Ugly Cake Designs

Decorating By Bunny0410 Updated 7 Dec 2014 , 7:02pm by kakeladi

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Bunny0410 Posted 1 Aug 2014 , 12:50pm
post #1 of 42

Why is it some people cannot see that what they want is not very attractive?

 

Someone has asked me to do a cake, but its really going to be unattractive.

 

I have asked them repeatedly, would you like to change this, would you prefer this, etc, but they are sticking to the design..

Feeling very unmotivated to do this mix/matched cake

 

:sad:

41 replies
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Edible Art Co Posted 1 Aug 2014 , 12:55pm
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Have you tried showing/drawing them some other designs to choose from? It may be that they can't imagine it any differently, sometimes your head gets stuck on an idea you know? That could help.

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Bunny0410 Posted 1 Aug 2014 , 1:30pm
post #3 of 42

Yup, she just said, oh no, don't worry about that, this is what she wants.

 

No amount of skills is going to change a Navy blue cake with white frangapani flowers and snow flakes.

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-K8memphis Posted 1 Aug 2014 , 1:43pm
post #4 of 42

why wouldn't that be beautiful? that's not too much -- 

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Edible Art Co Posted 1 Aug 2014 , 2:13pm
post #5 of 42

Well she's relying on your artistic eye to know what size to make them, where to put them and when to stop, it could be elegant with a bit of thought. Might not be your favourite cake, but it will make someone's day, and that's why we do what we do :) 

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Gingerlocks Posted 1 Aug 2014 , 2:19pm
post #6 of 42

Can you post a picture of what she's looking for? Maybe we can help you nudge her in the right direction?

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AZCouture Posted 1 Aug 2014 , 7:49pm
post #7 of 42

Yep, sounds hideous. It would depend on what the paycheck would be, versus the likelihood of booking her desired spot with something I would enjoy working on. The paycheck will win every time, and there's no law that says you have to ever post proof that you worked on it. :D

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Rfisher Posted 1 Aug 2014 , 8:55pm
post #8 of 42

AAs with anything else, you can make it kitchy, sleek, as ugly or beautiful as you wish to. I'd incorporate the snowflakes into piping something like this: http://www.dreamdaycakes.com/2012/herrera-wedding-cake/ Make a few sugar craftsy frangipani. Place them with an artful eye. As for the navy blue, well, give her a gob to chew on and then hand her a mirror. As others have said, If she wants it, and she's paying for it, your job is to provide her with a service. But by all means you are not an indentured slave and don't have to do what you don't wish to do. Best wishes...

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luvmykids2bits Posted 4 Aug 2014 , 6:55pm
post #9 of 42

I did a ugly cake awhile ago.  I had to make sure no one referred to it the ugly cake while the customer was picking it up!  The original design was absolutely hideous, and I was able to nudge her to a slightly better design that I sketched up.  While I was decorating it I realized the placement of the lettering was not going to work at all where she wanted it, so I textd her and told her I needed to change it to better suit and luckily she was fine with it.  In the end, the cake was actually not that bad.  Definitely not my favourite, but with the small tweaks and doing the best I could with my artistic skills, it was not as hideous as it could have been.

 

She paid well, and was thrilled with it, so at the end of the day, that was what really mattered.

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matthewkyrankelly Posted 4 Aug 2014 , 8:19pm
post #10 of 42

I'm assuming it is a winter wedding?

 

Navy blue and white are classic.  I don't see much downside other than the heavy amount of blue dye.  Consider airbrush.

 

I think a navy cake with glittering snowflakes and "winterized" flowers could look stunning.  I would rework this until you get it right. 

 

I think you got stuck on hating it and can't get past it. 

 

So many people write about "give me a challenge!".  This is a challenge for you.  Go for it!

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MBalaska Posted 4 Aug 2014 , 9:05pm
post #11 of 42

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bunny0410 
 

"........Why is it some people cannot see that what they want is not very attractive?....."

 

 

You mean Like their spouses and their children and their homes and their clothes.  Homely as Hell, uglier than a mud fence, etc.

 

Ahhhh   Love is Love and 'Beauty is in the eye of the Beholder'.  Your delicious pastry and the money you make creating their cake is what's important.

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MKC Posted 5 Aug 2014 , 9:18pm
post #12 of 42

AI am a hobby baker (not doing it for money) so I refuse to make ugly cakes because in the end I'm doing this for fun. It depends on your intentions.

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costumeczar Posted 6 Aug 2014 , 12:09am
post #13 of 42

I don't know about the combination of snowflakes and frangipani, but I don't think that sounds necessarily hideous. I've done blue fondant cakes before and they were fine. It's unusual, but it doesn't have to be ugly.

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mcaulir Posted 6 Aug 2014 , 4:17am
post #14 of 42

I did a Navy blue cake with snowflakes that turned out pretty well. Not sure about frangipanis, but if they're white, I'm sure it will be fine.

