hypothetical, conceptually structured communication strategy grounded in the communication theory studied in the course.
Rather than documenting existing practice, the project constructs a new version of the Once brand, as if its communication were developed from scratch, informed by a real brief and real conditions. The results of the project may serve as a practical tool for the founder in shaping the future communication of Once.
Part 4. An explanation of how the communication theory served as the basis for creating these presentations
Communication theory provided a foundational framework for developing the cake cafe’s communication strategy presentation by dictating how messages should be structured, transmitted, and interpreted. Specifically, foundational models like the linear model (sender-message-receiver) highlighted the importance of clarity in transmitting the cafe’s core message—its unique selling proposition and values—to the target audience. Theories such as the uses and gratifications theory suggested that the audience actively seeks media that fulfills their specific needs (e.g., a relaxing atmosphere, a sweet treat), guiding the selection of communication channels, from inviting social media posts to warm in-store interactions.
By applying relational communication theory, the strategy emphasized building lasting customer relationships through consistent branding and authentic engagement, ensuring every touchpoint fostered a sense of community around the cafe.
Thus, communication theory didn’t just inform what to say, but how and why specific communication approaches would effectively resonate with and motivate the cafe’s customers.
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Hall, S. (1980). Encoding/decoding. In S. Hall, D. Hobson, A. Lowe, & P. Willis (Eds.), Culture, Media, Language: Working Papers in Cultural Studies, 1972-79 (pp. 128–138). Hutchinson. https://spkb.blot.im/_readings/EncodingDecoding_HALL_1980.pdf (дата обращения: 13.12.2025)
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