Project Rooted

Extending a nonprofit's logo design to a fun and thoughtful brand identity rollout

Project Rooted is a nonprofit located in Dubuque, Iowa whose mission is to connect kids with real food, from the ground up. Through educational events, providing fresh meals, resources and recipes, they aim to help kids learn about where their food comes from and the healthy choices they can make about the food they eat!

When co-founder Whitney first reached out to me, Project Rooted was in its early stages as a nonprofit – they were building a following on social media and making connections to local schools. They already had an existing logo design, but Whitney knew as well as I did that a logo design is only PART of a full brand identity! What Project Rooted needed was some brand identity assets and standards that could add some extra fun and excitement to the brand, as well as a cohesive look for all of the promotions to follow.

With an existing logo design that was already recognizable to the community, I played with color to create a cohesive color palette and select brand fonts. With these standards, the team and their vendors can keep things consistent as they create new promotions for the brand.

I wanted illustration to be a BIG part of this brand identity, because it’s so fun, relates so well to kids and it helps give the fresh produces and real food some big personality! I worked out the illustrations by hand, and they are all flexible for use throughout all of Project Rooted’s promotions.

It was so fun to design up custom diecut stickers as giveaways that really show off the fun of this brand! Another big project we worked together on was the packaging design for their Rooted Boxes (in various box sizes.) These are the boxes that hold the meal kits that kids at local schools receive, educating kids about the local food sources and healthy meal options.

I’m really proud to have designed and developed Project Rooted’s beautiful website! It’s a wonderful hub of information including Project Rooted’s story, their current projects, and includes a blog full of stories and recipes. You can also easily make a donation to their cause, and it’s a gorgeous evolution of their visual brand we’ve been working to build. to the Rooted team!

You can learn more about Project Rooted's cause at PROJECTROOTED.COM.