A Design both Historic and Contemporary

New England is known for both its historic treasures and its progressive attitude and this 17th century farm, located in Dartmouth, MA, perfectly demonstrates this duality. Year-round they tend their acres using the same sustainable farming methods that have been practiced for generations. But, for all its historic charm, this farm has positioned itself firmly in the now. They have a hugely successful CSA program (Community Supported Agriculture) in which locals can pick up heaping bags of fresh local produce every week, thereby supporting their local farmer and helping to ensure the rural nature of their environment. Further, they offer a program in which young farmers can apprentice to learn the ins and outs of today’s agricultural business and last year they erected a wind turbine for the farm.

So the challenge for us, as we began the process of designing their new website was, how do we accurately communicate this duality within the brand? The solution, as usual, was largely reliant on the typography choices. In keeping with the farm’s existing branding, the primary logo and header material is Garamond, a type face as old as the farm which communicates the warm, traditional, and historic qualities. The primary content of each page however is presented in Helvetica, which despite being of-a-certain-age, still communicates the fresh and contemporary attitude that we needed to balance the design concept.

Color also played a large role in this design. The deep woodsy green and the brilliant cranberry red were already established in their existing logo and other collateral, so we used these colors as the foundational palette, but decorated the site with accessory colors such as bright orange, fuchsia, and lime. All of these colors present happily on a crisp white background that also gives a commanding brilliance to the images of the farm’s produce.

Posted in branding, design, typography, Uncategorized, web

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