Farmers’ Markets As Peak Design

Designers often have lofty goals of what company they would love to re-brand or work on a campaign for. Maybe it’s Nike or Coca Cola or Adidas. The dream is to work on prestigious brands with big budgets, opportunities for amazing creative work, potentially working with celebrities and a national or even international audience. These are brands we’ve grown up with and admire and as designers, we want to put our stamp on that brand and add our bit to the cultural zeitgeist. But I tell you, that is not the peak of design opportunity. There is a level higher that exceeds all of these. There is a realm of design that cannot be matched by even the largest, most culturally relevant brand.

And that is Farmers’ Markets.

Is the budget big? No. Is the audience massive? No. Will your favourite r&b artist give a shout out to your poster campaign along a local street? No. 

But if you’re like me, who was dragged around to farmers’ markets early on Saturday mornings while my dad negotiated with a butcher for half a cow, farmers’ markets are a core childhood memory. More so than Nike (which was out of my parents' budget for children’s shoes) and Coca Cola (which I only had access to the no name version). Branding a farmers’ market brings back these memories and reminds me that I'm rooted in a supportive community.

On top of this, there seems to be a bit of a shift in culture where people crave more tangible experiences and are moving their focus closer to home. This has affected the way we design as well. It’s looking for opportunities to create connections within the neighbourhoods we live in. As well, it’s being able to interact and connect with the pieces we’ve designed - and directly see the impact of them as opposed to reading about metrics in a report after the fact. 

The thrill of seeing your local farmers’ market with a well designed logo and some clever headlines is unmatched in the design world. It’s elevating a space that’s traditionally very grassroots and hand done while also paying tribute to that history. 

At Berlin, we’ve had the opportunity to work with two of the Edmonton markets. The first is a branding and launch campaign for the Downtown Farmers’ Market, revived by the Edmonton Downtown Business Association. The brand leaned on inspiration from hand drawn lettering from grocery stores of the time before home printers and Microsoft Word.

We also emphasized the key aspects of the market that make it different from others, such as it is a dog-friendly market, it is located downtown and is close to many downtown businesses and the LRT. Full case study here.

The second market we worked with was the Old Strathcona Farmers’ Market. This is an Edmonton institution just off Whyte Ave in an old bus barn. It’s been around for decades and has a deep history. As institutions go, it needs a bit of a refresh every once in a while. And while other changes were happening at the market - more events throughout the week, adding another market day, etc - it was a good time for the brand refresh as well.

This brand drew on the history as well through the type choices and the style of design, but we leaned into the factors unique to Old Strathcona. We selected colours from the red and cream buses that used to be part of the Edmonton fleet and adjusted the tone of voice of the brand to be fun and cheeky to reflect the atmosphere of the neighbourhood and alleviate the historical weight of the brand. Full case study coming soon.

Berlin has self-identified as the agency for farmers’ markets since these projects have come through the shop. We could take any market and figure out its unique offerings and how to position it within its market. Is it lucrative? No. Is it prestigious? No. Could we only do farmers’ markets and nothing else? No. But the connection to the community and support of local people offers us the opportunity to uplift those around us and find deeper meaning in our work.