AHey Guys, I am really interested in stepping up my game with my cake designs, so that I can be competitive and feed more of my creative soul. I already have a point of view on the quality of the cakes that bake and I plan to stick with it, as I move forward with the new business, but i'm trying to figure out what my design niche is. I want my cakes to look like they came from me!

So my question is, how did you figure out what your esthetic is?

Jen

Whenever I baked a cake as a donation, I had a general theme but no specific details.  I came up with ideas that were then worked out on the cakes.  For example,  a baby shower cake?  made a teddy bear wearing a diaper. Built it as a buttercream bas-relief from a pencil outline, kept adding layers until it looked right.

In your case, making dummies for your business is how you find your design sense. If you don't mind the look of your own scribbles, start there with blank paper and some pencils.

Then take a dummy and a couple bags of icing and start piping.  Or some fondant and start rolling and cutting. No imported patterns or pictures on the table allowed--just what comes out of your own head for a given theme.

Edit this work with a scalpel at your leisure until you find yourself saying OK that's it.  Take pictures.  Make another one next week or next month.  Pick seasonal holidays and see what your hands come up with.

I had no training whatsoever from art teachers, I had looked at many pictures of cakes.  When it came to design, I had to have a clear blank slate and a general theme.

What do you enjoy doing smooth fondant, 3D, theme..

What do you like working with Buttercream, fondant ,royal, etc.. My main is Cheesecakes I only dabble in cake with flours.I have been getting more into it but I love doing something fun... That might change down the road for me but I do not have a classy hand yet only when it comes to cheesecakes...I am like you I am still trying to find my niche when it comes to cake deco

I think you need to find what you excel at and incorporate that into your designs, whether it be realistic sugar flowers, or detailed piped designs, bas relief. Funky modern geometrics. 

For me I take inspiration from everywhere , but usually my use of colour and my flowerwork makes my cakes recognisable as mine.  

It takes a while to find your voice as it may be , don't force or rush it let it evolve . 

i could not recommend margaret braun's book Cakewalk more highly

she gives you a peak into how she creates--it's amazing/stunning

also

in the book The Artist's Way by julia cameron, a spiritual path to higher creativity

she says that we should 'write' three pages of anything every morning

just get a notebook and pen and write three pages

and when you do this for a while you can see how it like clears cobwebs and srsly primes the pump

for endeavors in any field

gets things rolling--the book is invaluable/incredible i highly recommend it also

i'll be the first to admit i had a hard time getting a full three pages out

and she lived out in the dessert or something remote

hey~~

get a small notebook!

yeah i mean maybe not on thurs fri & sat mornings when you're slammed but it doesn't take long

and it's an amazing thing that does increase your awarness of where your particular natural resources are

kind of helps you network/map over to where you can mine the gold srsly

it's a discipline that does yield nice results --for me anyhow

there's all kinds of stuff in this book-- "it's a course in discovering and recovering your creative self" 

it works and she's got other titles too

oh dear--she calls them 'morning pages' she says they are non-negotiable

oh it's all coming back to me

i think she busts you for using a small notebook

i don't wanna look again 'cause i'm getting convicted but

while i was perusing i saw she said that this helps get rid of the 'negative voice',

 the dummy self, the unproductive self-talk, the nanny voice--we all have it

the morning pages are instrumental in getting to your creative self she says

great stuff!

K8 what  a crack-up , Thank you for giving me a giggle. ( I am sitting in the middle of a cyclone at the moment watching to see if we will get flooded)

My problem is never getting the creative juices flowing , it is stopping them . I have to listen to that inner voice that says "step away from the cake "

oh man, chelle, if it's not one thing it's the dang weather! hope all stays nicely watered but no floods!!!

take care

Should be fine , high tide was about an hour ago and the rain miraculously let up for a while so I am hoping that the threat has passed for the moment, it is too damp to make flowers though and that is what I would like to be doing.  

I am really regretting throwing out my bread maker too , although I have pumpkin that needs using and I might make some pumpkin scones . 

whew~~~

baking is the best therapy

well a close second to eating anyhow

"get a small notebook" 

bahahahahahaaaa!

reading cakewalk is like asking to get lost for days. LOL 

Ella , I find once I find inspiration, Style follows. 

AI went on to my local library's site to search for the Cakewalk book and came across Toba Garrett's new book - which is only stocked in the Library of Congress and the British Library in London apparently!

chelle & vgcea,

write two extra pages and call julia in the morning

 K8memphis, what are we going to do with you?

AAll of our flavored desserts are cooked to order, so we require at the least three days observe for all flavored sessions. If you are considering if it’s too beginning to start considering a dessert, it probably isn’t! Because all of our desserts are especially developed, we want to have a lot of time to get rid of out a design and keep room in case changes are required. Six months before your marriage is a good guide, but keep in mind that we get reserved in enhance, especially during marriage period. --------------------------------------------------------------

Take a crazy idea and work on it ......

Perhaps the three pages of writing, to free up the creative juices, could be transformed into a regular session (shorter once a day or longer once a week?) when you experiment with fondant or a dummy cake or icing bag (whatever takes your fancy). Just play around with "gay abandon" and invent or have a go at that technique you've been dying to figure out. I do this when the mood strikes me, not on a regular basis, and I've surprised myself at times. If something doesn't work then you've learnt something and you're one step closer to figuring it out. Hopefully this may lead you to your own style/s.

I must add, I once did a creative writing course and we were taught to write non-stop for ten minutes every morning - just keep writing whatever comes out of your head without thinking about it and don't allow your pen to stop. I used to keep a pad and pen by my bed and do it as soon as I awoke. The quality of some of that mindless writing was amazing and it did start my creative writing juices flowing - not sure whether it translates to creative cake juices if you're not into writing.

Have fun!

As I was told when I took my first semester of Short Story Workshop, feel free to write the worst <scatological term> in America.

Well K8 instead of writing , I instead decided that I would sketch at least three cake designs today. I used a cosmo that I  was given to read while I was getting my hair done for a little inspitation.  I came up with five quite good designs while my hair was being turned into it's glorious natural blonde . Thanks K8

Well, I'd be a total loss at all of this.  I have all the creative talents of a doorstop, and even less of the artistic kind.  If I started with a blank slate and nothing else, about 2:00 next summer I'd still be looking at a blank slate.  Now give me a 1" square piece of a photo and I'll turn it into something spectacular, but without that inspiration I'm useless.

I have the greatest admiration for all you talented folks who dream up these fabulous designs (which I admit I borrow from freely), but I realized long ago that I'll never be part of your group. *sigh*