Square Mile Food Bank’s logo highlights that food poverty is a modern day problem

Design studio Avidd has created the logo for the first food bank in London’s square mile.

Square Mile Food Bank is run by volunteers, and provides food for those in need within the city of London, and was established this year as coronavirus added new pressures to those in need. It is supported by Age UK.

While it is known primarily for its financial industry, around 8,000 people live in the City of London. The food bank operates across the Golden Lane estate, Portsoken ward near the Tower Hamlets border and the Barbican. The first donations were collected in late March.

The bright green logo is a play on one of the Square Mile’s most recognisable buildings, 30 St Mary Axe – known informally as The Gherkin. The office block was opened in 2004.

David Podmore, director of Avidd, says that the logo was chosen as it combines an “iconic landmark and food reference” at the same time.

“We wanted a logo that gave the food bank a sense of place,” he continues. “It’s incredible that such a wealthy area should need such a thing so highlighting the location was key – it reminds us all that this is a very current problem that is everywhere.”

He says: “We added the Established 2020 detail to remind people that this is a modern day problem and not a charity started in Victorian London.”

They typeface used is Brandon Grotesque, which is “serious” but also has a “softness with its rounded corners”. The green colour palette is an attempt to “add in a few more vibrant colours so the logo wasn’t dull and austere”.

Podmore adds that there is a duality to the colour choice: “Green is also a colour of finance, which the city is famous for, but also a colour of hope, which the food bank is offering people needing its support.”

The logo was created as part of the studio’s Design Donation scheme, where it offers charities and not-for-profits a day’s free design work.