The Vegetable Case Files would present each vegetable as an individual "case", encouraging people to investigate and understand it from different perspectives. Alongside this, the Five Senses Menu would act almost like a prescription, inviting people to experience vegetables through sight, smell, touch, taste, and sound rather than through nutritional information alone.
Logic
Case Files Raises Questions
The Five Senses Menu offers “therapeutic treatments.”
I liked the relationship between these two outcomes. One identified the "problem" through observation, while the other proposed a gentle way of rediscovering vegetables through sensory experience.
Visual Experiments
Style Reference
A New Perspective on How to Read an ObjectRather than presenting vegetables as something that should be eaten, I wanted to present them as something that could be observed, examined, and rediscovered. The visual language of archives and medical case files provided an interesting reference because it encourages people to investigate before reaching a conclusion.
Initial Visual Experiments
First Attempt
The First Picture
These entries are not intended to document medical symptoms, but rather to record everyday experiences—such as negative memories of carrots from different stages of life, avoiding carrots at school lunches, accepting them in soup, or eating them only when they’re mixed into other dishes. My hope is to shift the focus from nutritional information to personal memories and eating behaviors.
I experimented with layering scanned vegetable images, outlines, blurred textures, halftones, and documentary-style typography. I wanted the files to feel observational and investigative rather than educational, encouraging people to "read" vegetables as if they were examining a case.
Take the first carrot as an example: the orange, irregular circles in the image represent slices of carrot. In the lower-left corner, I wanted to highlight the part of the carrot that people tend to dislike. My goal with this poster is to bring this issue to light.
I also experimented with the typography by incorporating linear elements into the letterforms. My intention was to create a stronger visual relationship between the type and the vegetable illustrations, allowing them to share the same graphic language. Rather than treating typography and imagery as separate components, I wanted them to feel like they belonged to the same visual system. Also, the typewriter-style body text to reinforce the archival aesthetic. The monospaced typeface reminded me of historical documents, case files, and official records, helping to position the project as a process of observation and documentation rather than persuasion.
The Second Picture
Rather than treating each poster as an individual piece, I started considering how the project could function as a collection. Applying the same visual language to different vegetables allowed me to test the consistency of the layouts, typography, and graphic elements, while also beginning to explore the unique characteristics of each vegetable.
The Third Picture
After reviewing the first version, I continued refining the visual language of the archive. In this iteration, I introduced a subtle paper texture to the background. Rather than leaving the layout completely clean, I wanted the files to feel more tactile and aged, reinforcing the impression of physical documents that had been collected and preserved over time.
Reflections
I realised that these layouts were trying to communicate too many ideas at once. The visual language became overly decorative, and the relationship between the archival concept and the content was not yet clear. Although the direction felt conceptually interesting, it lacked hierarchy and made it difficult for viewers to immediately understand the purpose of the files.
Try to Make Five Senses Menu
The intention was to encourage people to experience vegetables through sight, smell, touch, taste, and sound, rather than approaching them only through nutritional information.
However, I quickly encountered a challenge. Many existing examples of "multi-sensory design" rely on physical interaction—for example, textured materials for touch, scented printing for smell, or edible components for taste. While these approaches are effective, they depend on material experiences rather than graphic communication.This made me question whether graphic design alone could communicate the five senses. I wanted to explore whether visual language—through layout, typography, colour, imagery, and composition—could suggest sensory experiences without requiring people to physically touch or smell the work.
I experimented with different layouts, image scales, colour sampling, and the relationship between text and photography, searching for a visual system that could translate sensory information into a graphic language. At this stage, I was less concerned with the final appearance of the menu and more interested in understanding how sensory qualities might be represented visually.
Peer Review
This week's class focused on a Peer-to-Peer Speed Pitch. Each student had three minutes to introduce their project, followed by two minutes of feedback from a peer before rotating to the next person. Within a short period of time, I had the opportunity to present my project to several different people and receive a range of perspectives.
I found this format particularly valuable because it forced me to explain my project clearly and efficiently. With only three minutes, I had to communicate not only what I was making, but also why I was making it. It quickly became clear which parts of my explanation were easy to understand and which ideas needed further clarification.
I also presented my current visual explorations, including the Relationship Files and the Five Senses Menu. Observing how different people interpreted these concepts helped me evaluate whether the visual language was effectively supporting the project's intention, rather than relying solely on my own interpretation.
I also shared one of the questions I had been struggling with during the design process: how could graphic design communicate the five senses without relying on physical interaction? Many examples I had researched used materials, scents, or tactile elements to represent sensory experiences, but I wanted to explore whether these experiences could be suggested through visual language alone. Discussing this uncertainty with my peers helped me articulate the challenge more clearly and opened up different ways of thinking about the role of graphic design within the project.
Although I did not leave the session with a definitive solution, the conversations reassured me that I did not have to represent the five senses in a conventional way. One of my peers encouraged me to continue exploring a purely visual approach rather than relying on physical materials. They suggested that different colours could be used to distinguish the five senses, allowing the sensory information to be communicated through a graphic system instead of literal interaction.
Points to Revise and Consider
1.
The current design of the profile differs significantly from the visual style of the “Five Senses” menu. Additionally, the profile itself is too complex, with too many different fonts and graphics.
2.
Please explain more clearly why this case-based record in Part 1 is needed and what its purpose is.
Edit
I revisited the visual system and began simplifying the layouts. Looking back at the previous iteration, I felt that too many graphic elements were competing for attention, making the concept more difficult to understand.
In this version, I removed a number of decorative elements and reduced the typography to a single typeface. Using one consistent font helped create a clearer hierarchy and reinforced the documentary quality of the relationship files. Rather than relying on multiple visual effects, I wanted the concept itself to become the focus.
Reflections on the Peer Review Process
One of the most valuable aspects of this session was stepping outside my own project. After spending weeks thinking about the same idea, it was easy to become trapped in my own perspective. Hearing how others approached their projects gave me fresh ways of thinking, while explaining my own work repeatedly helped me identify which parts of my concept were immediately understood and which still required clarification. Also, the speed-pitch format. It encouraged active discussion rather than passive presentations, and challenged me to communicate the purpose of my project within a limited amount of time. I realised that clear communication is just as important as the design itself, especially when introducing a project to someone encountering it for the first time. So, I hope this formate of review can be repeated a few more times in different project stages.