How to craft a charming and frills-free bakery brand, with MOS’ minimalist identity for Munkeriet

Munkeriet is a Norwegian bakery specialising in a beloved Scandinavian snack; the munk. Harbouring a taste and texture similar to a bun or doughnut, the traditional baked treat first originated during the Viking Age. However, it had become a rarity in Norway in recent times.

With experience from some of the best Michelin-starred restaurants in the world – notably Noma, Kontrast, and Credo – chef Leopold Prytz Roze has reintroduced the munk to the Scandinavian market. Originally launched in 2020 as ‘Tasty Munks,’ Munkeriet has since grown from a delivery-only social media tour-de-force to a satellite bakery that provides munks to some of the best cafés, hotels and independent grocery shops in Oslo.

Looking to stand out in a market saturated with glossy pink logos, they approached MOS to help establish Munkeriet as a bakery dedicated to simple honest ingredients and meticulous refinement. The resulting identity designed by the Oslo-based studio not only rejects the twee motifs of typical bakeries, but also invites consumers to enjoy the small pleasures in life. Furthermore, the warm and minimalist look (centred on the product itself) highlights that a baked good doesn’t need to be glossy, delicate, and ornate to be appealing. “The concept for the whole identity was ‘the little things’ so we wanted to create an identity that has many small elements that we could use in different combinations and layouts to create a visual language that is dynamic and charming,” Designer Jessie Jones reveals.

Typography is the key driving force, starting with the decision to include an ‘M’ logo as well as a full-name circular wordmark. “The choice was both practical and conceptual,” Jones explains. “From a practical perspective, the wordmark being a shape that is made up of small letters meant we needed to come up with a version that could work at smaller sizes.” The primary typeface is Monokrom’s Nordvest, a font that plays on traditional styles but can also be recognised as contemporary Scandinavian.

When it came to the colour palette, the team were eager for a natural and refined direction, “not only as a way to honour Munkeriet’s craftsmanship and devotion,” Jones notes, “but also to help distinguish Munkeriet from its competitors.” They had noticed a contrast between how niche bakeries approach their brands compared to restaurants operating at the higher end of the industry. “Since Munkeriet’s founders come from gourmet kitchens they approach their product the same way they would if they were creating a dish at Noma, we wanted to reflect this by using subtlety and restraint in the colour palette.”

MOS

Munkeriet