2000 m²
Cross-Cultural Communication for Sustainable Futures
How much land does it take to feed one person sustainably? 2000 square metres, according to research and the inspiration behind this ambitious Baltic region project. Stiftelsen Skillebyholm needed to transform scientific findings about small-scale farming into accessible, actionable content for diverse audiences across Estonia, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, and Sweden.
The content itself presented a design opportunity: each booklet would combine practical farming guidance with traditional preservation methods and regional recipes, supported by authentic photography from participating farms across the Baltic region. This wasn’t just agricultural documentation. It was cultural storytelling that needed to feel cohesive across vastly different languages and contexts.
Working directly with passionate farmers and sustainable agriculture practitioners across five countries meant the design had to serve as a unifying visual language for diverse voices whilst respecting each region’s unique character.
Client
Stiftelsen Skillebyholm
Product
Booklet
Scope
Design and layout
The challenge for this project was to create a unified publication system that works seamlessly across five languages and two distribution channels, print and digital. Each language presents unique typographic challenges: character sets, text expansion, reading patterns. The design needed to feel cohesive whilst adapting to these linguistic variations without compromising readability or visual impact.
I selected Noto Sans, Google’s comprehensive type system specifically designed for multilingual publishing, as the typographic foundation. This choice ensured consistent character rendering across Baltic languages whilst maintaining optimal legibility in both print and digital formats.
The landscape format proved crucial for dual-platform success. This orientation maximised readability on screens whilst creating striking visual impact in print, allowing the stunning photography from participating farms across the region to truly shine.
Throughout production, I continuously adapted layouts as each language revealed unique spacing and flow requirements, ensuring the design system remained cohesive whilst respecting each language’s typographic needs.
The booklets successfully transformed dense research into approachable content that celebrates Baltic farming heritage. By including recipes alongside farming practices, the series became something people wanted to keep and use, turning scientific advocacy into kitchen-table conversation about sustainable food systems.
The project concluded the 2000 m² Baltic initiative by making sustainable farming knowledge accessible across cultural and linguistic boundaries.