
YANKEE STREET FARM AND GARDEN | BRAND IDENTITY
Brand identity & naming, message strategy, print design, digital design, package design
Columbus, Ohio
Sometimes a pandemic is just the ticket for starting something new. That was the case with Yankee Street Farm and Garden. We think all designers secretly aspire to have their very own brand to manage. Peter, our founder, wanted to start an organic farm ever since buying his family farm four years ago. Finally, in 2019 he took the plunge. We developed two new brand identities, a website, packaging, and marketing materials to support the new operation. This project flexed all our design muscles.
First, we designed the brand identity and messaging for the farm itself. Then, we needed to create an identity for a diverse, and growing, line of products. To meet these needs, we created the 1808 Collection. This brand allows YSF to collaborate with local artists, manufacturers, and vendors. The brand represents products that will enhance and enrich a healthy lifestyle. The name comes from a carving in one of the outbuildings found on the farm. 1808, we believe, is the founding year of the farm. Therefor, it felt like an appropriate symbol for this current venture, as we forge ahead in this new world.
Excellent food deserves a beautiful container. We designed and hand-built crates to distribute the weekly shares. First, we started with a simple design that clearly displayed the brand identity and showed off the produce. Then, we made sure they nested for easy shipping. Finally, we designed specially fit plastic bottoms for easy cleaning. Now, each week these crates become a canvas with farmhands artfully filling them with fresh vegetables and items from the 1808 store.
Chilling the fresh vegetables for transportation was a must. So we designed a trailer to be the mobile refrigerator. Now, the members’ food stays fresh to their door. We designed custom branded graphics for the side and back of the trailer. The graphics help raise awareness while also driving (no pun intended) additional CSA (Community Sustained Agriculture) subscriptions.
We designed the mark for the 1808 brand identity to be flexible. This way, it easily adapts to express the wide variety of merchandise we have planned for the brand.
Some of the first products – honey, bottles of vinegar and olive oil – show the brand in use. While sharing common elements from the brand identity, each package is also designed for flexibility. Different shapes, sizes, and varieties all have a unique look while remaining part of the brand family.
The website design was clean and functional. Since the topic of CSAs can be complex, we wanted a simple website. We focused on user experience and ease of use, while providing members much needed weekly updates. The website also includes an 1808 store, FAQs, and easy-to-find recipes.
Finally, we integrated the brand across all the brand materials for a cohesive look and messaging.
It’s all about presentation so each crate is designed artfully. This crate design celebrated the first honey harvest – complete with a sample jar and commemorative “bee ” bandana.
White Design Studio is a multidisciplinary design firm located in Columbus and Cincinnati, Ohio. We specialize in the design, production, and installation of integrated branding solutions. Our solutions orchestrate corporate identity, marketing, storytelling, environmental, photography, video, print and interactive elements. At White Design Studio, we believe the best way to communicate your brand’s story is through branded environments and experiences. We work with manufacturers, service providers, non-profits, architects and developers, agencies, distributors, governments and municipalities, and museums. First, we identify the work that a campaign, space, or interactive needs to do. We can then model a vision of what success looks like, and design to meet that vision. We are passionate about helping clients communicate their value through well-crafted storytelling, a consistent 2D, 3D, and digital design approach and expert production techniques.
Strategy: White Design Studio is your strategically-focused design source. Our marketing communications are custom-tailored to meet our customers’ objectives. Our creative solutions take many forms, but all are designed for maximum effectiveness. Each solution delivers key brand messaging to a wide variety of audiences.
Naming: Creating a new company or product name is an art in itself. White Design Studio helps customers create names and supporting taglines or service lines that become the foundation of the brand. Our unique naming process is strategic. First, we set objectives for what the name needs to do, then generate a series of potential options for evaluation. We even invented a scoring system to help us determine the strongest name. Once finalists are chosen, our design process begins. We then layer on all of the graphic elements to further define the new identity. Finally, we select the strongest overall logo or brand for development and implementation.
Identity: Corporate Identity, branding and logo design is the foundation of any successful communications strategy. Peter White and White Design Studio have been inventing, developing, interpreting and extending brands for over 40 years!
Printed: Even in the Digital Age, print elements are still an important component in most successful communications strategies. White Design Studio and Peter White have over 40 years experience in designing and producing a variety of printed pieces. Corporate Capability Brochures, Newsletters, Product Brochures, and Catalogs, Direct Mail and Spec Sheets–as well as creating ads for publications, magazines, and newspapers–are just a few of the elements that we provide for our customers. Each piece is an integrated component of the overall brand, and each delivers targeted messages to the intended audience. Seamless branding across any medium is our passion.
Web/Mobile: Website solutions are an important part of any integrated branding effort. We obsess over the user experience UI and User Experience UX. Expert SEO–Search Engine Optimization–integration ensures that your message will be easily found and seen by your targeted audiences.
White Design Studio operates most efficiently in the design sweet-spot between environments, identity, and communications. Comfortable stretching any direction, we are at ease designing for one element. But, we are at our best when we can combine each element to develop a fully integrated brand and messaging system. We collaborate with industry-leading professionals on large-scale projects, but can also comfortably operate as your single-source design partner. We partner with Developers, Architects, Engineers, Facility Managers, Creative Directors, Marketing Departments Advertising Agencies and other Design Studios.