COMMUNITY FOOD PANTRY
Andrews House brand and food pantry redesign
During the summer of 2023, two of my classmates and I designed and fabricated an emergency food pantry for Andrews House, a Delaware-based nonprofit community center. We worked from the “fuzzy front end” of design through to installation; a long process that involved research, client presentations, interviews, sketches, ideation, 3D modeling, prototyping, woodshoping, and visual identity development. We experienced firsthand how decisions made in different phases of the design process interact, acquired many new skills in the shop, and gained an appreciation for precision and intentionality.
Independently, I also produced a visual identity for Andrews House. As an organization reliant on community support and recognition, their lack of a consistent visual identity was an issue. By establishing an identity I aimed to make the organization more recognizable and accessible to users.
To read our article by the Ohio State Department of Design click here.
FOOD PANTRY RESEARCH
The project involved lots of research and exercises in divergent thinking. We interviewed the executive director of Andrews House to learn about the organizations goals and challenges and talked with other local nonprofit directors to understand management at this scope. We learned that these organizations have limited time and money, and rely heavily on community support for continued success.
We explored ways to improve the function of their emergency food pantry and how to create forms to support those functions. This included many, many mind maps. See a couple of them below...
FABRICATION
We created prototypes to explore how function and form intersect.
Finally, we built the boxes and doors, and cut the post, and assembled.
