The Suppose Meals Financial institution mission makes use of stickers to encourage folks to contribute
The couple came up with the idea for the Think Food Bank project after discovering that most donation stations are not conveniently placed at the exits of supermarkets – meaning many people don't see them until their business is done and paid for. To encourage shoppers to remember grocery banks while they're still browsing the aisle, the two designers created a series of illustrated stickers that can be stealthily placed in-store – each tailored to a different supermarket brand's color scheme.
Some offer a general message encouraging people to add items to their weekly business, while others are dedicated to specific areas of the grocery store – for example, "Don't Forget to Donate Spaghetti".
"We want our stickers to go wherever a shopper thinks of donating – it's too easy for people to forget about grocery banks until they check out and it's too late," said Maisie Benson, senior designer at B&B Studio in London.
She met project partner Holly Kielty on Instagram after starting a conversation about the current food bank crisis. In June 2020, the Trussell Trust charity reported that the need for emergency grocery packages had increased by 89%, and a recent release in the Guardian reported that one in five UK schools set up a food bank during the Covid crisis.
"We were inspired by Marcus Rashford – he showed that everyone can make a really positive difference," says Kielty, Creative Strategy Director at Design Bridge. "Design can do so much good, and we just saw that there is a simple solution to a bigger problem."
The campaign is "guerrilla style" as the couple describes it, but it's hard to imagine a supermarket actively removing the stickers – 120 sets were sent out to find new homes in supermarkets across the UK.
Readers who want to stay in their own business can request a package via the Think Food Bank's Instagram page and donate via JustGiving to cover postage costs