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Case Study 02

Building the Thee Chef Kate Brand — From Kitchen to National TV

Brand Designer, Web Designer, Book Designer & Marketing Strategist · Thee Chef Kate / Kakes-2-Go Bakery & Bistro

Brand IdentityWebsiteBook DesignMarketing & PR

Thee Chef Kate is the personal brand of the chef behind Kakes-2-Go Bakery & Bistro, a catering business that had spent over a decade serving corporate events, weddings, and private occasions. When COVID-19 halted the catering industry overnight, Chef Kate needed more than a new menu — she needed a full brand built around her personally, one that could carry her from private kitchens to national television. I led the complete brand build: identity, website, cookbook design, and the marketing strategy that got her booked on Good Morning Texas.

The Challenge

In 2020, Kakes-2-Go's corporate and event clients disappeared as the world shut down. Chef Kate had the skill and the story, but no brand built to stand on its own outside of catering contracts. The opportunity was to build a personal chef brand — website, visual identity, and a signature product — that could open new revenue channels and put her in front of a much bigger audience.

Brand Identity

Brand guide showing the Kakes-2-Go logo, black and white color palette, and Baskerville and Gil Sans typography
A full identity system — logo concept, color palette, and typography (Baskerville paired with Gil Sans) — designed to feel elevated and personal rather than purely corporate catering.

Physical Brand Touchpoints

The brand extended beyond the screen — into what Chef Kate and her team wear and hand to clients in person.

Custom black chef coat with 'Chef Kate' embroidered in gold script and a gold 'KG — Private Dining' monogram emblem
Custom chef coat design featuring Chef Kate's personal signature and the "KG — Private Dining" emblem, reinforcing her personal brand at every service.
T-Kakes branded T-shirts in black and white with the Kakes2Go chef figure logo and 'Preorder now at www.Kakes2Go.com' text
Branded merchandise ("T-Kakes") extending the Kakes2Go identity into everyday apparel and retail.
Kakes2Go business card designed as a credit card — front showing card number, chip, and 'GOOD THRU 09/11' date; back showing magnetic stripe, signature line, and contact details
Business card designed in the visual language of a credit card, reinforcing the premium positioning of the brand. The "GOOD THRU 09/11" date is an intentional personal touch, not a design error.

Web Design

Site map for Kakes2Go covering Home, About, Services, Products, Blog, and Contact sections
Website prototype for Thee Chef Kate showing the home page hero and private dining menu cards
Site architecture built around Chef Kate's new offering — Contactless Private Dining — alongside reservations, menus, and merchandise, all designed to let her sell directly to individual clients, not just corporate accounts.

Service Blueprint

Beyond the interface, I mapped the entire service end-to-end — customer actions, frontstage touchpoints, backstage staff work, and the systems supporting it all.

Service blueprint for Kakes2Go Contactless Private Dining, mapping customer actions, frontstage touchpoints, backstage staff processes, and support processes across five stages from discovery to post-event
Mapping the full contactless dining experience — from a customer's first visit to post-event follow-up, and everything happening behind the scenes to make it work.

The Pivot Story

Brand slide telling the story of Kakes 2 Go and the launch of Contactless Private Dining
When the calls stopped coming in, Chef Kate and I built "Contactless Private Dining" — bringing her catering-level food and a private restaurant experience directly into clients' homes.

Book Design & Publishing

Front and back cover of Chef Kate's book From Deathrow to Death by Chocolate
I designed the cover, layout, and branding for Chef Kate's debut book, "From Deathrow to Death by Chocolate" — pairing bold, contrasting typography with her personal story to create a title that stands out on shelf and online.

Marketing & Media

Beyond design, I built the marketing strategy behind the book's launch — positioning Chef Kate not just as a chef, but as a storyteller with a distinctive personal history. That strategy secured her a national television appearance on Good Morning Texas in February 2023 to promote the book. Watch the Good Morning Texas segment →

Thee Chef Kate appearing on Good Morning Texas in 2023, holding her cookbook 'From Deathrow to Death by Chocolate' during a televised interview
Thee Chef Kate on Good Morning Texas (2023), promoting her cookbook "From Deathrow to Death by Chocolate."

Results

Here's what changed once the contactless booking experience launched:

25% reduction
Booking inquiry drop-off rate
40% → 30% abandonment
2x faster
Task completion speed
5.0 min → 2.5 min
+25%
Client engagement session duration
2.0 min → 2.5 min

From a stalled catering business to a personal brand with a published book and a national TV spot — this project shows what's possible when identity, product, and story are built together, not separately.

Methodology & Frameworks

Want to dive deeper into the research methodology used in this project? Check out my book, "The Ten Commandments of UX Design," or view my complete background on my Resume.

Read Book ChapterView Full Resume