The Vancouver Sustenance Festival is a city-wide platform in Vancouver celebrating land and food through public workshops and events. The goal: to create a recognizable brand identity that reflects its values of food justice, Indigenous sovereignty, and sustainability. Using the City of Vancouver’s colours alongside a custom palette, the identity balances civic familiarity with a fresh, welcoming spirit — giving the festival a clear and flexible voice.

The visual identity draws on hand-drawn illustrations of culturally significant foods and natural elements — from fish, corn, watermelon, and pomegranate to hummingbirds, flowers, seeds, bees, and bread. With no hierarchy between elements, the system reflects the interconnectedness of food, culture, and land. A custom hand-drawn typeface echoes the organic forms and textures of the festival, while a palette of forest green, harvest yellow, and earth brown grounds the brand in themes of growth, abundance, and sustainability.

It was important to design a flexible logo family that could adapt across scales and contexts, from small digital applications to large-format signage. The illustrated elements can be deconstructed into wayfinding, posters, and other materials, creating a cohesive and recognizable visual language. This flexibility ensures the festival’s presence feels unified while allowing room for playful expression across the city.