Cry Baby Pizza
Crafting the visual Identity, packaging & guerrilla advertising directions for a Brooklyn, New York-based Pizza Pop-Up.
The Challenge
To design a unique, eye-catching identity system that was bold enough for guerilla marketing efforts, adaptable enough for traditional brand applications including packaging and merchandise, and memorable enough to convey market presence and create intrigue without overt product-related messaging.
My solution
A bright, bold brand identity for Cry Baby Pizza, developed through real-world user behavior, community insight, and targeted market research. Initial client interviews and competitive analysis within the food pop-up and takeout space informed three strategic brand directions, each designed for low-overhead, high-impact deployment; the selected direction embraces a playful, illustrative system built around a bold crying character—positioning the food as so good it elicits an exaggerated emotional response. Repeated “SHHHH” messaging reinforces both the act of soothing and the idea of the brand as a local secret, aligning with its guerrilla, word-of-mouth business model. Bold visuals, minimal information, and flexible applications ensure the identity remains impactful across diverse environments.
Cry Baby Pizza is a Brooklyn-based, word-of-mouth-only takeout concept offering pizza and limited-run products to a local, culturally attuned audience. Operating without traditional storefront marketing, the brand relies on secrecy, humor, and visual impact to drive discovery.
I collaborated with the founders to explore three distinct visual identity directions informed by market research, audience behavior, and guerrilla marketing tactics. The selected system uses bold, illustrative elements and minimal information to spark curiosity, allowing the brand to flex across packaging, merchandise, and street-level promotion while reinforcing its underground, in-the-know positioning.
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