Fifth Season, a local company based in Pittsburgh, PA, sought to expand its vertical farming practice and bring fresh, packaged salads to a wider audience. While they had cultivated a strong local Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) following and established a few wholesale accounts, their goal was to increase brand awareness and broaden their retail footprint beyond Pittsburgh.

To achieve this growth, Fifth Season needed to modernize its brand. The original brand system was outdated and inaccessible, with color schemes that failed basic contrast standards. We developed a new brand guide that emphasized accessibility compliance, introduced a scalable design system, and refreshed the overall aesthetic. The new system provided the team with a modern, cohesive look that could be used across various mediums, ensuring consistency as we expanded into new markets.

I focused on creating a flexible brand system with accessible colors, motion, and email marketing. In addition, I created our design request process and project management system including the roll-out to our company, and training on the system itself.

I also worked closely with the Associate Art Director to concept, plan, and direct our photoshoots to create assets that we could use across all marketing channels.

Recognizing the importance of visuals, we directed a complete overhaul of Fifth Season’s photography and art direction. The company had relied on agency graphics and limited photo assets that skewed overly colorful, lacking originality and did not represent the freshness and quality of their product. We developed a distinctive visual language with custom photography that emphasized the appetizing nature of the salads. This new art direction was applied across all branding, packaging, and digital channels, aligning with the updated brand guide.

A significant milestone was the Kroger campaign launch, which introduced Fifth Season’s salads to over 60 retail stores across Ohio and Michigan. This expansion was key to increasing brand visibility outside of Pittsburgh and marked a pivotal moment in Fifth Season’s retail strategy. Our refreshed brand and design system played a crucial role in ensuring that the product stood out on the shelves, resonating with a broader audience.

To support the retail expansion, we implemented a robust content development strategy for both social media and email marketing. Our efforts focused on increasing customer engagement by creating dynamic, original content that showcased the brand’s new direction. This included targeted email flows, segmented campaigns, and engaging social media content designed to drive traffic to both DTC channels and new retail locations.

The Kroger campaign was a success, expanding Fifth Season’s reach and establishing a presence in key markets across Ohio and Michigan. In just two months, social engagement increased by 1.75%, and email marketing performance improved significantly with better list segmentation and trackable results. Additionally, before my departure, we initiated a packaging redesign that incorporated the new design systems, resulting in a clean, appetizing presentation of the salads.