Making Of:
Blacksburg Farmers Market
Website and Photoessay Series
Growing Community Affinity Through Digital Storytelling
The Blacksburg Farmers Market is a gathering place, a community anchor, and a weekly ritual for thousands of people in the New River Valley. Building their website meant taking that seriously and creating something that allowed that same in-person magic to come through on an online platform.
We approached this project as a community resource first and a website second. The result is a site packed with everything a visitor needs: a vendor directory to explore who is at the market, an event calendar to plan ahead, a photo essay series that puts faces to the farms behind the food, and deep informational content that tells the full story of what makes this market special.
Every detail was built with the community in mind. We wanted neighbors to feel welcomed the moment they landed on the page, whether they are first-time visitors or longtime regulars. Clear navigation, warm photography, and thoughtful copywriting work together to reflect the spirit of the market itself.
This is the kind of project that reminds us why we do this work. A well-built website can strengthen the trust between an organization and the people it serves. We are proud to have helped the Blacksburg Farmers Market show up online the way it shows up every week in person.
Locations and Collaborators
In addition to work we completed at the market itself, we also produced an photoessay series as part of this initial project.
We visited eight local farms, interviewed the owners, and created blog-style essays that showcased each operation’s unique offerings.
Creative efforts like this significantly help optimize the website for search (SEO) and give visitors to the site a way to get to know market members before they ever attend on Wednesday or Saturday.
Photoessay Partners
We worked with many local famers on this photoessay series. Many thanks to those that welcomed us in for this project:
Team Members
-
Cheyenne Feathers, M.S.
Web Developer
Cheyenne built the Blacksburg Farmers Market website on Squarespace for this project. Designing and developing the site from the ground up, she created a welcoming online presence for this beloved local institution.
-
Morgan Phillips
Project Manager
Morgan served as project manager for the Blacksburg Farmers Market website, coordinating with farmers to schedule the photo essay series and keeping the team on track from kickoff to launch.
-
Jonathan Roberts
Lead Photographer, Copywriter
Jonathan produced the still photography and copywriting for this project. Capturing content at each event as well as filming behind-the-scenes content, he produced media throughout this project.
Want to talk with our team?
We’re happy to chat if you’re interested in this work, answer questions about our process, or get started on a new project for you or your organization!
Delivery and Support
Part of our job is making sure we are not needed for the small stuff. We trained the Blacksburg Farmers Market staff to manage their site confidently on their own, from posting events to updating vendor info.
We want our clients to feel like the site belongs to them, because it does. That means leaving every project with a team that knows what they are doing.
Of course, we stick around. Ongoing support is always available when something bigger comes up.
Lessons Learned
Nature sets the schedule, and we were happy to follow it. Timing our photo essays around the growing season and good weather meant we captured the market at its most vibrant and alive.
Nonprofits run on community, and that means a lot of voices in the room. We genuinely enjoyed the collaboration with the Blacksburg Farmers Market board and think the project is stronger because of it.
