Branstrator Farm

I met Jon Branstrator and immediately felt a connection to him. We were at my favorite coffee house, Adesso, when he started telling me about his farm in Clarksville, Ohio (which is very close to my home). He had been supplying Adesso with his heirloom Koginut squash but was also selling cornmeal and flour to local markets. He was a fifth generation farmer looking to bring new life into his family's 200 year old farm.

As I was talking to Jon, a picture flashed in my head and I immediately started sketching a logo idea on a napkin (sounds cliche, but I really did). The next thing that flashed in my head was my photographer partner, Gina Weathersby, who could help me with my vision. We have collaborated on many projects, but this one was a perfect job to integrate photography and design together from the start to create a brand style. The beauty of his heirloom crops and his family farm needed to be an integral part of his brand. The style of the photography was as important as the style of the typography and layout design in telling his brand story.

So, Gina and I started by meeting Jon at his farm and getting a better picture of his vision and his farm. We were like 2 kids in a candy store! As we explored the farm, his brand began to come to life as we discovered so many hidden treasures from the textures in the fields to the shapes and materials in the barns. The history was there in the family cemetery on the hill which was one of our first shots that day.

We collected a lot of inspiration that day which led me to a design for his brand that harkens to old seed packets from the era of the farm 200 years ago. The product photos incorporated a piece of old galvanized metal I found in his barn. We also did a series of photos that highlighted recipes created by a local chef that used his cornmeal and flour and continued the brand look.

By working in tandem with a photographer during the design process, I think the brand story became richer and more ownable to our client.