design journal

thao trinh

[thao-t]

A LOOK BACK ON STUDIO 1

Coming into Studio 1 at the start of this semester I didn’t quite know what to expect, but if there is anything that I can take from it, it would be a better understanding of what the ‘real’ design industry might be like. The lectures acted as major catalyst for me to reconsider what my understanding of design. It also introduced my to a broader range of design areas that didn’t know existed previously. 

Essentials classes really helped provide an insight into the business aspects of design - how things actually happen in the industry. These classes were quite intense with a lot of content being passed onto us that were relevant to the needs and management of projects as designers. At times, I found myself quite overwhelmed, it was a bit of a challenge because of the semi business set up that the classes were arranged in. Though despite the content of these classes being dry in nature, they were really valuable, I felt like I was able to grasp how, in general, projects are managed and what is expected of us in the role of a designer. So despite the lack of creativity we were able to explore in the class like we do in our other classes, I feel like the knowledge we gained was much more valuable and would be helpful for us in the industry.

Throughout the semester, I really enjoyed the overall theme being food! I feel like it is such a universal topic and it was pretty cool how it can be used as a metaphor for describing design and how it fits into the world and our society. In my particular studio, I enjoyed being able to work on one project for the whole semester. It really gave me time to think about how I could continue improving my work and allowed me to do research and put proper thought into my work. Especially because my studio was about culture and our personal experiences, I feel like the studio model really allowed me to explore my own culture in depth. I also found, along the way that I ended up with a redefined understand of my cultural representation, I came to have a stronger connection with who I am as a Vietnamese-Australian. 

I can’t say that it was smooth sailing through all of the studio though, my studio’s brief was quite loosely defined - we could create whatever artefact we wanted. I would say that this was one of my major challenges, it really forced me to make decisions. I am usually quite indecisive, and being offered that I could create anything made me contrarily counter-productive and lost. Through the studio, I came to learn that I really just need to go for it and not doubt myself because I don’t actually know how things will turn out until I try it out. I feel like I would have been able to get more done if I didn’t hold back on ideas because I wasn’t sure if I should do them. Of course, that doesn’t mean I should just do anything without much thought and research, but I often overthink way way too much. In the project, I changed my ideas quite a few times, I learned that this is okay, I need to let myself make errors so that I can keep improving. 

In this semester I feel like I really have pushed myself mentally and gained so much insight into what my design practice in the future might look like. Though there is always more room for improvement and I am actually quite excited to keep growing as a designer and see where this course takes me. 

[thao-t]

WEEK 13 FOOD EVENT

At last our artefacts are done and ready to present at the studio event. We gathered as a cohort this Monday to exhibit all our work we had been doing for the past semester. It was great to see everything as a whole in the one place. I actually loved how there was such a variety in what each studio had to present, from our own unsouvenir shop set up, to the tacit taste short films and metamorphosis cards, there are a great range in the work presented. It was also interesting to see how some of the projects I had followed throughout the semester either through tumblr or from my friends had developed out to become the final, finished project.

For my studio in particular, we had a cafe like set up going on where we would present our artefacts. So one of the things we did to prep the area was cut out table cloths to go over the tables so that the projects could be easily placed on the table, then we promptly placed our work there alongside others as well. It was quite I simple set up, but I thought it was quite cute with the round tables, like we were viewing the artefacts as the food.

It was a good end to our studio, having the event kind of made it finally feel as though it was complete. 

[izmia]

Creative Food Arts - Yaratıcı Gıda Sanatı by Mundane Matters

Check out more of his work on Instagram

[ericadesign-blog]

Food cleverly made into the shapes of everyday objects- I love how these concepts sort of play tricks on your mind and have an element of the unexpectedness

[thao-t]

I am so attracted by the vibrant, bright colours used in these photographs, its also so interesting how food can be seen in a different perspective!

