Columbia Farmers Market
Brand Strategy, Print Design & Web Design
Hub & Spoke worked alongside the Columbia Farmers Market for a year long exploration of the organizations brand strategy, member and community outreach, design language and marketing message, made possible via a grant from the USDA. Along with conducting focus groups and polls, we were responsible for helping establish a new overall campaign for the market, which has now been worked into all their non profit marketing and messaging.
The Problem
The Columbia Farmers Market had plateaued, in terms of visitor growth, and was looking for a way to increase overall outreach. As well, with a limited team of volunteers, they were in need of simple marketing solutions that could be easily updated and repeated.
Also, the market wanted to produce a booklet, funded via the grant, that would be distributed to thousands of residents around Mid-Missouri.
How We Helped
After conducting extensive research into the marketings core values and brand positioning, we tested multiple tag lines that worked to express the markets mission without sound fake. The result? 'Food from Home.' Simple and elegant, Food from Home embodies the spirit of the farmers market, contrasting with big box retailers and positioning the products are hand crafted, organic and fresh.
At the same time, our team worked to redevelop the Market's overall imaging and creative, establishing a set of brand standards including official colors, iconography and fonts. From there, we crafted a responsive, mobile friendly website design for the market that would allow for easy updates. A key feature of the website is a Social Wall, with combines the social feeds of the market and its vendors, creating a single voice.
We also worked on extensive print materials, including billboards, postcards, an annual report design styled as an infographic and an 80 page booklet of recipes and vendor spotlights. Many of these pieces have went on to win awards from Graphic Design USA, among others.