Food for Thought
Personal Ongoing Project
From: May 2024
I began a project to explore how our food choices impact the environment, with the goal of creating a book to illustrate these effects. For this project, I used two data sets from the Our World in Data website. The data focused on the car mileage involved in transporting foods worldwide to reach consumers and the resulting CO₂ emissions driven by these demands. I designed the book to present these statistics alongside powerful visuals—aiming for a simple, impactful design that highlights the key facts.
Below are some initial designs I came up with using some fun graphics to illustrate some facts about food.
I knew I loved working as a 'ghost designer’ - taking information and using my design style to bring it to life, in this case, making complex statistics accessible and engaging for an audience. I started by sketching ideas for the book’s layout, aiming for a clean and readable design. Rather than labeling certain foods or meals as 'bad,' I wanted to offer alternatives on the lower-impact end of the spectrum, giving readers practical options for swapping ingredients in their favorite weekly meals.
I wanted to design the book so each page could show how simple it can be to make a sustainable switch. By splitting the pages, readers could see an ingredient or meal with a higher environmental impact on one side, and then, by simply turning the page, discover a lower-impact alternative. This layout makes it easy to see the swaps they can make in their favorite meals, one page at a time.
To spread the message even further, I decided to create a series of posters to advertise the book. These posters highlight key facts and showcase the simple swaps readers can make, sparking curiosity and encouraging people to explore the book and make sustainable changes in their everyday meals. One of the posters was even designed as a magnet, so it can stick on fridges, serving as a daily reminder of easy, impactful swaps right in the kitchen.