[rachel-l-obrien]

Compod is a self composting seedling sourced from Worrabinda farm and celebrates the country food culture of the Mallee region. The aim is is portay the closed loop systems that most of the farmers in this area use. This systems means the produce pulled from the earth will eventually be reintroduced as compost; there is no waste. The Compod has been woven from avocado dyed cotton, cardboard string and avocado skin giving the Compod the blend of nitrogen and carbon it needs to break down and fertilise the earth. The logo is made up of symbols typically found in a permaculture design plan and links to the plan of my family farm in the Mallee. These symbols are featured in the swing tag and gives the audience an understanding about the impact that the Compod can make on their lives from planting to sharing the harvest it will yield in the future.

he ritual of planting, harvesting, creating and sharing is rich within the country. This souvenir provides its user the chance to recreate this same ritual in their own backyards.

[waitingzhou-blog]

What a cute design it is !! And it’s really meaningful

[thao-t]

I really love your idea of a self composting seed, and think that its such a clever creation in relation to your culture. 

[s3657478-blog]

Such an interesting way to interpret the way food can communicate colour and not only that but the way this is a quick way of showing not only colour combinations but also food combinations. 

(Source: http://www.designlovefest.com/2013/02/pantone-pairings/)

[ericadesign-blog]

Pantone swatch colours represented by small pieces of food. Love the idea and how it gets people thinking about food combinations and their respective colours. 

[yungcurri-deactivated20180628]

‘During the conception of “Contemporary Pieces”, I became enamored with the eroticism, presentation and charisma of paintings from the Renaissance Period. In the Late Renaissance, Italian and Dutch painters dealt with the middle and lower classes. In my opinion, Fast Food Culture represents these two social classes in the United States today. To eat healthy is expensive. However, one can buy large amounts of food at a fast food restaurant for a comparatively low price. — It underlines the concept that they are ‘Children of the Modern Age,’ having been brought up in the changing America, often defined by the culture of Fast Food. It was significant that many of my friends try to avoid Fast Food. In their eyes, Fast Food in the United States is comprised of genetically modified items that are designed only for mass consumption. To them, the food becomes a non-edible object and loses its value as being considered Food.’

I like this appropriation of Renaissance paintings and this is something that I’d like to also recreate within my Metamorphosis cards. This will create a good link between cultures, I want to showcase various Indian ingredients surrounded by cultural artefacts (saris, packaging, bindis etc…) similar to the Renaissance imagery. Each card will be vibrant and focus on an ingredient that goes into a traditional masala, with the final card being very whitewashed and plain, containing a single box of Curry Powder, symbolising and showing a literal “white washing” and stripping of culture. I’m unsure whether to paint these images or photograph them, although I’m leaning towards photography as I think it’ll be more effective.  

[chloeee-liu-blog]

OKOK, NO JUICE NO WAY

RATIONALE

Tacit knowledge is the kind of knowledge that is difficult to transfer to another person by means of writing it down or verbalizing it. In this project, I have chosen Berri orange juice as my tacit taste. Berri orange juice is the only juice I drink because I am not a big fan of sweet drink, coffee and alcohol. I also love its product made naturally with no added sugars.

My video is about my obsession of Berri orange juice. It mainly focuses on the sound and texture, because I believe that sound is the forgotten flavor sense and the natural sound itself is relaxing for mind and body. My video also brings you a fun and exciting atmosphere as orange juice and its color symbolizes energy and vitality.

My video begins with some clips that show the splashy orange juice with an energetic music, and then the second part is how to pick a good orange before making a tasty orange juice. Then, the third part is a tutorial, teaching people how to make orange juice. The music in this part is getting slow because I emphasis on the sound of squeezing, pouring and stirring. Last but not least, the final scene is my connection to the topic. I make a contrast with my homemade orange juice and Berri orange juice to show that my tacit taste cannot be replicated.

