A project within the Master in Eco-social Design, inspired by the annual theme ESSEN/ALIMENTARE/FOOD (Project 1 - WS 2015/16)

Supervisors

• Kris Krois, Visual Communication
• Kuno Prey, Product Design

The idea behind PIONIERE is to help a small group of engaged organic farmers from Malles to set up a long-term connection between them and a group of consumers from Bolzano through a food-box-subscription. With that we hope to close the gap between producers and consumers — and to lay the base for a local community that acts independently from the global market. On a regular base the members are provided with fresh, seasonal and healthy produce and have the chance to learn first-hand about food and its production. On the other hand the farmers have more financial security over the long-term through the commitment of the members.

But why Malles? And why Bolzano? Malles is a rather rural area that doesn’t provide a market for the farmers to sell their products. Quite unlike Bolzano: Here people have a vivid interest in buying local and healthy products.

Each farmer who takes part in PIONIERE is connected with a group of consumers in Bolzano, which is then provided with a box of fresh products every week. On a previously agreed-on date the members can pick up the boxes in a fixed place in Bolzano. The only obstacle to overcome is the 1,5 hours distance between the two places. The idea though is to share organization and transportation efforts among the farmers.

“In some way we are all pioneers.”

Florin Pichler, Producer from Malles, Val Venosta

This pioneering spirit to always try new things and work in a way to sustain a healthy natural environment is the main resource of the project.

The entire design has the goal to leave space for the things that are really important: the products and their benefits as well as the people and their voices. Furthermore, we want to keep communication between farmers and consumers as easy and direct as possible: Blank notecards or letterpaper encourage the farmers to write personal messages to their group members. At the same time they can personalize their own stationery with an individualized stamp, containing their contact info. For the logo we have chosen a word mark that remains minimalistic and modern. Being based on a circular economic system, the divided O in pioniere represents the two parties: producers and consumers have to work together to make the project successful. The positioning supports a feeling of movement and dynamics as well as openness towards new ideas and change. We put a particular effort into working with natural materials, both for the stationery and marketing materials, as well as for the product design. The use of a crafted wooden box makes it easy to deliver the goods safely from Malles to Bolzano. To protect the products even better and to make transportation easy for the members as well, we decided to additionally create a bag.