My partnership with Design4Development.org have included a long-lasting collaboration with Integradora Apicola Kanan, an apiculture association in Yucatán, México, composed by five established honey cooperatives (60+ beekeepers) that have developed Kanan Honey. We worked with interdisciplinary experts led by the Mexico-United States Foundation for the Sciences (FUMEC) to bring Kanan’s world-class Mayan honey directly to the Mexican and international markets. Our design objective is to support the beekeepers with earning fair market value and a living wage for their honey.
KANAN (meaning “to care for” in Yucatec Maya) comes from apiaries on indigenous lands in rural Yucatán—renowned for its environmental quality and clean air. Beekeepers learned the beekeeping practice from their parents and grandparents, who learned it from the generations before them.
The goal of this project is to support local economic development in rural towns in the Yucatán region of Mexico. Now beekeepers have access to training in small business development as well as new beekeeping technologies, all the while continuing the Maya tradition of beekeeping.
I designed the main labeling system for this new honey brand based on its attributes:
Maya heritage and tradition, purity, quality, artisanal, and environmentally friendly. The process of developing the label included a series of design research activities, including field trips, getting to know the communities and beekeeper associates, presentation of ideas in the field and prototyping, iteration, and user testing in the United States and Mexico, all in close collaboration with the beekeepers, FUMEC representatives, and other D4D designers.
Promotional brochure, outside
Promotional brochure, inside
Testing activity in Yucatán with Kanan associates
Kanan Honey label on jar
Kanan Honey labels for national and international markets were exhibited at the University of Houston-Downtown Arts Faculty Exhibition 2015