REFLECTION

I was so excited for this course because the whole semester is about the intersection of food and design, especially I love combining my passion for food, photography and video. This project gave me a golden opportunity to do what I love, therefore, I have learnt a lot of skills in this project. One of the most helpful skills is knowing how to use Premiere Pro. I tried to avoid using it because it was so complicated. Eventually, I forced myself to learn a completely new software as using Imovie wasn’t good enough to support the editing. The second skills I have learnt is the video setting. I have got the skills of camera setting but I never used my camera to film before, so I did a lot of research such as checking the focus point correctly, stop motion setting…etc. Overall, this project taught me using

[owenbill-graphics-blog]

Love this!! It really looks a professional advertisement! And the sound is awesome! 

[thao-t]

NOSHTALGIA - FINAL PROJECT

ON THE GO VIETNAM

Growing up as a Vietnamese-Australian, I have always felt a strong connection to Vietnamese food culture despite never physically being there. This is much because of the Vietnamese food that my mum still cooks at home as well as the multicultural and fusion food culture I have experienced growing up in Melbourne.

In my final project, I have put a contemporary take to presenting the traditional flavours of Vietnam through a travel pack of uniquely Vietnamese garnishes and seasonings. For me, as much as these ingredients symbolise the tastes that remind me of Vietnam, the whole essence of Vietnamese culture within Melbourne is in the experience itself of being able to experiment and use these flavours in new and exciting ways in other food. 

The pack includes a handprinted banana leaf pouch which I feel really provides that crafty, authentic aesthetic that I feel characterises Vietnam. It holds the three condiments in bottles which I ultimately decided to keep simple to embrace the makeshift and homemade feel of the bottles. They are complimented with a description sheet on tracing paper as well as a swing tag. The packaging really does have quite a few layers to it, and this is because I feel that is how things are packaged in my culture - with much care and wrapping to secure all the good food! 

[yvonne-huynh-blog]

Week 12; Studio Workshop (Food Festival); group project (Instagram post #1)

The Taste of Vietnam As a proud Vietnamese-Australian, I chose to do a Vietnamese food festival so that I could share my love for the culture. Counting from the year 1975, it has been around 42 years since the Vietnamese found refuge and migrated in Australia. This festival is a celebration of acceptance by the Australian community, delivering to the new Vietnamese generation (and their friends) to connect with their culture and ancestry roots. The festival will be offering authentic Vietnamese food (street and home styled) but will be providing an experience of a modern festive vibe. @foodfestrmit @yvonne.hv

[thao-t]

Really interesting to see another project out of my studio about Vietnam as well! I love the bold approach you’ve taken towards the design with your use of yellow and red throughout your whole poster! 

[bellagreen-blog1]

Metamorphosis recipe cards // Communication design

[kristinsoh]

INTRODUCTION CARD + THANK YOU CARD METAMORPHOSIS CARDS I wanted the cover/introduction card to grab someone’s attention immediately, as the aim of my metamorphosis cards were to spread awareness about whaling. On the back of the cover card, I included some facts about whaling in a paragraph style to set the context and foundation for my cards so that when people look at my illustrations there would be no ambiguity. 

The gestural brushstrokes that surround and directly contrasted against the bold words, whaling’ were to represent the whales and how it is in their nature to be free. The addition of the gold leaf foil emphasised the elegance of the gestural brushstrokes and was also a tool in grabbing someone’s attention. Moreover, the gold has become a motif I used throughout the cards to represent the whales, as I want to portray them as being precious, as well as how their lives are just as valuable. 

I also wanted the introduction card and thank you card to be different than the illustrations cards, so I printed just the words on a brown piece of paper. I knew I wanted to paint something on the cards and was deciding between painting whales or patterns. I chose to paint more gestural and free-hand style patterns because I wanted to introduce the topic without fully giving away the content.

