What Is Garden Kitchen Lab?

Garden Kitchen Lab is a growing, backyard-to-table, science-based, and hands-on educational experience. An intergenerational, cross cultural educational model, GKL combines urban agriculture, culinary and STEAM disciplines to teach kids across NYC how to connect with the source of their food.

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I was brought in to develop a new visual identity system that could grow with the program.

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Concept Development

The process began with two visual concepts. The first concept (left) was inspired by the patchwork of agriculture that covers large swaths of America. This patchwork was an allegory for the diversity of students that pass through the GKL program. The patchwork visuals were then contained within a rectangle which represented the raised garden beds necessary for GKL’s urban farms. This system was proposed to be variable, with the garden bed changing dimensions and internal layout to fit different applications and stories.

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The second concept (right) took inspiration from mandalas and the harmony that they represent. This was combined with the simple concept of a shared root system. Each sprout has leaves representative of a heart, further emphasizing the love and care necessary to cultivate the gardens – as well as strong bonds between students.

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The second concept was chosen, and I began to expand on the design system. I started by telling more of the brand story through visuals and copy.

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Cultivating The System

The system expanded to include a playful color scheme, seasonally changing logos, and a set of custom-illustrated icons. One of the key challenges of this project was developing something that could appeal to adults who would need to enroll their children but not be so serious that photos of kids looked out of place in marketing materials. The result was a sophisticated yet playful design system that struck the right balance.

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Outcomes: New Opportunities To Flourish

Moving forward, the goal was to recruit more schools and educators across New York City, raise funds for the existing schools, and sell the program to other districts across the country. Since the brand was released in 2020, the program has added two schools, received multiple grants, and engaged over 1000 students by connecting them to the earth and their food. Overall, the outcome of this project was a shift from a fledgling education program with a rudimentary brand into an established program that can flourish and grow.

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