Designing for Dignity: Hambly & Woolley rebrands the Georgian Bay Food Network

Context

Food insecurity isn't a new problem in Canada, but it's definitely gotten worse in recent years. The Georgian Bay Food Network (GBFN) opened its doors in 2021 to the community of Midland, Ontario, through the efforts of Alexandria Hamlin. Alex, a lifelong resident of Midland, has seen the struggles of local community members and families and wanted to help them through a volunteer-run food bank. Alex worked to get the word out using home-printed flyers and going door-to-door during COVID to introduce her idea. 

In the spring of 2023, Hambly & Woolley was introduced to Alex by Doug Dolan, a strategic partner we work with often. Doug met Alex, heard her story, and offered his services as a writer and advisor. Doug worked closely with Alex to shape how GBFN talked about itself. Based on his recommendation, Alex encouraged us to look at the visual branding, community engagement materials and website.

Methodology

As with all our projects, from those for individual business owners to those for multinational companies, we spend a lot of time actively listening at the outset. Alex explained the vision for the GBFN. She told us the history of the area she was serving. She talked about the immense generosity of the community. She outlined the decision to call it a food network as opposed to a food bank. Through Alex's passionate (and confidential) stories of the families she works with, we began to understand her core mission: above all else, ensure that GBFN serves its clients with dignity.

We spent time understanding the sign-up process for new clients. We wanted to get a deeper sense of the journey that her clients experienced from their first contact. We talked about how the space was designed to feel like an independent grocery store. Alex told us that her clients are all given a set amount of points for each food category they can choose to use as they wish. They leave with brown paper bags. GBFN does not give handouts; it gives support and offers a friendly face from members of the community.

Process

At H&W, we had the opportunity to elevate GBFN’s visibility to its two main audiences: the clients they support and the funders that ensure long-term sustainability. The visual identity needed to feel warm but not too young. It needed to be vibrant while also sophisticated. We landed on the typeface Ultra for the wordmark and added the five-dot smile to evoke the idea of a chain or network. It was bold and inviting and had these amazing counters in the letters. We realized if we pulled these quirky shapes out of the letters, we could use them to build an endless library of illustrated products you would find on the shelves of GBFN. 

The website had three main functions. First, make potential clients feel comfortable and offer them information about the network and the option to sign up. Second, it had to encourage funders to offer or continue their support through financial donations and partnerships. The third focus, which was also incredibly important to Alex, was to thank and honour the community that has come out in full force to help GBFN. We used our poppy colour palette, beautiful candid photography by Natalia Dolan and a clean typographic interface to mirror Alex's energy and highlight the network. From the days of knocking on doors during the pandemic to expanding its shelves, Midland and the surrounding region have shown nothing but care for GBFN and its clients.

Results

The Georgian Bay Food Network has one full-time employee, Alex. She has 38 volunteers, and more are asking to join every day. Alex and GBFN have gained such respect in the community that many other social service agencies have committed support for GBFN. She has 10 dedicated local partners and over 100 local businesses have supported GBFN. Tim Horton’s selects one local charity to support with the profits from its Smile Cookie campaign. Through Alex's hard work and a shiny new website, Tim selected GBFN to receive their support. 

Sadly, though, GBFN’s success has gained many more families. It has become so visible to the community that Alex had to suspend intakes to make sure she could scale properly. Like so many others who work tirelessly in the support and service of struggling people, Alex hopes she won’t be needed one day. But, for now, her daily efforts have made the community better.

Credit:

All photos by Natalia Dolan