The apps primary objective is to inspire users to prevent wasting food, by suggesting meals that utilize ingredients they would otherwise throw away.
Visual Design Conceptual Design20/04/2016
NUA
Norwich, United Kingdom
Interface design, branding + illustration
Sketch, Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop, Javascript, AngularJs, HTML, CSS, NodeJs
Forage was my first design brief after returning to England from Sweden in 2016. This project is evidently influenced by the Scandinavian design movement that flourished during the 1950’s in the five Nordic countries. I was particularly inspired by a collection of old Scandinavian cookbooks I acquired while living there.
Swedish design is considered minimalist, with an emphasis on functionality + simple clean lines. The colour palette is taken from nature - wilderness, foaming rivers, rolling countryside + never-ending beaches.
The app is all about searching for the next recipe - since foraging is synonymous with searching for ingredients it felt natural to name the app forage.
‘Foraging’ - the acquisition of food by hunting, fishing or gathering. This app is not just about finding new food, but finding your inner chef. Enhancing your cooking abilities by using a fun food social media application.
Mushrooms are one of the ingredients most commonly associated with foraging. The mystery + enigma of fungi is fascinating, they are not plants or animals but in a kingdom entirely of their own. Throughout the app, each users icon will differ depending on the popularity of the recipes they have uploaded. New users will start with a chestnut mushroom icon progressing through to a black truffle once they reach a higher rating from other users.
This colour palette is influenced by the muted tones found in Nordic nature, combining understated + minimal neutral shades with Moss + Woodrose to reflect the essence of the wilderness.
To put it simply, UX is imperative to good website design because it tries to fulfil the user’s needs. Its purpose is to create a meaningful user experience that allows users to define customer journeys on their website that are most conducive to their businesses success.
Career: Scientist
Age: 29
Gender: Female
Nationality: American
Employer: UWE
To be able to search and find recipes based on the ingredients she has at home. To upload + get feedback on her own dishes that she has submitted. Curate recipe collections uploaded by other users in addition to submitting her own recipes.
Rosa is a huge fan of cooking shows such as The Great British Bake Off. She cooks a lot of her own food at home + is already at a good level of cooking but has a limited portfolio of dishes. She wants to be able to cook new meals + submit some of her own recipes.
The app should provide a wealth of ingredients + recipes so they are easy to access. Its community of chefs + food lovers who all share their knowledge + experience of cooking will help Rosa become a better cook. It should also encourage her to prevent wasting food by suggesting recipes using ingredients she already has.