Harvest at the Summer Solstice

Days like yesterday are rare - and it was the summer solstice no less. Gentle sunshine, June-blue skies, warm breeze, and downy clouds with golden glow. The hay field swayed in celebration and crickets sang as the sun set. It was the longest day of the year, and call me greedy, but I wanted even more. 

The harvest is urging towards summer too. May and June have offered the freshest, crispiest, greenest salads, and will soon give way to more substantial bounties that beg the broadest of sauté pans. 

Lots of spicy pink radishes and lettuce in every shade of green. Is there any better color combination? (up for debate).

Cauliflower and broccoli are beginning to make an appearance. Cauliflower always remind me of Lucien in my favorite movie, Amelie - "Shhh! Il dort dans le chou-fleur!"

Tomatoes have a ways to go, but they are growing into their cages. 

Every night!

Logo Design: Belchertown Farmers Market

The Belchertown Farmers Market is a fixture on the Belchertown Commons on Sundays during the summertime. To kick off their 2016 season, they wanted to rebrand and start the year with a new eye-catching logo. Here's the final design they chose:

The simplicity of the layout makes this logo ideal for applying to a variety of signage, market bags, t-shirts, and more. They wanted a rustic, vintage feel as well and were pleased with the way the tomato, banner, and neutral colors achieved that.

Just for fun, here are some of the other options we presented them with:

I'm pleased with the direction they chose and look forward to seeing it on display at their first market of the season on June 19th!

Logo Concepts: The Ashfield Farmers Market

It was opening weekend for a few of the big outdoor farmers markets in the area, and plenty of others will be swift to follow as April eases into warmer temperatures and gives way to sunny May. The Ashfield Farmers Market, a seasonal Saturday Market held on the Ashfield Town Commons, wanted a fresh look to start their season. I put together a few logo concepts for their consideration:

The blackberry theme was carried over from their old logo and refreshed, treated a little differently in each version. I also got out my brush pen for this one; the calligraphic hand lettering gives the logo a handmade, personal feel.

I'm eager to see which direction they choose to kick their 2016 market season off with!

Sowing the Seeds

Welcome to The Homegrown Studio! This is a new endeavor inspired by the rich history of farming in New England, and the incredible revitalization it is experiencing all over the country but particularly in my home of Western Massachusetts. The developments, stories, images, and food I witness coming out of this agricultural revolution are nothing short of inspiring, and it was time I got involved.

The Homegrown Studio is a concept I've been shaping in my mind for a while now. I knew combining my love for agriculture with my skills in graphic design, art, and marketing would be a dream career, and although it took time to identify the best way to execute, I am now pleased to present The Homegrown Studio as a marriage of my passions; a creative marketing studio with the mission of helping farmers and craftsmen tell their stories and reap the benefits.

I am eager to put my work out there for the agricultural community to consider, and start better getting to know many of you and your businesses. You'll see on the About page that there are a range of ways The Homegrown Studio can help tell your story and promote your business, whether it's through graphic design, photography, illustration, or public relations. Maybe you could use a re-imagined logo, a brochure describing the benefits of your CSA program, a label for your honey jars, or a colorful sign to bring to the farmer's market.

So please have a look around the site and let me know what you think; I hope my handmade, homegrown creative work inspires in you a fraction of what your work inspires in me every time I shop at a local farmer's market, visit a farm stand, or eat at a farm-to-table restaurant. Thank you!