Loaves & Fishes Family Kitchen Ad
Overview
Loaves & Fishes Family Kitchen, a local nonprofit soup kitchen, came to our design team, Hex Studio, seeking an advertisement. We developed initial ad concepts and layouts based on data they provided to us. Feedback was given and ideas were revised several times. The final ad design reflects the creation process and the combined vision of designers and client.
Parameters
We initially met with Loaves & Fishes Family Kitchen through the 2015 Create-a-thon competition. Our advertisement had to be completed by November 30th, and was presented to the judges on December 3rd. If our ad won, Loaves & Fishes requested both a print ad and a digital ad. For the presentation, we focused on a print ad that adhered to the size dimensions given by the Silicon Vally Business Journal.
Roles & Responsibilities
Hex Studio comprised of three designers in total; Alissa Rosette, Tirya Mueller, and myself. Tirya acted as project manager, and Alissa and I were main designers. We each conceived different ad ideas and presented them to Madeline Martin, the Senior Marketing & Development Manager at Loaves & Fishes. Madeline provided feedback for our designs, and ultimately had the final decision in which design was chosen for submission.
A young girl having Thanksgiving dinner at Loaves & Fishes Family Kitchen
Brainstorming
Loaves & Fishes provided many statistics to help illustrate the need for donations. While people may think Silicon Valley families are doing well, the reality is that there is a sharp gap between the wealthy and others who are struggling with food daily. Year-round donations were a necessity that the nonprofit wanted to stress.
Advertisements from similar soup kitchens and food banks use facts and statistics to emphasize the need to donate. It seemed impactful to show how dollar amounts translated to actual meals served. We also found that emotional appeals were effective for motivating people into donating their time and money. There is a fine line though between being emotional and being saccharine that was vital to keep in mind.
Problem Solving
Focusing on specific statistics regarding food insecurity in the Bay Area was a starting point. An important fact and a strong visual were the elements that I wanted to address in a successful advertisement.
Some of the statistics that felt the most important were that 1 in 4 Bay Area families are food insecure, and that $1000 is enough to feed 500 people at Loaves & Fishes. My designs branched into non-figurative ways of demonstrating hunger based on the ads found during my research. To show food insecurity, a perishable food like eggs were used. And to illustrate how the need for donations was constant, a row of spoons by a single plate was utilized.
Solution
The final advertisement is the refinement of ideas. The central ideas of the eggs and the spoons were kept, but the copy and call-to-action were adjusted. Madeline asked for the address to be removed from the eggs ad, as that was their headquarters and not their actual kitchen location. She also asked for a link to their donation page to be added with the social media links. For the spoon ad, the text was changed to emphasize the call-to-action more prominently.
Final egg ad for Loaves & Fishes
Final spoons ad for Loaves & Fishes
Challenges
Madeline already had a certain idea of what she wanted in the ad, but couldn’t quite articulate it. After receiving feedback a few times, it became apparent that she wanted the emotional appeal elicited from a picture of a young hungry child. My ad designs, while praiseworthy, were more cerebral and illustrative than she was looking for, and ultimately Alissa’s ad was chosen.
Conclusion
The 2015 Create-a-thon brought Hex Studio designers and Loaves & Fishes Family Kitchen together to create an advertisement. Our research showed that appeals to emotions paired with factual evidence of need created powerful ads. My designs reflected my illustrator’s background by depicting concepts like hunger and need through the symbolic items of eggs and silverware. Ultimately my ideas were not chosen as the final submission to the contest, but they are still laudable as examples of advertisement design.
