The Sustainable Iowa Land Trust (SILT)
Protecting working farms to grow local food.
Benson & Hepker Design has worked with SILT since its founding in 2014, creating its logo, branding, identity system, and marketing materials. In 2024, the organization rethought its annual report; Benson & Hepker created an annual Field Report publication that summarizes the work of the past year and looks forward to coming programs and strategies. Because of the agricultural mission of this organization, the design of this field report drew from vintage farm field notebooks and pocket notebooks that seed corn companies used to distribute to their customers.
Thanking donors.
One of the purposes of this report was to thank the people who trust SILT with their land and money. This reports starts by focusing on how SILT uses its resources to create sustainable agricultural opportunities for small farmers and their families.
Telling farmers' stories.
The report continues speaking to donors, this time with stories of farmers benefiting from supporters' generosity. It also begins to shift the focus to SILT, describing some of the year's initiatives.
Looking ahead.
The field report concludes with a story about the new executive director's first year, and begins to look ahead to strategic initiatives for 2025. Benson & Hepker Design created two versions of the file: one to be commercially printed, and one an interactive pdf that SILT could post online.
