Foraged Market
Brand Identity, E-Commerce Website
Rewild your appetite.
Foraged Market began small, but took on big issues. Trying to counter the troubles produced by our industrialized food system, they wondered “what if people were given access to fresh, seasonal, unique, and nutritious foods in a way that connects them directly to the landscapes and producers they came from?” So they set out to do just that; to empower small-scale food producers to grow their businesses and nourish others, while enabling everyday people access to hard-to-find foods.
At Rugged, we were tasked with designing a visual identity and system to reflect their mission. It had to clearly communicate what the team at Foraged was doing in a way that set them apart from other online food marketplaces.
We began looking for inspiration by going back. Studying the stenciled typography that lined wooden food shipping crates to the commanding monolithic grotesque faces that were popularized in the late 19th century. Continuing back, we turned our attention to botanical journals and herbarium catalogues that capture the inquisitive and nurturing relationship that is the marrow of the foragers, farmers, and wildcrafters behind the brand.
Pulling from our inspiration, the Foraged lockups encapsulate a time where connection to materials were much more tactile and transitions this affect into the current time. Fitting seamlessly into a scalable system, the marks stand distinct and strong, helping to differentiate Foraged from the rest in their industry.
The typographic system for Foraged calls on two historical typefaces-Champion Gothic and Caslon Ionic. Champion Gothic, inspired by the large set wood type of the turn of the century, is used as the display typeface. It helps messaging command attention while it’s variation in widths serves as a mimetic device for the diversity in nature. Caslon Ionic is used as body copy and supporting type. Referencing type set in botanical journals and encyclopedic volumes, it serves at a clean and clear communication tool grounded in retrospection.
