New Roots is a starter kit that teaches the basics of how to start and maintain a small-scale container garden. The brand offers an interactive solution that encourages learning and playing at the same time. New gardeners are encouraged to try and aren’t criticized if they fail.
Rather than being centered around heavily informative instruction, new gardeners are provided recommendations and cost-saving options for how to best care for garden plants. Through simple, at-home solutions and creates a low-to-no-cost experience without sacrificing the benefits and outputs of larger-scale gardening.
Branding, Packaging, Design Research
2025 – 2026
World War II brought food shortages as canned goods were allocated to the front lines and production shifted towards the war effort. “Victory gardening” consisted of many small residential and park-based gardens to provide fresh produce and boost morale on the home front.
By 1943, 20 million “victory gardens” supplied more than 40 percent of all American produce grown that year.
Combination of realistic, informational visuals for content clarification and engaging illustrations that hyperbolize and anthropomorphize helpful information
Written in a conversational tone and includes low-to-no-cost alternatives and high-efficiency options for gardening supplies and tools
Home or community gardening allows people to grow their own nutritious food, which provides some measure of control over their food security and has a positive impact on their physical and mental well-being. Inhaling M. vaccae, a healthy bacteria that lives in soil, increases levels of serotonin and reduce anxiety.
Focusing on sensory tasks like weeding or trimming encourages grounding. It successfully pulls attention away from digital screens and repetitive worries.
With gardening, when something doesn't work out the way we had expected or hoped, we view it as a learning opportunity rather than as a "failure."
Routines provide structure to our day and are linked to improved mental health. Gardening routines, like watering and weeding, can create a soothing rhythm to ease stress.
The process of bringing crops from seed to harvest offers a sense of accomplishment, completion, and connection to the world around us.
Places greater importance on the seed packets
Information cards located to a detachable lid
Too bulky, places uneven importance on elements
Deck of cards held in the center panel
Seed packets located on side panels, would be 1/3 the size of the cards
Major design opportunities lost for the seed packets to accommodate sizing
Front cover opens to access information cards
Seed packets accessed from the side
Greater opportunities to integrate information into visual language
Call back to WWII victory gardens
Passed down, hand-done design style
Color blocking with offset on borders and backgrounds
Printed texture to mimic screenprinting
Grain and textures take a forefront
Mix between all-color and outlined illustrations
Contrast between illustrations and backgrounds
Mix of photography and graphics
Emphasis on natural textures
Bold, friendly typography
A style defined by contrasting, yet complimentary color pairings, silk-screening effects and textures, and simplified illustrations.
The final display deliverables included two types of take-home goodies: holographic and glossy stickers or matchbook-style mini seed packets. The seed packets were hand-screenprinted and assembled to offer visitors the chance to jumpstart their own container garden.
