Graphic Designer
and Sociologist
© 2025 Carlita Bryant
Saludos Donut Bar
Drawing on personal experience with working jobs during nontraditional business hours, I developed a community-oriented donut shop dedicated to bridging the gap between health, convenience, and flavor. Through in-depth research on strategy development and the embracement of new AI tools, I took advantage of a niche market opportunity that welcomes the hungry hustlers and created a brand that feels like home, no matter the time of day.
Recognition
ArtCenter Student Gallery
start-up strategy and packaging design
The U.S. alone includes 25 million people who work shifts at nontraditional hours, not including the number of students who are also up at these times. Many of whom struggle to find healthier options, putting them at higher risk for chronic illnesses. And, while this is true, donuts are still one of the top breakfast bakery items sold on menus.
Saludos Donut Bar is serving Los Angeles County’s underserved late-night donut market (~$21.6M–$151.2M), driven by increasing demand from shift workers, students, and night owls seeking healthier, more convenient options.
The packaging offers a durable, earth-friendly, and reliable method of commuting with donuts. And, while a physical donut shop was important to the brand, solving the problem of convenience and accessibility meant adapting the donut shop business model to today’s technological advancements.
The generation of these images was a multi-step process involving my own hand sketches used as visual and compositional reference, and uploaded to a variety of AI tools. Once the desired look was achieved, I then further edited the images in Photoshop to brand them and fit the Saludos identity.
With a business model that emphasizes non-traditional work hours, I decided to art-direct AI images that captured the energy of the brand and the essence of the donuts. A retro style was employed to blend the comfort of diners with modern-day technological advancements. Each donut was given its own name and backstory to inspire promotional posters.
The development of this start-up had a clear goal: to make people’s lives easier. With the implementation of strategic ways to make healthier food options more accessible, Saludos Donut Bar is equipped with the right tools to grow into its potential as a real-life brand. This project taught me about how to embrace new technologies in ways that align with my own people-centered approach to graphic design.