Once Upon a Label

Once upon a time, there was a label that came into being thanks to the kindness of photographer Juanita and the artistic talents of Lorne. But before we peel the husk of the tale of the good samaritan and the talented designer whose gifts converged in creative form, let's take a peek at happened at the farm.

When I visited our organic family farm friends in Atenas, I brought with me the first batch of coffee bag stickers for the two types of delicious organic java we're buying directly from this lovely family of coffee growers who are so committed to sustainable farming practices.

The whole bean medium roast variety features the face of Sole (pronounced "So-leh"), the mama at the family farm. This woman beams when she engages you. Her kind demeanor with her family, friends, and coffee farm tour guests is as apparent as the sunshine that descends upon Atenas during the summer months. We're thrilled to have named our coffee line in honor of Sole. And Gerardo, the family farm's papa, a hard-working, honest man with tremendous depth, his face appears on the whole bean dark roast.

It was such a joy to be there in flesh and bone and see the approval, with modesty, on the faces of dona Sole and don Gerardo. I had shared the online versions of the stickers through Gabriel, one of the two sons and my primary contact and friend at the farm (Gabriel's hands are the holders of the coffee basket on the back of the label). I wanted to make sure I had the blessing of his parents before proceeding (and they bless them, they did!). But nothing beats seeing the real thing in your hands. Symbolically, it was like giving birth to the first seed of our trading partnership.

Now back to the creative characters whose blend of talents made the design possible: Juanita is a friend and fan of the family farm. She gave Gabriel permission to have the photos she'd taken of the farm put to any use anywhere by anyone. A photo credit is all she humbly asked.

As for Lorne, he's a brilliantly creative and eco and socially friendly super dude who conceptualized and designed the beautiful labels for us. We provided raw materials in oodles of text, photos, and a broad concept. He returned a depiction of our family farmers and Primal Echo's commitment to this project that are accurate and genuine.

An honary fellow monkey of Primal Echo's treehouse headquarters in Fort Collins, CO, Lorne is head honcho at Unicycle Creative based in Vancouver, British Columbia. And to make matters even more meaningful, he's nothing short of a creative genius equipped with a huge heart.