Design Firm Will Work For Food

Love, love, love this idea!! The adventure will be chronicled in the blog Will Work For Food.

Boston Design Firm Will Work For Food

Valerie Gates and her husband Barry Friedman run the award winning boutique design firm Gates Studio in Boston, MA.
This winter after reading Omnivore’s Dilemma and Animal, Vegetable and Miracle, Gates felt compelled to do something to help the small organic farms and the local food movement in the Boston area. That's when she came up with the idea to offer local growers and farms her studio’s professional design and branding services on a creative pro-bono sliding scale. With help from the non-profit group, Southeastern Massachusetts Agricultural Partnership, she put out the word to local farms that she was offering her studio’s services on a first-come, first-served basis as follows:
First five farms: a barter agreement of design time and services for organic food or CSA shares
Next five farms: 75% discount on rates for services
Next five farms: 50% discount on rates for services
Next five farms: 25% discount on rates for services

By the end of the second day, Gates had over 15 farms and local growers lined up to take advantage of her unique offer. “I wanted to do my part in helping even out the playing field for small growers and help them compete with larger farms and organizations that have larger marketing budgets,” explained Gates. “I also wanted to find a creative way to get my family to eat more organically and introduce them to sustainable farming life by creating a relationship with these local farms.”

Gates Studio specializes in complete creative design solutions including branding and style guide design, print and collateral design, website design and development, digital photography, and film/video creative and production.