Alissa Touranachun
Quotidian Encounters
We look. We listen. We smell. We touch. We taste. We navigate the world with our senses. Material qualities of manufactured goods have immanent and often overlooked potential to facilitate positive emotional experiences. By associating the experience of food preparation and consumption with positive emotions and memories, lasting emotional engagement can be achieved and meaningfully transcend the commercial aims of the food product.
Leveraging gestures derived from culinary techniques and traditional food practice, Quotidian Encounters elevates otherwise banal food experiences into gastronomic events.
Using the preserves jar as a direct analogy of a whole fruit the voluptuous jar emulates the feeling of picking or rinsing a fruit. While the contoured surface on the cap tactically resembles the dimple on the top and bottom of a piece of fruit. The design provokes a sense of provenance to the eating experience.
Problem: Gastro-anomie
For decades, the industrialized food economy has normalized food as a substitutable commodity, providing consistent food experiences with minimal preparation for mass consumers. The shift from the laborious task of cooking to the transactional acquisition of food has alienated consumers from the social and cultural value traditionally related to food. This change causes a global phenomenon called Gastro-anomie, where consumers lose pleasure from eating, perceiving the action as unsatisfying and meaningless.
Driven by the contrasting tactical experience between the texture of fish flesh and its often rigid geometric plastic tray, the design adopts a seamless curved base, an overall tapered form, and subtle diagonal texture. The features represent the fish's anatomy and the fat layers in the flesh.
Inspired by the phrase “breaking bread” the angular perforated pattern design allows the bag to open and close by pinching on both sides of the bag. The gesture resembles how one would pinch a dinner roll at the beginning of a dinner.
Mimicking the twist-end paper wrapping method commonly used to package homemade bakes or candies, the box design consists of two main features -- a diagonal opening and a twist closure on both ends. The twisting gesture required to access the food emulates the delightful experience of twisting open a gift from home.
Response: Emotionally-Engaging Design
To achieve an emotionally-engaging design, the collection fosters reflective moments by employing gestural interactions that emulate the traditional making/consuming of the food product. The sensory interaction subconsciously engages users to reminisce about cultural-led values and personal memories associated with cooking and serving food. The retrospective quality, in turn, fosters personal connection and meaningful product experience.
The Chinese blooming tea is a process in which dried tea leaves are tied into a ball -- once steeped, the tea leaves unravel, resembling blooming flowers. The tea bag design reflects the blooming motion of the traditional process through the flexible origami structure that uniformly expands when steeped.
