Design Charrette benefits Toledo Charity

Posted: Tuesday, March 3, 2009 by: Amy Fidler | Category: Community Interest

Saturday February 25, in a focused kamikaze action, 20 graphic designers gathered at Toledo design studio Madhouse, to develop a new visual identity for local charity MLK Kitchen for the Poor in ONE day.

The design charrette was a one day design marathon with the goal to completely rebrand and reinvent an area non-profit organization in the scope of one working day. Graphic designers rethought MLK KItchen for the Poor’s brand identity (including logo), stationery (letterhead, envelope, business cards), collateral materials and web presence.

The identity of the organization was kept secret until the morning of the event so that none of the designers would be able to have a head start. After meeting the client, learning about their needs and hearing the design brief, the designers split into 5 teams ranging from branding and identity to web development. Because of time constraints, all groups worked simultaneously on different parts of the project. One highlight of the initiative is that the client will walk away from this experience with beautifully designed, functional and relevant materials, that will allow them to better collect donations, find volunteers and connect with their community. The website is now live (www.kitchenforthepoor.org) and the printed materials are currently at the printer (Homewood Press).

“When approaching a new logo for the MLK Kitchen for the Poor, we felt that their 40 year tradition and the stories that resulted should be the overlying theme. Their existing mark used an image of wheat, which we decided to update, but also give more purpose to. We pulled from their stories of having their own harvests from local farmers and wheat being a basic necessity for the hungry, and when put in the circular shape, represented how they give back to the same community they came from. With wheat also being a symbol of “nourishment” and “bounty,” we needed a color palette that had the same message, so we felt the bright orange and green reinforced that, but also gave a feeling of hopefulness and charity.” – Tyler Fortney

“Knowing we had such an aggressive timeline, we decided to focus our efforts on building a stable framework for the website that could be easily added to later. It was more important to have the site work hard in terms of allowing people to donate money, or volunteer, or connect with the organization than for it to look good. The fact that we ended up with a site that is visually appealing and substantive is icing on the cake.” – Gene Powell

“Ultimately what we wanted to achieve was to bring the brand online and at the same time provide MLK kitchen with some tools to help them reach out to the community via the web. The biggest challenges were bringing the brand online before a mark was complete, building a robust enough web architecture that was going to meet their needs and power this with a CMS so it would be easy for them to maintain in the future and build it all with in less than 8 hours. The web team never left their seats and by the end of the day the we put together about 75% of the site and had to be pushed out the door to go home for the night. Within the next 4 days the we pulled together online to finish the project up. Overall this was an amazingly talented group that I got to work with making the project a great success...” – Michael Paulus, AIGA Toledo Interactive Chair

Additional Information:
http://toledo.aiga.org
http://www.aiga.org
http://kitchenforthepoor.org

AIGA Mission
AIGA’s mission is to advance design as a professional craft, strategic tool and vital cultural force. AIGA is the place design professionals turn to first to exchange ideas and information, to participate in critical analysis and to research and advance education and ethical practice.

AIGA Toledo Chapter
AIGA Toledo has been an established chapter of AIGA (the professional association for design) since 2007. This year-old chapter boasts over 80 members with a network reaching out to the entire Northwest Ohio creative community including: designers, educators, art directors, web developers, printers, illustrators, photographers, artists and students. Through events, programs and initiatives, AIGA Toledo is educating both the public and businesses regarding the value and cultural impact of design.

MLK Kitchen for the Poor
The MLK Kitchen for the Poor was established in 1969 by the late Rev. Harvey Savage, Sr., in response to the tremendous need he saw in his community. Located in Toledo’s central city, the Kitchen feeds more than 200 people each day, from school children to the elderly. Some clients live in nearby housing projects or single-family homes; others are homeless. According to the U.S. Census (2000), the median income in the neighborhoods served by the Kitchen is just $5,502.

In addition to serving meals in its dining room, the Kitchen also:
• Delivers meals to the elderly and area shut-ins
• Serves hot meals to neighborhood children during summer vacation
• Provides ingredients for food-stamp recipient families to prepare meals at home
• Helps needy families with meals during the holidays
• Matches “adoptive” families with needy families to provide gifts for Christmas
• Provides clothing, toys, counseling and support for the immediate community

Press Release Contact Name: Amy Fidler
Press Release Contact Email: [email protected]
Organization Name: AIGA Toledo
Website or Link: toledo.aiga.org