Chinatown Bakery
A packaging solution for a traditional Chinese bakery in London.
The brief
Founded in 2011, Chinatown Bakery is one of the UK's most established Asian bakeries, serving Hong Kong-style baked goods from the heart of London's Chinatown. The challenge was twofold: make the packaging stand out in one of the city's busiest, most visually noisy tourist districts, and build a brand presence strong enough to travel beyond it.
The design
The system spans 29 packaging items - carry bags, takeaway cups, stickers, boxes and small bags built for fast-service items.
We split the design into "outside" and "inside" packaging. Outside packaging leads with a clean, crisp cream that cuts through the visual clutter of the street, paired with a hand-drawn illustration of the original Newport Place shopfront to anchor the brand in its own history. Inside packaging switches to a deep green that holds its own against the bright lights of the bakery cabinets, with Chinese patterns used to differentiate products and form a continuous, flowing motif when items are stacked on the shelf.
Results
The system gave Chinatown Bakery a consistent, instantly recognisable identity — one that now carries the brand across London rather than relying on its Chinatown address alone. Two new locations have since opened at Westfield White City and Brent Cross.