The brief 

Ben and James, horticulturalists and co-founders of Farm My School, approached Harvey in 2022 with a vision of turning underutilised school ovals and outdoor spaces into thriving market gardens. The benefits of this program were threefold; to educate students through the curriculum on regenerative agricultural practice and building their connection to land, health and community. Secondly, to convert the underutilised dustbowl barren school grounds into a productive agricultural land in an urban setting. Finally, to engage the community through participation and working bees, and to offer a weekly fruit and veggie box to school families at a subsidised price.

In September 2023, Harvey was engaged to support the team on a strategic brand alignment, visual identity progression and an ecommerce website build for Farm My School (FMS). 

The work

Brand refinement and progression 

We progressed the visual brand for this new stage in the Farm My School Journey. Many discussions with the team about their favourite colour greens and whether the pumpkin in their original logo could be heroed more. Recognising the importance of visual representation, we incorporated photography as a central component of the brand, leveraging Farm My School's strong visual appeal through imagery of the team, their ambassadors (hello Costa from Gardening Australia) and iconography that could tell a story succinctly where needed. After the brand was looking slick, we applied these styles templates and documents for them to use to present to funders and philanthropists.

Tightening the message and content

Finding a balance in the site messaging hierarchy involved much discussion. On one hand a goal of the site was to communicate the program to potential partners for alignment or funding and on the other it was to sell the first term of produce box subscriptions (that were kicking off at the site’s launch).

To accomplish this, we categorised the audience into two primary groups: funders/partners and local families/communities, tailoring the messaging for each group accordingly. We then developed the messaging hierarchy to address the user journey and needs of each audience. Concurrently we developed the photography direction for an upcoming onsite shoot with local photographers.

We developed a lo-fi content wireframe, identifying core pages and panels required to effectively communicate our message. By focusing on the two core audiences of the site we created a user-centric approach to content organisation. Throughout this process, we incorporated feedback from the Farm My School team, iteratively refining the messaging and content to ensure alignment with their objectives.

The impact

It was the end of January 2024, just as term one was kicking off and it was time to go live! We launched the site with two core products: a single produce box and a produce box subscription for term 1. Within a week of the website launch, Farm My School exceeded their original goal of 32 produce boxes and brought in 45 sales. 

Congratulations to Ben, James and the team for their success so far. We’ve loved playing a role in The Farm My School journey, can’t wait for the next phase together as they continue to grow (in and out of the garden!)