Brand & Content System
MORNING
JAY'S
Brand
Morning Jay's
Role
Creative Director & Co-Founder
2026
DESCRIPTION
Morning Jay's is a Chicagoland-born breakfast concept doing things differently. Part nomadic pop-up, part frozen CPG brand, they bring fresh baked goods, housemade beverages, and grab-and-go breakfast staples to wherever their audience is: in-stores, neighborhood events, and beyond.
RESPONSIBILITIES
As co-founder, I was the creative spearhead from day one. We had a concept, a name, and a lot of conviction. What we needed was a brand that could hold all of it together. Recognizable enough to build loyalty, flexible enough to show up anywhere, and distinct enough to stand out in a crowded breakfast and CPG space.
My scope covered everything: logo and icon design, full brand system, packaging design, website design and UI/UX, photography and video production, and ongoing social media management across Instagram, TikTok, and Substack.
DESCRIPTION
Morning Jay's is a Chicagoland-born breakfast concept doing things differently. Part nomadic pop-up, part frozen CPG brand, they bring fresh baked goods, housemade beverages, and grab-and-go breakfast staples to wherever their audience is: in-stores, neighborhood events, and beyond.
RESPONSIBILITIES
As co-founder, I was the creative spearhead from day one. We had a concept, a name, and a lot of conviction. What we needed was a brand that could hold all of it together. Recognizable enough to build loyalty, flexible enough to show up anywhere, and distinct enough to stand out in a crowded breakfast and CPG space.
My scope covered everything: logo and icon design, full brand system, packaging design, website design and UI/UX, photography and video production, and ongoing social media management across Instagram, TikTok, and Substack.
STRATEGY & CREATIVE APPROACH
Morning Jay's isn't a corporate breakfast brand. It's scratch-made, flavor-forward, a little playful, and rooted in the joy of building community around breakfast. The challenge was building a visual identity that felt that way: warm and whimsical, but polished enough to live on a freezer shelf or a pop-up in a unique space or business.
The name gave us a natural starting point. Named after co-founder Jay, we built the identity around a Jaybird, a nod to "the early bird gets the worm" motif and a fitting mascot for a breakfast-first brand.
The bird became the anchor of the logo, kept simple enough to adapt seasonally or for specific events without losing its core recognizability.
The broader visual system was built around approachable charm at every touchpoint. The iconography was designed to tell the food story beyond the plate, with each icon speaking directly to a menu category while staying fun and cohesive. Colors, type, and illustration style were all chosen to feel fresh and inviting without chasing trends that would date quickly.
PROCESS & PRODUCTION
The first steps included mapping out the hierarchy and layout design for the website. I designed and built the full website, handling both the UI/UX structure and visual design so the brand translated cleanly from print and packaging into a web experience that was easy to navigate and true to its personality.
Photo & video
With a brand this tactile, the photography and motion work had to do real heavy lifting. Baked goods, warm beverages, handheld breakfast sandwiches. The shoot was built around texture and appetite appeal, leaning into close crops, natural light, and the kind of honest beauty that makes food feel craveable. The direction was young and fresh, but grounded enough to hold up over time.
I led creative direction and production from concept through delivery: building the shot list, directing on set, and overseeing editing and post. The resulting library supported the website launch, social content, and CPG product visuals all at once.
Alongside the shoot, I designed the packaging for the frozen breakfast sandwich line, carrying the brand system through to the product itself. The goal was shelf presence that felt consistent with everything else we built, approachable and recognizable without feeling like an afterthought.
SOCIAL MEDIA content & STRATEGY
Social was never an afterthought for Morning Jay's. From launch, it was one of the primary ways we told the brand story and built a community around what we were doing.
I managed all organic content across Instagram, TikTok, and Substack, with short-form video as the core engine of growth. The content strategy leaned into the personality of the brand: behind-the-scenes moments from pop-ups, product storytelling, and the kind of authentic, unpolished footage that tends to travel further than anything overly produced.
SOCIAL MEDIA Management
That approach paid off. Several videos went viral, with views climbing to over 3.5 million collectively across platforms.
Within the first two months of launching, we grew to over 15,000+ followers across Instagram and TikTok. On Substack, we built a subscriber base of 2,000+, turning the newsletter into a direct line to our most engaged community members.
In the press
The combination of a strong visual brand and consistent social presence opened doors quickly. Morning Jay's earned features in the New York Times, the Chicago Sun-Times, and Midwest Living, bringing the brand to audiences well beyond our immediate community.
The brand has also garnered a few accolades including:
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Chicago Reader’s Best of Chicago for "Best Pop-Up" - Runner Up
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TimeOut Chicago ‘Best of the City 2025’
LIGHTS
brand partnerships
On the partnerships side, the brand's momentum on social attracted collaborations with brands that aligned naturally with our audience and aesthetic: Recess Beverages, Peanut Butter Co., VistaPrint, and Yasso. Each partnership was an extension of the brand story rather than a departure from it, keeping the content feeling native even when it was paid.
ROLE & CREDITS
Role: Creative Director & Co-founder
Scope:
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Brand strategy and identity
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Logo and icon design
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Packaging design
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Website UI/UX and design
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Photography and video creative direction and production
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Social media management across Instagram, TikTok, and Substack