Hand Illustrated Grocery Signs

Brief video covering many of the signs I made at Whole Foods Market

As a graphic store artist at Whole Foods Market most of my illustrations were done on smooth black acrylic boards of varying dimensions. They would hang on the walls behind the different departments (Bakery, Meat & Seafood, Specialty Cheeses, etc.).

Whole Foods was pretty relaxed with the style of illustration but did have guidelines for me to follow to insure the illustrations were inline with Whole Foods’ voice.

Some of the challenges I faced, were very fast deadlines. Many departments would request a sign fairly last minute and it was my job to make sure I had an illustration that would help promote a sale or event for their department by the deadline.

The short turn around meant I had to keep the illustrations simple but still catch the eye. Additionally, the black acrylic boards did not absorb any of the paint from the POSCA markers so when layering colors, if I got the base layer too wet with the new paint, then all the paint would lift off the board revealing the black acyrclic underneath. It was a balance of moving quickly but patiently. Time management was key.

Another challenge about the job was the amount of effort put into a sign for it only to be up for a week or two (some lasted longer for Holidays). I had limited boards so I couldn’t save any work and had to clean the boards when the promo was over. This turned out to be silver lining. It made me more comfortable with making temporary work. It kept me from overthinking an illustration. To move quick and move on to the next one.

The reason for the temporary signs is that it gave the store a constantly new look, creating an experience for the customer. customers are bombarded with numerous signs while they shop and they become “sign blind” if a sign is in the same place for too long.

I’ll end it here as I think this helps give a very brief idea of what it was like as a store graphic artist at a grocery store. SO MUCH more went into it, but it would take too much to cover everything. My experience here was invaluable and I learned that we all take grocery stores for granted. The people working at grocery stores do A LOT more than we know.