Julie Pawlowicz - SNAP Market Match

Everyday more than 750,000 people in Washington don’t know where their next meal will come from, and often healthy options are out of reach. Since 2015, the Washington State Department of Health and dozens of partners have implemented Fruit and Vegetable Incentive programs at farmers markets and grocery stores to make healthy food more affordable for low-income families in Washington. With initial funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and continued support from private and state funding, the Fruit and Vegetable Incentive Program helps Washington families on limited budgets afford more fruits and vegetables.

At more than 100 participating farmers markets and farm stands, customers who use Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits can double their SNAP benefits to buy more fruits and vegetables.

The Washington State Farmers Market Association teamed up with the Washington State Department of Health to rebrand three existing SNAP matching programs into one cohesive program.

The Design Challenge

Three similar EBT matching programs were available around the state. There was often confusion from shoppers which markets accepted which program, what the match level was, and where they could use their matching vouchers. The challenge was to rebrand the three programs into one easily recognizable program shoppers could use at any participating market in a change adverse atmosphere.

The Design Process

We had the rare luxury of time and a budget to do a proper market evaluation before beginning any design work. We held several online meetings and also presented the same questions in a digital survey to all farmer market managers throughout the state. We asked about what they would like to see in the new branding, the tone, colors, and what their customers call the current programs when casually speaking about it. We had over 50 responses to our surveys! We were armed with great information to begin the design. We did two rounds of design with constant feedback on several logo options, color variations, font variations and program names.

The rebranding was a true collaboration! Our markets were involved the entire process providing priceless feedback on what kind of materials needed to successfully roll out the new program.

FINAL LOGO & Collateral

The "Grown in Washington" concept with a carrot being pulled from Washington soil was the clear winner with its simplicity, bright colors, and fun font. SNAP Market Match was chosen for the program name because it was easy to understand why the program existed.

Waterproof currency needed to be reusable through the season, with an area that changed colors each year for quick identification. The substrate also needed to work with several different currency counting machines being used.

Markets have a lot of existing signage. Stickers were created to go on existing signs & banners used throughout the markets to promote the program.

Rack cards explaining how to use the program. Markets indicated that showing visuals of what they could buy with the currency was helpful, especially for shoppers with low English proficiency. The materials were also translated into several other languages.

Posters introducing the refreshed program and how
it works were provided in several sizes and in
black & white for lower-cost printing by the markets.

Posters announcing the name change for markets
with existing programs were provided in several sizes
and in black & white for lower-cost printing by the markets.