The Farmer's Kshetra
Kshetra (k-sh-ae-thraa): A word of the Telugu language meaning ‘field’. The Farmer’s Kshetra is an Indian NGO that works towards the upliftment of farmers and building access to a better livelihood within the farming community. The brand wanted an identity design and initial packaging design concepts for their products to be sold in global markets.
Client: The Farmer's Kshetra NGO
Scope: Logo Design, Packaging Design
Year: 2019
Read Time: 3 minutes
The Farmer's Kshetra logo is a simple, yet rustic logotype. A 'Nagali' or a traditional indian plough is a popular tool still widely used in farming in many parts of India. The Nagali is attached to an Ox that drags the plough around the farm, turning over the soil and preparing it for the planting of new crops. This tool represents the first step that every farmer must go through - the ploughing stage, the stage where farmers prepare for the coming few months where they will be closely tending to their crops. The tool represents the beginning of a new cycle. Hence, it was decided to represent the Nagali with the letter 'K' in the word Kshetra. The font was also given a dirt-like texture to represent the agricultural fields. The serif font with rounded edged, along with the added texture, further adds to the rustic, organic feel of the logo. A hand-drawn script font was chosen for 'The Farmer's' to add a personal and organic feel to go along with the entire identity.
The Farmer's Kshetra is an upcoming Indian NGO that aims to works towards the well-being of farmers with the intent of providing them with a) means of attaining financial stability, b) educating them on organic, and more profitable ways of growing crops, c) providing them with the resources and tools required to make their growing process more efficient and profitable. In India, over 20% of farmers live below the poverty line. There are many aspects that add to the struggle of making a consistent, sustainable source of income for farmer - ranging from production risks like drought, flood, lack of adequate use of inputs, poor extension leading to large yield gaps, lack of assured and adequate irrigation, and crop failure to market risks like absence of market, poor price realisation, high transaction cost, and poor bargaining power due to small marketed surplus. (Singh, S. 2020)
The Farmer's Kshetra aims to help farmers solve some of these insecurities. The NGO would help educate farmers on effective practices and use of resources to produce crops, provide them with any external tools and equipment required, and eventually export these crops to global markets, primarily to the United States of America. The profits from these exports would be shared back with the farmers, thus helping them build more sustainable finances.
The Farmer's Kshetra was going to launch with a range of lentils in the United States and packaging was to be designed for this range. The organisation was primarily aiming to target people between the ages of 25-55. The organization wanted to work towards getting young people involved in their cause and share awareness about where their food comes from. Keeping all this in mind, it was decided that the packaging should be clear, simple, vibrant and young.
Simple brown paper packaging with a ziplock was conceptualised as this would help keep the lentils fresh without requiring an additional container which might be useful for young adults with busy schedules. Simplified, bright illustrations of the respective lentils were made and added to the design in a fun, organic pattern that depicted movement and energy. The packaging further mentioned where the said product was grown and used fun, rustic typefaces to carry forward the farm-grown feel while maintaining a young essence overall. The bright colours against the brown packaging would further help the products stand out on a grocery store shelf.