Lancaster Central Market is a farmers market next to Penn Square in Lancaster, PA, popular with locals and tourists. There are a variety of offerings at Central Market, including groceries, gift items, and many ready to eat meals. A popular lunch spot, Soulcialize, is a new edition to Central Market in 2020. Chef Corey Woods took over the Rafiki’s African Deli stand early this year. The Covid-19 pandemic caused him to alter his original plans for the stand and shift over to offering soul food, aligning the market stand with his catering business, Soulcialize Catering.
For a few months, the old Rafiki’s sign still hung over the stand, the pandemic lockdown making it difficult to source a suitable replacement sign to match the Soulcialize brand. As a market regular, I had begun some casual conversations with Chef Corey and mentioned my line of work, which prompted him to mention his need for signage. I did some research and found a sturdy, cost effective sign option that would properly display the vibrant colors of the Soulcialize logo in and found Gatorboard. Durable and light, Gatorboard is constructed with a rigid foam core comprised of a dense polystyrene.
The design for the new sign started with the already established Soulcialize logo. I wanted the logo’s vibrant colors to be the focal point of the sign, sticking to black and white for the surrounding background. The white circles symbolize a plate and the geometric background a table cloth. The simple black framing of the logo helped it stand out from the plate and background, pulling the design together.
What may have been the most challenging part was determining how to hang the new sign. After a few trips to Lowes and Home Depot, I finally made a trip to Michael’s craft store and came up with the combination of black twine and silver colored hoops that not only made it possible to attach the sign to the existing hooks, but complimented the overall style and color scheme.
Once the sign was completed and hung, everyone was very happy with the outcome and the compliments rolled in. Now every time I walk past the Soulcialize stand at Lancaster Central Market I can’t help but smile. My creativity helped a small business be identifiable by it’s customers among the other stands at Market, helping to ensure Chef Corey’s delicious soul food stand will be around for many years to come.
Merlby Designs 