Before painting it on the actual cards, I did a few trials on a white sketching paper to test on the kind of pattern I was looking for. So I explored with painting different shapes and lines. At first I thought of painting little dots varying in size and shape around the words but decided that it was not a very accurate abstract representation of whales. I also tested the patterns on prototypes but it did not give the effect I wanted. Learning from that, I successfully achieved the pattern I was looking for on my final cards. 

[yvonne-huynh-blog]

this looks reeeally good kristin! <3

[thao-t]

I really love how you’ve used abstract patterns in these cards, they look amazing and the gold foiling really tops it off

[graphigeek-blog]

Breakfast in The Form of Food Art

Japanese food artist Eiko Mori uses toast as her canvas, making us realize how breakfast is the most important meal.

Keep reading

[ericadesign-blog]

Food patterns on toast - so cute!

[thao-t]

These patterns are so cute and actually quite intricate details on the toast. its like food as decoration almost, a different purpose for food. But it does look delicious too!

[thao-t]

ESSENTIALS - PROJECT PRODUCTION

In these 4 weeks, I was able to learn, in much more detail about what the production timeline entails. I found that there were a lot of things that need to be considered, outside of the designing process, that after something is designed there is also a production stage that takes up quite a lot of time.

One thing that this class reinforce to me was the need to constantly have the client involved in the processes of the work. Regular client meetings need to be set to make sure that everything is approved. I think this was one of the points that really stuck with me in these 4 weeks.

[thao-t]

NOSHTALGIA - week 12 - final review

At this point my artefact is almost complete, I came in for the final review just to make sure that everything I had done was okay, I also wanted to be able to share my ideas and look at everyone in my class’ work for more insight. 

With all that I had done so far, and upon discussing this with Suzie, I realised that I needed a brief descriptor sheet for my package. This is because I wrote the labels in Vietnamese, so although it is a nice element to the cultural project, its not really self explanatory to others what the condiments are. So I will add that. 

Also, I have ultimately decided to take out the labels on the bottle. Instead, I will just have the circular graphics that I made on the lid. These will help identify the condiments with reference to the descriptor sheet I am going to create. 

Almost done!

[thao-t]

NOSHTALGIA - work in progress

Ultimately, I decided to change my sauce bottles to condiment bottles. One of the reasons was because the sauces would get quite messy, if fish sauce was to by chance leak... it would stink a lot to be honest. I also changed it as in the end I felt like the sauces were quite intense products that didn’t necessarily portray the fresh and vibrant culture I was going for. So instead I have picked out three condiments I have grown up with, fried onions, dried chilli and dried citrus assortments. All are things that are put on top of food to enhance the flavours and textures.

I am going to use the Vietnamese name of these in the packaging as well, I think it is a nice way to introduce them as authentic products.

I applied the patterns to the bottles, they are the combination of the banana pattern, and the topographical patterns as I really wanted the two to somehow cohesively link and work together, although i am quite happy with how the labels look, they don’t pop against the transparent surface of the bottle. I might have to try something else.

[thao-t]

NOSHTALGIA - work in progress

I went back to my transparent materials idea and have decided to incorporate a sheer drawstring pouch that will have inside of it, another pouch made with my pattern fabric, which will then contain my bottles. 

I simply folded the fabric in half, and sewed the two sides of it to make a pouch, I am consciously deciding to leave it unhemmed and raw so that my package maintains that makeshift look to it. 

I feel like the layers of packaging really do make it look more dainty and intricate and act as an appropriate sentiment towards the makeshift culture of Vietnam that I’ve grown up with. 

Also, I didn’t want to just completely abandon my topographical patterns so I have begun to adapt them into swing tags and labels for the packaging.

[thao-t]

NOSHTALGIA - work in progress

Maybe I might create a drawstring bag with my patterned fabric?

I really like the simplicity of the bag and it is very portable compared to a furoshiki which might still be bulky and not easily popped in a bag, the drawstring is more compact.

I tried the furoshiki wrap and it definitely is too bulky.