Illustration for the visual identity
of Papa Levain bakery in Zurich
Automne 2026
illustration f&b
The visual identity of Papa Levain
Papa Levain is a baker specializing in traditional sourdough bread, who delivers to Zurich residents by cargo bike, and whose mission is to bring our ancestors’ bread back into fashion. This visual identity is the result of a collaborative effort with graphic designer Anna K, who specializes in the food industry and handled the logo and creation of visual materials.
For my part: creating food illustrations that convey founder Benjamin’s passion for sourdough bread and his desire to pass this knowledge down from father to son!
Papa Levain, pure sourdough bakery in Zurich
To create the brand’s illustrations, I drew inspiration from the founder’s face and on comic book references to create the endearing character of Papa Levain : a hardworking father who watches over and passes on his expertise to his son, batch after batch.
Although the illustrations are hand-drawn, they are then converted into vector graphics, allowing my client to easily use them for his brand across all types of visual media.
An illustrated logo that tells a story
For the main illustration of the logo, I started with a portrait of the founder, which I simplified as much as possible to give it the qualities of a symbol.
The triangular composition—between the son, the bread, and the father—tells a story of passing on traditions and care. It’s the story of bread that you can feed your children with complete confidence.
As a logo, the design had to work even when scaled down and in negative space. I always keep those constraints in mind when creating an illustrated logo.
Expanding the illustrated visual identity
Once the finals illustrations were validated, I created a custom illustration library, a powerful tool for visually strengthening the brand identity. The graphic designer in charge of the visual identity, was able to use each illustration to enhance the brand’s future graphic materials: menus, packaging, window decals, etc.
Long live Papa Levain, Follow them on @papalevainzurich
Fancy seeing more brand identities I designed for the food & Beverage industry?
founder say
“Whaou le paaaain ”
Benjamin Gonnet
Fondateur de Papa Levain
Zurich, Suisse