 

I've done a couple I thought were ugly, but what the recipient wanted. I just don't post photos of them anywhere.

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MBalaska Posted 6 Aug 2014 , 5:24am
post #15 of 42

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcaulir 
 

I did a Navy blue cake with snowflakes that turned out pretty well. Not sure about frangipanis, but if they're white, I'm sure it will be fine.

 

I've done a couple I thought were ugly, but what the recipient wanted. I just don't post photos of them anywhere.

 

were the recipients pleased with them?  I really hope so. You may have made them very happy.

 

(When reading Costumeczar's comment "about the combination of snowflakes and frangipani"

It was funny to me as I immediately thought of all of the Alaskans  who flee the snow every winter and go visit the frangipanis in Hawaii.) 

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Katyast Posted 6 Aug 2014 , 6:32am
post #16 of 42

Can you share what they want?  A picture maybe?  Perhaps her design and the interpretation of it work together.  There's no one way of making the flower or the snowflake. 

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mcaulir Posted 6 Aug 2014 , 7:18am
post #17 of 42

Quote:

Originally Posted by MBalaska 
 

 

were the recipients pleased with them?  I really hope so. You may have made them very happy.

 

 

Oh sure - one was a baby blue cake with hearts and a bow on top - for a man's 40th birthday. His wife, who asked me fore it, was thrilled. No idea what he thought.

 

One was two cakes side by side on the one tray that the recipient wanted used. It had some kind of sentimental value, but didn't match with the colours of  either cake, which didn't match with each other. The whole thing looked hideous. They were happy.

 

One was a cake they wanted bright blue with little dark purple flowers 'falling' down from the top. They wouldn't let me put any white on it anywhere to break up the colours. Just bright blue and dark purple. It looked like it had some kind of rash. They were happy.

 

I just don't show them to anyone else!

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Apti Posted 6 Aug 2014 , 9:45am
post #18 of 42

These separate elements may be very meaningful to the person who wants them on the cake. 

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-K8memphis Posted 6 Aug 2014 , 11:08am
post #19 of 42

here's one with snowflakes and roses -- it's not navy blue but...

 

http://www.toonicetoslice.co.uk/w_cakes/snowflake_cake.jpg

 

there's just thousands of possibilities--

 

use the snowflakes as filler 'flowers' surrounding the frangiapani and the other one as the centerpiece in the bouquet and vice versap

 

use either one as border do two different cascades--

 

play up the duplicity

 

http://www.giftlines.com.au/xcart/images/T/12409%20lge.jpg

 

plant some snowflakes into the flowers 

 

http://palermobakery.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/winter-wedding-cake-1.jpg

 

maybe put some dark green with it

 

http://cdn001.cakecentral.com/2/27/900x900px-LL-272e2773_WinterWeddingCake--LauraLoukaides.jpeg

you could do a frangipani with snowflake like petals

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-K8memphis Posted 6 Aug 2014 , 11:15am
post #20 of 42

AIf you can incorporate a leetle bit of silver in there somewhere it would be a great foil for this coloration -- accent the f & s or dot the navy blue just a tinybit

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costumeczar Posted 6 Aug 2014 , 12:10pm
post #21 of 42

ANot directed at the OP specifically, but I have to add something to this idea of an ugly cake...if someone pays you to do a design that you don't like, guess what, like MBalaska says, you're still getting paid. That's what makes a business successful or not. Yes, it's our job to suggest design elements that will look good together, but nobody likes everything, and there are going to be designs that are not to our taste that we, as business owners, will be doing. Because it's not our cake, it's the customer's cake. This is a customer-based industry, but I see a lot of people who think that it's not. And now I'm off to write a little blog post...

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Rfisher Posted 6 Aug 2014 , 3:18pm
post #22 of 42

A

Original message sent by costumeczar

Not directed at the OP specifically, but I have to add something to this idea of an ugly cake...if someone pays you to do a design that you don't like, guess what, like MBalaska says, you're still getting paid. That's what makes a business successful or not. Yes, it's our job to suggest design elements that will look good together, but nobody likes everything, and there are going to be designs that are not to our taste that we, as business owners, will be doing. Because it's not our cake, it's the customer's cake. This is a customer-based industry, but I see a lot of people who think that it's not. And now I'm off to write a little blog post...

I'm sure consciously or subconsciously this decision is part of every business plan ever wrote. I personally don't think it's an absolute black and white situation though. No baker that turns down jobs that don't fit their style should ever really wonder why they don't have more business. If they do, they are blind for the trees and are most likely doomed for various other reasons as well. And I do think there are many successful entrepreneurs that do turn down what they don't want to do. Luxury as it may be. I understand your point about this being a customer based industry. But that same theory would also negate PITA charges so often discussed, would it not? I hope that some suggestions here to the OP has maybe given some ideas that will work. I took the initial comments about suggesting to the client (that was declined) different options as meaning different than the snowflakes and flowers. I assume it was not about the composition of how the two elements are put together. I hope some suggestions give the OP a new line of thought that might give a new spark.

