Visual Exposure: 



Farm Logos and Signs Tell Your Story 



Judith M. Powell 

 Whitefleld, Maine 



Deciding what sign and logo best represent you is 

 a challenging and important business decision. 

 Signage and logo make a statement about the farm and 

 the people behind it. The objective is to reach out and 

 hit a target audience of customers you are striving to 

 connect with, while at the same time motivating a 

 positive response by communicating what you are 

 about. These are marketing tools that make a promise 

 of quality, in the mind's eye of what your public 

 perceives. 



Perception is a subconscious response computed 

 in the course of a fleeting moment. Webster's 

 Dictionary defines it as intuitiveness, sense of 

 awareness, insight, and understanding - rolled into 

 one. What perception is generated from your logo and 

 signs? If your enterprise does not have a logo already. 



Signs: Things to Consider 



• Avoid using the shapes and colors the 

 highway department uses, so your sign will 

 stand out. 



• Keep the sign well-painted and well- 

 managed. Appearance is very important. 



• Place it out in the open, where it will be 

 lighted by the sun not shaded by a tree or 

 building. 



• Avoid tall grasses, fences, trees, and 

 houses for readability. 



• Know zoning restrictions and state and 

 local regulations, including setback 

 restrictions. 



now is a good time to take this on as a project. It also 

 could be that an existing logo might need an update or 

 face-lift. 



It is easy to keep a daunting task like deciding on a 

 logo on the back burner. An already-too-long list of 

 immediate things-to-do provides good justification. 

 Then, there is not knowing how to begin and not 

 knowing how much it is going to cost to get this done. 

 These seem like reasonable excuses. Priorities should 

 relate to payoff, and your investment in marketing will 

 pay offover and over again. Take it slowly. This is not 

 a project to be completed in an evening or a week, but 

 one that should be slept on so your subconscious can 

 help out. 



A good starting point is thinking through where 

 the farm began, and where you are going. Every farm 

 is a unique story. Usually, it is a good story. Your 

 story is about history, family commitment, land 

 stewardship and environment, heritage, lifestyle, and 

 passions. Typically, these represent the same reasons 

 consumers want to support you and will acknowledge 

 their appreciation through their dollars. Make lists of 

 key words that represent what is important in your 

 mind. These key words are your message ingredients. 

 Next, cluster these into groups to identify relationships 

 and characteristics that naturally fall together until a 

 theme emerges or an image formulates in your mind. 

 The logo and signage convey personality and place. 



If the exercise seems difficult, a different tact is to 

 define the audience you are targeting - customers who 

 may think like you do and seek the products and 

 services you can supply. All customers are not the 

 same, so your marketing challenge is finding those 

 who need what you have to sell. Your logo and signage 



Copyright©! 00 2 by Moose River Publishing Company. Reprinted with permission from Farming, The Journal of 

 Northeast Agriculture, Volume 5, Number 4 (April), 2002, pp. 29-32. For subscription information, call Moose River 

 Publishing Company at (800) 422-7147 or write to Farming, The Joumal of Northeast Agriculture, P.O. Box 449, St. 

 Johnsbury, VT 05819-9929. 



Fruit Notes, Volume 68, Winter, 2003 



17 



