Tag: farming

Concrete Jungle – Wrapping Things Up

by vfaraon1

My time with Concrete Jungle has been nothing short of extraordinary. Throughout the latter half of the semester, I have had the opportunity to develop an Instagram posting calendar—complete with templates and sample posts—and begin a farmer profile database containing Concrete Jungle’s partners. 

The Instagram yearly posting calendar contains a week-by-week schedule on what and when to post; these include traditional pictures, reels, and stories. Kokou and I brainstormed various content ideas, such as a “Meet the Grower” series, “Community Impact” stories, and “What’s in Season?” infographic-esque posts. In total, we developed ten templates with each containing one or more slides for Instagram’s carousel feature. Utilizing Canva Teams, we were able to integrate Concrete Jungle’s brand logos, fonts, and colors to create custom posts specific to our organization. With access to Canva’s premium features, we were also able to utilize special design elements like music with the beat-sync feature for our sample reels and certain images/illustrations for posts. I must admit, my favorite part of my time with Concrete Jungle has been designing these templates. I’m more arts-focused compared to working with analytics or logistics, so this portion of our project was most satisfying to me.

The farmer profile database is a spreadsheet that consists of various partnered farmers and their information. Kokou and I reached out to a total of fifteen partners via text and phone call to interview them and gather information for Concrete Jungle. We asked questions concerning their work and lives, such as what drives their passion and their favorite memories in their line of work. We gathered our farmers’ consent to post them on our farmer features when the Instagram goes live as well. While we weren’t able to schedule meetings with every farmer on the list, Kokou and I have begun the groundwork for Concrete Jungle staff to continue as they see fit!

On average, we met with Savannah Carter and Virginia Ruiz Lawley every other week for progress checks. They critiqued and approved all aspects of our work, giving us both creative liberty and direction with the brand. Our frequent communication with Concrete Jungle served both of us well, considering that our work has been completely remote.

I believe my engagement with Concrete Jungle has certainly made a meaningful impact on not only the organization, but by extension, our community. Kokou and I started the groundwork for their farmer-targeted social media presence and have strengthened their current farmer partnerships. Virginia mentioned that even beyond the Southern Georgia Instagram page, our templates can be replicated and utilized for other parts of the brand, such as their PEEL program. I believe our farmer profile database and outreach have played a large role in Concrete Jungle getting to better know their farmers on a personal level. 

Overall, my experience has been fulfilling in multiple ways. I truly believe I have made an impact on Concrete Jungle’s mission, and I hope that moving forward, they can use our content as a stepping stone to achieve greater goals. I was fortunate to have such a great partner, Kokou, through this process; without his help, I believe our work could not have succeeded the way it has. While I am sad that our time with Concrete Jungle is coming to a close, I am confident that our impact has left a positive mark on the organization and the farmer community.

Concrete Jungle – Ongoing Projects and Project Planning

by vfaraon1

Kokou and I have been given the green light from Savannah, and we are off to start our project! This past Monday, Savannah met with Kokou and me to discuss some questions we had regarding our ideas. Savannah addressed any and all concerns we had and was extremely supportive of our visions and constraints. She has since then emailed us confidentiality forms to sign and has given us the tools necessary to begin. The materials she shared with us include the Brand Guidelines document, the PBC Photo Album file, the mission, vision, value statements, and the Farmer-Spreadsheet. 

The Brand Guidelines document is complete with the Concrete Jungle toolkit of images and logos, typography details and type styles, and brand colors and usage guidelines. The PBC Photo Album contains all photos necessary to begin developing sample Instagram posts for the Posting Calendar Kokou and I are creating. The Farmer-Spreadsheet contains all details for Kokou and me to begin cold-calling and gathering information from each of our partnered farmers. We are only now awaiting the Canva invitation to make the post mock-ups—this will allow us to share those with Savannah. 

So far, we have begun to write our “script/guidelines” to follow when we begin calling farmers on behalf of Savannah from Concrete Jungle next week. Our goals are to discover why these farmers got into farming: what drives their passion? Additionally, we are asking for the types of produce they grow and if there are any photos or videos they’d like to share with us. These may include any photos of themselves, their families, their farm, etc. Finally, we will ask for permission to feature them on our Farmer Spotlight highlight/posts on Instagram. Savannah requested that we obtain verbal consent prior to utilizing their information, photos, and name for the Farmer Spotlight. 

As for the Instagram page, Kokou and I began researching what other Instagram accounts that target farmers post. After looking at some samples, we have compiled a list of post/reel ideas we’d like to create once we have access to the Canva. The goal for the next week is to start creating those mock-ups and present them to Savannah the following week to make sure they are on par with what Concrete Jungle is looking for. Until then, we are steadily starting this project, and we are excited to begin designing this upcoming week!

Getting Started – Concrete Jungle

by vfaraon1

Getting in touch with Concrete Jungle has been a great experience so far! Kokou and I met with Savannah, the senior farm recovery manager, and Virginia, the director of programs, over Zoom before spring break to discuss our work with Concrete Jungle. We covered a variety of projects to tackle, including a Newsletter for South Georgia, a story bank, and a contact list of local newspapers and agricultural magazines. However, after further discussion with Kokou, we have decided to begin the South Georgia Instagram page and the Farmer Profile Bank project!

The Instagram profile is targeted towards farmers in South Georgia, and our goal is to develop a posting calendar for a year’s worth of content. Kokou and I discussed scheduling posts for special days and months, such as National Apple Day and National Agriculture Month. Kokou and I will work on designing post templates that reflect Concrete Jungle’s brand; we will utilize their colors, fonts, and photos from past/present/future events. Savannah and Virginia surprised me most with this project because of our intended audience for this page. I’ve never marketed towards the farmer demographic, so this will certainly be a challenge for me to work the algorithm in a way that attracts our audience!

As for the Farmer Profile Bank, Kokou and I will develop a spreadsheet containing data on partnered farmers in the southern regions of Georgia. We plan to organize via farm location/size, the types of produce they grow, harvest season and their methods, contact/pick-up details, and their willingness to donate/sell at discounted rates. Furthermore, we’ll collect information like their previous donations/sales, transportation/equipment needs, and each farmer’s personal “story.” These stories—with permission, of course—will be used for social media posts or highlights on the South Georgia Instagram account.

Our meeting with Concrete Jungle was insightful and helped guide Kokou and me into choosing a project we can both excel in. I’ve enjoyed developing these ideas and plans with Kokou. We’ve spoken at length over the phone about our goals with Concrete Jungle throughout these last two weeks, and we’re ecstatic to begin working on each component. In preparation for our work, Kokou and I have developed each project’s details and narrowed down the mediums we’d like to use, such as Google Calendar, Spreadsheet, and Canva. Narrowing the scope of our project was a little challenging, but only because Savannah and Virginia proposed so many interesting projects to tackle! Moving forward, Kokou and I plan to meet over Zoom with Virginia and Savannah again this upcoming week to gather our supplies and finalize our ideas. I’m looking forward to the coming weeks with Concrete Jungle!