Case study · Menus & programs · Seth Godin for By the Way Bakery
Seth Godin for By the Way Bakery ↗250 placemats for Helene
In January 2024 Seth Godin ordered 250 die-cut placemats for his wife, Helene Godin, founder of By the Way Bakery, the gluten-free, dairy-free, kosher bakery she opened in Hastings-on-Hudson in 2011. Nothing is printed on them. We cut every sheet to the outline in Seth's file, 15.5 × 21 in, 50 each in Neenah Astrobrights Eclipse Black, Blast-Off Blue, Gamma Green, Venus Violet and Orbit Orange.
Het idee
A husband's order for his wife: plain paper, cut to one shape, in five colours.
Four rules
- 01Paper, not print. No ink at all. The colour comes from the paper and the character from the shape, so each mat is just a clean field of colour with a curved…
- 02Cut to his file, not to a template. We re-quoted to the file and cut every sheet to the outline exactly as drawn, so the scallops and corners on all 250 mats match his art.
- 03Five colours, fifty of each. Neenah Astrobrights in Eclipse Black, Blast-Off Blue, Gamma Green, Venus Violet and Orbit Orange, 50 of each. Purple and orange made the cu…
- 04A sample before 250. We mailed a sample sheet first. The run went ahead only once the sample was approved.
A husband's order
At the end of 2023 Seth Godin booked a call with us. The order he placed in January 2024 was for 250 placemats, and they weren't for him. They were for his wife, Helene Godin, founder of By the Way Bakery.
There is nothing printed on them. No logo, no ink. Just heavy coloured paper, die-cut to one curved, bracket-like outline that echoes the badge in the bakery's logo, in five colours.
Who they were for: Helene Godin
Helene spent about 22 years as a lawyer, at Columbia Records, Reader's Digest, NBC, Bloomberg and Audible, where as General Counsel she and her team saw the company through its sale to Amazon.
In 2011 she opened By the Way Bakery in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York: in its own words, “an old-fashioned bakery where everything is made by hand, from scratch, in small batches. And, by the way, all of our baked goods are gluten-free, dairy-free, and Kosher certified.” Challah, babka, cookies and cakes followed her into Manhattan, Greenwich and onto Whole Foods shelves.
Her stated aim is to “bring more people to the table – literally.” And, as Forbes told it, Seth's first note on her logo was: “I love your logo, but I'd love it more in purple and orange.” The placemats have both.
Our story, By the Way Bakery → →
Paper, not print
Wanted: Placemats that feel like the bakery: bright, warm and handmade, with the food as the star.
Constraint: Anything printed would compete with what is on the plate, and a logo on every mat turns a table into an ad.
We chose: No ink at all. The colour comes from the paper and the character from the shape, so each mat is just a clean field of colour with a curved edge.
Cut to his file, not to a template
Wanted: The exact outline Seth had drawn, curves and all.
Constraint: Our first quote assumed a standard 18.5 × 15.5 in sheet. When we measured his vector file, the shape came out at 15.5 × 21 in.
We chose: We re-quoted to the file and cut every sheet to the outline exactly as drawn, so the scallops and corners on all 250 mats match his art.
Five colours, fifty of each
Wanted: A saturated palette with black in it: colours that look good stacked, mixed down a table or on their own.
Constraint: Every colour had to come from one heavy cover stock so the mats feel the same in the hand and lie flat together.
We chose: Neenah Astrobrights in Eclipse Black, Blast-Off Blue, Gamma Green, Venus Violet and Orbit Orange, 50 of each. Purple and orange made the cut.
A sample before 250
Wanted: Certainty about colour and weight before a single sheet was cut.
Constraint: Colour on a screen is not colour on paper, and a bright violet can read very differently under warm bakery light.
We chose: We mailed a sample sheet first. The run went ahead only once the sample was approved.
About the paper: Neenah Astrobrights
Astrobrights is Neenah's range of bright, colour-through papers and cover stocks, in 25 colours. Because the colour runs through the sheet, a die-cut edge shows the same colour as the face, with no white core.
The five shades here are Eclipse Black, Blast-Off Blue, Gamma Green, Venus Violet and Orbit Orange. Astrobrights is FSC certified, and Eclipse Black, Gamma Green and Orbit Orange contain 30% post-consumer fibre.
About the film
A 46-second portrait in the key of New York independent cinema: practical light, lived-in rooms, hands rather than faces, and a long Friday-night table. The die-cut sequence traces the real outline from Seth's file, and the five colours are the five that shipped. The score is original.
Make your own
Placemats, menus, coasters, table cards: if it sits on a table, we can cut it to your shape and your colours, printed or not. Send us the outline and we'll check it, sample it and cut it.
Begin met deze materialen
Hetzelfde papier, dezelfde folie en afwerking, vastgelegd. Niets van Seth Godin for By the Way Bakery's ontwerp gaat mee.
Vragen
- What did Seth Godin order from Peppermint?
- 250 die-cut paper placemats for his wife, Helene Godin, founder of By the Way Bakery. They are unprinted: 15.5 × 21 in, cut to the outline in his own file, 50 each in five Neenah Astrobrights colours. He ordered them in January 2024.
- Who is Helene Godin?
- The founder and CEO of By the Way Bakery. Before baking she was a lawyer for about 22 years, including General Counsel at Audible, where she and her team saw the company through its sale to Amazon. She opened the bakery in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, in 2011.
- What is By the Way Bakery?
- An old-fashioned bakery where everything is made by hand, from scratch, in small batches, and all baked goods are gluten-free, dairy-free and kosher certified. It is known for challah, babka, cookies and cakes, with shops in New York and Connecticut and products at Whole Foods.
- What paper are the placemats made from?
- Neenah Astrobrights cover stock in Eclipse Black, Blast-Off Blue, Gamma Green, Venus Violet and Orbit Orange. Astrobrights is a colour-through paper, so the die-cut edges are the same colour as the face.
- Why are the placemats unprinted?
- The colour and the shape do the work. Without ink the food stays the focus, and the curved outline, which echoes the bakery logo, is the only decoration.
- Can you die-cut placemats or menus to a custom shape?
- Yes. Send a vector outline (AI, PDF or EPS). We measure the file, confirm the finished size, send a sample sheet if you want one, and cut every piece to the outline, printed or blank, on the paper you choose.
- Can I order placemats like these?
- Yes. Order a sample pack to see the colours, start a quote with your shape and quantity, or book a design consultation and we will help you choose paper and size.