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Growing Near West

Art Direction, Branding, Design

Growing Near West
This project was completed by myself and three other Visual Communication students at Herron School of Art + Design. We named ourselves "Four Girls Design," and over the course of a semester we worked with the Office of Neighborhood Partnerships at IUPUI and the Hawthorne Community Center, located in the urban Near West side of Indianapolis.

WHAT OUR CLIENTS NEEDED
The Near West side of Indianapolis is a highly diverse and relatively low-income neighborhood. Our community partners came to us with the idea of starting a group of community gardens to improve the neighborhood. They came to us with the name “Near West Community Gardens,” and several scattered ideas. They also brought passion and enthusiasm that helped "Four Girls Design" move this project forward.

WHAT WE DID
After our first meeting with our community partners, "Four Girls Design" began to research. This included finding how already existing successful urban farms worked, as well as conducting local ethnographic research to figure out the precise needs of the community. From our research, we began preparing an executive overview that would highlight their current situation and create a strategy to ensure its success. In our executive overview to our clients, "Four Girls Design" expressed the need for a clear identity. We also explained the benefit of developing and the dissemination of promotional materials to get neighborhood residents involved and excited. "Four Girls Design" rebranded The Near West Community Gardens into "Growing Near West." We encouraged and reinforced the ownership of community members with the campaign "I’m Growing Near West." This campaign consisted of posters, flyers, postcards, T-shirts, stencils, produce bags, buttons, and an internal organization guide.

FOUR GIRLS DESIGN
+ Jayne Glick Creative Director
+ Bella Olszewski Strategy Director
+ Jessica Siple External Communications
+ Marina Touch Internal Coordinator
Logo Created by Jessica Siple of Four Girls Design
Concept for Communication Campaign by Jayne Glick of Four Girls Design
Bag and Pin Design by Jayne Glick of Four Girls Design
Post Card Design by Jayne Glick of Four Girls Design
Post Card Design by Jayne Glick of Four Girls Design
Volunteers help Growing Near West at their first Garden Preparation DayTshirt Design by Jayne Glick
WHERE GROWING NEAR WEST IS NOW
Growing Near West has grown, both literally and figuratively and is now in its second year. Over this past year, I’ve had the opportunity to intern at Growing Near West as a Community Partner Scholar with IUPUI. I’ve facilitated neighborhood meetings, kept up social media sites, created new print materials, and advised residents on how to farm organically in an urban environment.