How small design studio helped thousands of small businesses in Pandemic Economic activities have been hit by the spread of infection and as like other countries, the state of emergency has been announced. Small businesses including local restaurants were seriously damaged because the government asked people to quarantine themselves. BAUM LTD. is the branding and designing company focusing on the various “places” , from city to small shops, such as cafes, restaurants. Members of BAUM have kept discussing what they can do for small businesses in a tough business situation under COVID-19. On April 6th, right before the state of emergency announcement by the PM, they released free data posters for those who own small businesses. The posters inform customers of how they adapt to social distancing. Then, on April 24th, by popular demand, they published additional versions for public sectors. Simultaneously, studio members were so excited about how their work helps people in emergency situations. Communicate intuitively with the power of visuals BAUM LTD. published 25 public domain posters data on their website. Those are layouted intuitively with short messages and minimum illustrations like “business hour changes” “we restrict the number of customers at once” or “To Go is available”. Term of use is following the Creative Commons’ public domain guideline.Users can freely add or change messages when they use the posters. the example of the data posters Even if it is only a poster, it’s a considerable task for small business owners or managers. They have to create the formats and texts of the poster by themselves. This pressures their limited resources under the situation. Furthermore, there was no guideline by the government. The posters can reduce such reducible working time, help the shops and institutions continue their services smoothly, and customers receive them without worries. View this post on Instagram @baumltd さんのデザインを活用させていただきました✌️ 本日弊社定休日ですが、週明け月曜〜通常営業となります✅ A post shared by 蒲生商事 (@gamo_co_ltd) on Apr 10, 2020 at 8:19pm PDT The inspiration from Copenhagen under lockdown This project got some hints when Woody Udagawa, CEO of BAUM LTD., saw the situation in Copenhagen, Denmark, where he works and lives. Lockdown restrictions started there 4 weeks prior to Japan. Denmark shut down all the borders, it was the earliest decision among surrounding countries . Most schools and offices closed. The government banned gatherings of more than ten people on March 18th. However, what he saw were some small shops and companies continuing their businesses with creative ideas. Woody: ”Though small businesses in Copenhagen were hit by lockdown, they do their businesses with their creative ways under restrictions. Such creative shops were surely “the lights of hope” in the street.” Prolog,the popular coffee shop in Copenhagen, started to sell coffee on street ©︎BAUM LTD. Remembering the hopeful city sites, He wanted to do something to support small businesses, as a professional branding and design company. Then the idea of publishing the posters communicating social-distancing came up. Woody: “As we’ve been working with small businesses such as shops, cafes & hotels, they do not have enough resources as usual, it is obvious it’ll be much less under this emergency. They are always saying that it is really tough to think objectively alongside everyday physical tasks. Even thinking and making one piece of announcement paper is a tough task. I thought we could reduce such stress and customer’s anxiety at the same time.” Why does he think so important about small businesses? There are his personal, bitter memories. Woody: “Last year, two of my favorite small restaurants closed down. I felt empty more than I thought. There were communities, yes sense of communities. That’s why I wanted to support them suffering from this tough moment.” The idea came out in half a day with great teamwork All the members of BAUM LTD. started online meeting in the morning on April 6th. Quickly they worked out a policy and assigned roles, started each task. 1 Director, 2 Editors, 1 Assistant & 2 Designers worked together from 9AM. Eleven posters were published online at 4PM. Newly joined editor Mizuki Matsuzawa says “I was pretty much surprised how they quickly made the idea come out.” Although all of them worked from home at that time, the project was realized in such a short time, because they are a small team, and could fully bring out their potential. During their online meeting. Still continuing to discuss what they can do now for this situation. Mizuki: “I have lots of favorite small restaurants and shops, and strongly wish they would not shut down. However, I couldn’t afford to take out food every day, and couldn’t visit those shops in the first place under the state of emergency with infection risks. Back in that time, spending much time agonizing that there seemed to be nothing that I could do made me feel powerless. Throughout this project, however, I realized that we can support small businesses in many ways. Even if it’s hard for me to support my favorite shops, I can recommend my friends living near the shops to visit. In this unprecedented situation, such a small, private conversation may have a potential to be of indirect support. What is important is to keep thinking in everyday life and never stop tiny actions. Although the power of a person or one small company is little, we would help greatly enough if the power and resources connect. I believe so, and will keep thinking what I can do.” (Originally published on greenz.jp in Japanese : Translated by Nao Kurosumi & Mizuki Matsuzawa) View this post on Instagram ∥ WEAT cornershop オープン情報 三軒茶屋街角の食物販のお店。 今回も自宅の食事が楽しくなるものを取り揃えました。 必要な買物や外出のついでにお立ち寄りくださいね。 ■OPEN 4月18日(土) 11:00-17:00 4月19日(日) 11:00-17:00 ※悪天候の場合、クローズ時間が早まる可能性がございますのでSNSにてお知らせします。 ■ラインナップ 丸米醤油(醤油) AMBESSA&CO(ドライフルーツ) 江口農園(果物) テーブルスタジオ・タキトー(食器) MITOSAYA (ハーブティー) 大井商店(食料品) Dandelion Chocolate(チョコレート菓子) Small Food(焼き菓子類) 苗目(エディブルフラワー、ハーブ) pomme de terre(野菜) CAFE&HALL ours(惣菜と焼き菓子) Coffee Wrights(コーヒー) HIGUMA doughnuts(ドーナッツ) サンドイッチとコーヒーAmpere(サンドイッチ) hari(シナモンロール)*4月19日のみ 各生産者の皆様ありがたくお取り扱いいたします。 *新型コロナウイルス感染拡大に配慮した運営に取組んでいます。 *ご不便をおかけする事もありますが何卒ご理解ご協力をお願いします。 A post shared by WEAT (@weat_cornershop) on Apr 17, 2020 at 3:50am PDT View this post on Instagram 本日も @weat_cornershop 営業しております。 場所は三軒茶屋 @coffeewrights_sancha です! . . 今日は少し甘めの玉子焼きのサンドイッチ作りました! シンプルにパンにはマヨネーズを塗り、甘めの玉子焼きをサンドしました🥚 . . . ***ampere店舗はお休みです。 #coffee#sandwich#ampere#コーヒー#サンドイッチ#アンペア#渋谷#フルーツサンド#fruitssandwich #espresso#latte#エスプレッソ#ラテ #パン#食パン#パーラー江古田 #hotsandwich#ホットサンドイッチ #coffeewrights#コーヒーライツ #ウーバーイーツ#ubereats#デリバリー#delivery A post shared by サンドイッチとコーヒー ampere (@ampere_coffee) on Apr 24, 2020 at 11:31pm PDT View this post on Instagram @kingcrabmen さんのハンバーグランチスタートしてます🍴 自粛が難しいお店もある中、感染対策をアピールする事は重要だと思い @baumltd さんのデザインを活用させていただきました🙏 フリーでダウンロードできるので、必要としている方にはシェアお願いします🙌🏻 #Repost @gamo_co_ltd with @get_repost ・・・ 本日、#大三坂ビルヂング は @kingcrabmen @hakodate_daisanzaka_office 営業しております💡 マスク着用での運営、手の消毒液を設置を実施しておりますので、新型コロナウィルス感染対策にご協力お願い致します🙇♂️ A post shared by 箱バル不動産 (@hakobarfudosan) on Apr 10, 2020 at 8:28pm PDT View this post on Instagram 本日から5月1日までKINGCrabMENのランチおやすみ頂きます!! 2日からランチのみの営業開始致します^_^ 宜しくお願い致します^_^ #夜市#函館夜市#KINGCrabMEN第三坂 #居酒屋#函館居酒屋 #グルメ#グルメ好きと繋がりたい #テイクアウト#函館テイクアウト #海鮮処函館夜市本町2-12 #KINGCrabMEN末広町18-25 #ランチ#ハンバーグ #こだわりレモンサワー #サッポロクラシック A post shared by 蟹処KING Crab MEN (@kingcrabmen) on Apr 26, 2020 at 9:37pm PDT View this post on Instagram STAY HOME, ENJOY OYATSU. #stayhome A post shared by OYATSUYA SUN オヤツヤサン (@oyatsuya_sun) on Apr 15, 2020 at 1:31am PDT View this post on Instagram boyの入り口に新型コロナ対策のポスターを貼ってます。 大好きなデザイナーさんの所属しているおもしろ会社BAUMが誰でも使えるように作っているものです👏😭 BAUMさんのホームページにてダウンロードできます!!いろんな職種に合わせてたくさんの種類のポスターを作ってくれています。オススメ!! https://ba-um.jp/socialdistancing/ A post shared by Kota Ezawa (@kotaezawa) on May 2, 2020 at 6:13pm PDT View this post on Instagram おはようございますデコパンです😊😊 本日より通常営業させていただいております よろしくお願いします。 #愛媛 #愛媛パン #愛媛パン屋 #新居浜 #新居浜パン #新居浜パン屋 #パン #パン屋 #パン屋さん #decopan #デコパン #デコパンなう #おいしい #おいしいパン屋さん #国産小麦のパン屋さん #hellonew_niihama #ニイハマ #新居浜paypay#パンスタグラム #paypay使えます #未来のために #コロナなんかに負けるはずがない A post shared by Deco-Pan(デコパン) (@decopann) on May 6, 2020 at 4:02pm PDT View this post on Instagram A post shared by TAKASHI YAMAMOTO (@takashiymt) on May 4, 2020 at 5:50pm PDT 発酵文化人類学の装丁をしてくれたBAUMのポスター、さっそく使い始めました。 https://t.co/JEHtGSIaBo pic.twitter.com/G1fLoTApcI — 小倉ヒラク | Hiraku Ogura (@o_hiraku) April 7, 2020