An Oasis in a Food Desert

Supermarkets usually don’t excite or inspire. Decatur Fresh is different; a socially conscious and inclusive international market and community hub situated in a food desert, it immediately struck us as an important and transformational project. It also aligned with our broader initiative to create visual language for the Sun Valley neighborhood, where there are over 80 nationalities represented and a dozen languages spoken. Creating a space that was diverse, vibrant and inclusive was of paramount importance. 

As a typographically-minded studio, we started with the word mark; creating a playful, but easily readable humanist sans-serif typeface that we expanded to include special characters from 12 different languages. Visual vibrancy and non-lingual communication were injected by adding a series of vegetable, fruit and market illustrations that are used for marketing, wayfinding and digital applications. The system was then supported by a color palette as fresh as the market produce and an energetic layering and patterning system. The end result is an international brand that speaks to the diversity, energy and spirit of the neighborhood and creates a point of community pride. These assets are utilized in a series of collateral pieces including: bags, packaging and signage and on the web.