Make Peace With Food
Make Peace With Food is a narrative website and design system that asks us to mindfully re-imagine and reconnect with our communities and food systems.
The Problem:
This project presented the challenge of conveying a robust data set of primary and secondary research in a coherent narrative flow. The interface needed to be educationally evocative while also conveying the hopefulness and connection the project is meant to inspire in the target audience.
The Solution:
After a vigorous research process, a strategy was developed to organize the website into four narrative sections with external about and resources sections. The interface employs a coherent narrative structure with intuitive interactive components and an accessible navigation system.
What I did:
• Design Direction
• Primary, secondary, & UX Research
• Information Architecture
• Wireframes
• Competitive Analysis
• UI Design
• Prototyping
• Branding & Identity Design
• Digital Illustration
• HTML & CSS
• Squarespace CMS
• Video production
• Copywriting
Visit the website:
Brand Identity
From sketches to refined icons and illustrations; the logo mark, type, and color communicate trust and sophistication.
Icons
Bespoke icons for each site section:
(in order left to right)
(in order left to right)
1. The Self
2. The Farmer
3. The Community
4. The Land
These icons encompass a larger design system for print and other branding collateral including posters, stickers, shirts, and more.
Spot Illustrations
Clean vector illustrations with a hint of texture to add organic character that each correspond to the aforementioned site sections:
(in order left to right)
(in order left to right)
1. The Self
2. The Farmer
3. The Community
4. The Land
Posters
Inspired by the 1930s Depression-era WPA posters, the logo marks and type treatments work in both digital and analog platforms.
Research
This stage included primary personal experiences from a Zen Buddhist mindful eating retreat at Great Vow Zen Temple, practicing Japanese oryoki, and interviews with local farmers & food producers. I also conducted extensive secondary research including books, articles, and podcasts.
Strategy
The primary goal of user-centered design is to determine the audience and to craft an experience that helps them seamlessly achieve their goals in the process of achieving the underlying goals of the project itself as well.
Audience
1. Progressive consumers
2. Socially-engaged citizens
3. Local farmers, food producers, & farmer’s markets
4. Educators
5. Artists & Designers
Competitive Analysis
Understanding the audience and how to appeal to them requires understanding the interactive and visual language that they are familiar with so that they recognize what is being communicated.
Positioning Archetype
The goals of community action and education for this project led me to the strategic position of the sage archetype. This helped to define the visual identity and information architecture of the interface.
Sitemap
With an emphasis on accessibility, the information hierarchy offers several user journeys — a linear scroll through the sections of the page, a hero section with buttons for each section below their corresponding icons, and a global sticky navigation hamburger menu to quickly change course with ease.
Wireframes
Hand sketches to digital low-fi and high-fi design comps in Figma.
Reflections
Building this website was an exercise in growth. Every stage benefited from careful consideration and mindfulness—from initial research all the way to high-fidelity design and coding. The core of this project was in prioritizing accessibility and intuitive interaction. I also put a lot of thought into the ability of the design system components to translate to other mediums outside of their digital habitats.
This is my senior design thesis and the culmination of my time studying design at Portland State University. I made this site with the intention of fostering dialog and community action and I sincerely hope it succeeds in moving us all toward a more mindful interconnected relationship with food, one another, and our ecosystems.
