Mandela Produce Distribution is a project of the community development non-profit Mandela Partners. They support local, limited-resource farmers by establishing an alternative distribution network that passes on wholesale prices to retailers, institutions, restaurants and other mission-aligned community-based organizations.
MPD prioritizes small family farms that grow sustainably and are located within a 150-mile radius of their food hub in the heart of West Oakland.
Their customers are a niche market that understands the importance of supporting socially disadvantaged farmers with fair pricing. Operating as a food hub instead of a traditional produce distributor they’re able to honor their connection to Mandela Partners’ community programs, which secure residents’ right to access fresh, affordable, and healthy food.
I was brought on by Mandela Produce Distribution to help them redo their logo and align it to their team member’s personalities, which was for lack of a better term, “Hella East Bay”, as well as the MPD mission. They already had a logo that they weren’t very excited by and a new tagline that they were. Above is the old logo and below are the initial sketches for a revamp which included their new tagline ”Hella Fresh, Hella Local”
The team decided on a box of produce that represented some of their seasonal offerings with their tagline prominently displayed on the sides. Because the logo was such a departure from the old one I also helped them by creating a brand guide to assist them present their nonprofit to the world at large in a cohesive way.
The Re-Generate Opportunity (Re-Gen) Program addresses barriers to employment among people in reentry and residents with barriers to employment in Alameda County.
I was hired for a quick turn presentation project for the Re-Gen program that included the layout of pre-written information into an easily digestible PowerPoint format. A goal was that the end deliverable would allow members of Mandela Partners the ability to edit it in the future. I also provided illustrations for the project that reflected hyper-local locations and the programs core demographic and goals within the visual branding of Mandela partners ensuring cohesiveness to collateral already in circulation.
Another program under the Mandela Partner’s fold is East 14th Eatery + Kitchen. I was tapped to help redesign their logo after the decision to change the location’s name from the Ashland Market & Cafe was made in an effort to better describe the space and program. East 14th is a food business incubator for local limited-resource entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs of color and an ongoing effort to support local entrepreneurship and build wealth in unincorporated Alameda County.