OSHKOSH FOOD CO-OP

LOGO DESIGN + BRAND IDENTITY

OVERVIEW

It started with someone asking, “Why doesn’t Oshkosh have a food co-op?” That someone was a good friend and that question turned into her senior project then unfolded into an almost 5000 square foot space full of local and natural foods and products almost eight(?) years later. The journey to this point was testament to the power of collective effort – each member essential to conceiving a community-owned grocery store.

CHALLENGE

Co-op is short for co-operative, which in this case, is a grocery store owned by its members. Each member has voice and can vote in electing board officers. The co-op board makes most big decisions, along with input from delegates in various sub committees. To honor the ethos of the co-op meant to be adaptive to their commitment to give equitable voice to the deciding members, however, traditionally, our policy is to require clients to elect only two or three deciding members to make the executive decisions. This is to ensure a unified consensus toward a focus. Hype was inclusive to the values of the co-op and met with primary and secondary committees and almost acted as the liaison between the two groups who at times had very differing ideas around the scope and direction of the project.

SOLUTION

Initially, the branding leadership committee wanted a logo that centered around personal connections and feelings around those connections. The board of officers felt that food was essential to the logo. The result was a beautiful composition of food at the core of community. With a carrot rooted into the earth, sprouting up toward arcs to symbolize new horizons and kinship, the new logo displays how food is grounding and healing in gathering and relating. Their tag line, “Everyone’s welcome” embraces the heart of inclusivity. And as a nod to the original grassroots beginning of this project, the brand colors reflect similar tones from the original logo design.