During our long collaboration with The Seward Community Co-op, we refined + Improved its brand identity, then watched as Seward grew from $7 million per year to over $40 million during the greatest recession of our time, all while carrying out the mission of a member-owned cooperative – no easy feat. Beyond tasks of branding of the website and virtually every aspect of brand communication, we also designed interior elements of the store. Seward has gone to open two more locations to lead the region in locally-sourced food and cooperative enrichment. Our work with Seward has earned both regional and national design recognition.
“During our decade-long relationship, Replace has helped us rebrand our co-op as well as assisted in the development of the iconic look of our Franklin store redesign. They bring an enormous degree of creativity and passion to their work, in addition to ethical design practices that take into consideration environmental impacts and social justice. I’ve recommended Replace to several of my colleagues in the cooperative industry, and I always look forward to working with them on new projects.”
Tom Vogel | Marketing Manager, Seward Co-op
The Design Process
Phase 1
The scope of the Seward brand is a decade long and ever-evolving. The Cooperative mission is both the brand definer and the reason behind every success. We created a new standard for keeping track of the key measurements of their growth a new tool we call “The Seward Scorecard”.
Phase 2
Seward created its own line of cleaning products that are non-toxic, and not only safely reabsorb into a healthy ecosystem, but out-perform other leading cleaning products. More than a co-op, Seward walks the walk by developing earth-friendly products.
Co-op Creamery
This Co-op cafe was created by the Seward Community Co-op to bring delicious, sustainably sourced food and inclusive, socially responsible values to the Seward neighborhood in Minneapolis. Just like in their grocery stores, the cafe focuses on high-quality ingredients and sources locally grown and raised food from small-scale farmers and area artisans. The building itself was built in 1920 as a dairy production plant and was originally home to the Franklin Co-op Creamery Association, who also valued local ownership, building strong relationships in the community, and producing a great product. Replace was honored to create an award winning logo and brand system for the Co-op Creamery and to help design the exterior and interior of the restaurant space.
Phase 1
For the first Phase, we presented 4 distinct directions to the client. They focused on different ways of communicating both the history of the building and the forward thinking of sustainable food sourcing and a cooperative mentality.
Phase 2
We then refined the brand system as a whole. We were also concentrated on working with the architectural design team to plan the interior and exterior of the building. This included mocking up exterior building designs, signage, textures, patterns, wall murals, menu boards and color choices for the Co-op Creamery restaurant space.