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costumeczar Posted 6 Aug 2014 , 4:45pm
post #23 of 42

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rfisher 


I'm sure consciously or subconsciously this decision is part of every business plan ever wrote. I personally don't think it's an absolute black and white situation though. No baker that turns down jobs that don't fit their style should ever really wonder why they don't have more business. If they do, they are blind for the trees and are most likely doomed for various other reasons as well. And I do think there are many successful entrepreneurs that do turn down what they don't want to do. Luxury as it may be. I understand your point about this being a customer based industry. But that same theory would also negate PITA charges so often discussed, would it not?
I hope that some suggestions here to the OP has maybe given some ideas that will work. I took the initial comments about suggesting to the client (that was declined) different options as meaning different than the snowflakes and flowers. I assume it was not about the composition of how the two elements are put together. I hope some suggestions give the OP a new line of thought that might give a new spark.

People should definitely feel that they can turn down work that they don't want to do for whatever reason, sure. I do that all the time jsut based on what I do and don't make. I'm just saying that there seems to be  (within the last three or four years) a trend of people doing cakes for their own egos, not for what the customers want. It's not a good busines plan by any means.

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Bunny0410 Posted 7 Aug 2014 , 1:08am
post #24 of 42

I would never turn down a job, I just feel there is better options that unfortunately the customer couldn't see as her vision was so strong.

As I'm relatively new to caking, I want to learn as much as possible and design is something I need to work on.

I rely heavily on google,for ideas, and I believe that design is part of the learning process. I'm not a designer, and I know its a learning curb that I have to conquer. One day I would like to say I know what I'm doing, but that's a long way off yet...

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Bunny0410 Posted 7 Aug 2014 , 1:20am
post #25 of 42

Thank you K8Memphis... Your images are great and I like the idea of the first image.

I was thinking small snow flakes, but after seeing that, I think I should just embrace them and make them big and proud.

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matthewkyrankelly Posted 7 Aug 2014 , 3:14am
post #26 of 42

I just googled "navy blue cakes".  Some of the most striking were the all navy with white/silver accents.  One was even navy with snowflakes.  I pictured it with small flowers tucked here and there.  It would look amazing. 

 

If I was doing this, the fondant needs to be perfect.  The darker colors show everything.  Also, make either snowflakes or flowers the star.  Highlight the rest of the cake with smaller details of the other.  If you can get away with  adding a crystal effect or ice effect to the decorations, that would be great.

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AZCouture Posted 7 Aug 2014 , 4:07am
post #27 of 42

ADefinitely not a good business plan if you're not making money. If you can successfully have restrictions such as only taking jobs that you personally want, and manage to make the amount that you need to, then that actually sounds like pretty much the [B][I][U]smartest[/U][/I][/B] thing I can think of. However, I have not been able to make that work, so like I previously mentioned, that paycheck for the ugly cake WILL take priority. Just won't promote it.

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costumeczar Posted 7 Aug 2014 , 12:17pm
post #28 of 42

A

Original message sent by AZCouture

Definitely not a good business plan if you're not making money. If you can successfully have restrictions such as only taking jobs that you personally want, and manage to make the amount that you need to, then that actually sounds like pretty much the [B][I][U]smartest[/U][/I][/B] thing I can think of. However, I have not been able to make that work, so like I previously mentioned, that paycheck for the ugly cake WILL take priority. Just won't promote it.

To make that work you have to have a very large pool of people who think that your specific "vision" is also what they like. And who have money to buy cakes on a regular basis to support your income. Those two things are generally difficult to find, so most people wouldn't be able to make that work. And I'd be willing to bet that the people who seem to be making it work are actually getting a good portion of their income from somewhere else, so it isn't what it appears to be. Or they're not making as much money as people think they are.

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AZCouture Posted 7 Aug 2014 , 3:00pm
post #29 of 42

I need to find someone that is doing it, if just to prove you wrong. Dream crushing hater. :P

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costumeczar Posted 7 Aug 2014 , 5:37pm
post #30 of 42

Quote:

Originally Posted by AZCouture 
 

I need to find someone that is doing it, if just to prove you wrong. Dream crushing hater. :P

Crush crush crush...If you can find someone who only does orders that they want to do, and who is making a living wage, and who doesn't supplement their income by teaching, selling tutorials, doing tv programs, or working part time somewhere else, let me know. To make more than poverty level wages you need to do an ugly cake every now and then! Or even a pretty one that you still hate because you've done it so many times.

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