Thrive by celia.vandersteen

December 2018 Celia Vandersteen BA(Hons) Graphic Design Arts University Bournemouth

S P E C I A L I S T

P R A C T I C E

T H R I V E Verb To prosper; be fortunate or successful. To grow or develop vigorously; flourish.

D I S C O V E R

D E F I N E

D E V E L O P

D E L I V E R

R E V I E W

H A R V E S T I N G

H E A L T H

Design a product, system or service which uses sustainable food and farming to help improve peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s health or wellbeing.

S T A R T I N G

P O I N T

I collected all the information RSA suggested as well as my own and instantly recorded my first thoughts. This involved aims, solutions, users and issues. It really helped to look back at this when I was lost in the project to see what initially inspired me.

D I S C O V E R

I N I T I A L

I D E A â&#x20AC;&#x2122; S

Immediately I was inspired by the brief and had many different paths I wanted to follow. I collated 3 ideaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s that I could use to help guide my research. Ultimately my final outcome became an amalgamation of the 3. 12

# 0 1 Nutritious food system for hospital patients during and after their admittance - Produce from local farmers served nutritionally and with inspiration for patients to continue living healthily once they leave.

T H R I V E

D E F I N E

# 0 2

# 0 3

App for local business food shopping

Scannable symbol on sustainable packaging for food information

- Easy way to find local produce and donate to food banks.

- Packaging is decomposable and symbol when planted grows into produce. Scannable symbol gives user information about the product.

F O O D

C H A L L E N G E S

I listed potential challenges people would have regarding food in order to know what I need to solve or adapt to. This also helped inform the types of questions I asked when researching. Price of local food can be more expensive. Not a top priority to search for good local food, just take what there is. 14

Packaging is misleading in order to sell. Not sure how to use produce together. Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want leftover food if bought in large quantities.

T H R I V E

D I S C O V E R

S U R V E Y I decided to survey the general public to gain an insight into people’s food habits and attitudes. I approached a wide range of ages as I want to produce an outcome that is suitable to anyone. However, I did find that the students I spoke to weren’t as selective with their food due to their low income.

5. Do you struggle to come up with idea’s of how to make healthy, fresh food? Yes: 75% Sometimes 20% No: 5%

1. Do you shop online for food? Yes: 15% Sometimes: 50% No: 35%

6. Are you willing to change your routine to be more sustainable? Yes: 100% No: 0%

2. Do you care where you’re food is from? Yes: 80% Sometimes:10% No: 10%

7. Do you trust the quality of food at a supermarket more than food produced by a local business? Yes: 40% Sometimes: 10% No: 50%

3. Are you vegan/vegetarian? Yes: 40% No: 60% 4. If yes, do you find it difficult to find alternatives? Yes: 75% Sometimes: 25% No: 0%

8. Why? Summary of comments: - Trust known brand names. - Supermarkets quality check their produce. - Don’t know how local produce is quality checked. - Local food businesses are part of the community. - Local food produce is more fresh and organic.

T H R I V E

D I S C O V E R

T H R I V E

B O U R N E M O U T H

F O O D

D I S C O V E R

B A N K

I visited Bournemouth’s Food Bank, who feed 8000 people a year, to understand the process. I spoke to Julia Hausawi, the head volunteer at the centre, who took me on a tour of the village hall/food bank, and answered any queries I had. When I arrived I was surprised at the magnitude of food, however this was immediately after Harvest and this is unfortunately not always the case. Food there is delivered usually from customer donations at supermarkets - rarely a supermarket will donate themselves, apart from one off batches of tins. It’s then sorted into categories of produce, before volunteers put together crates based on the required family size. The system works really well, and feeds many people in crisis. The food provided is basic and volunteers do their best to create a package that would contain elements that make a full meal. Despite this though many people who come in are so thankful to see food they do not want to be a burden and so often don’t know what they can do with the food they have. Food they haven’t seen before (tinned meat) or nutritious tins (chickpeas, beans, etc) are left or become intimidating.

T H R I V E

D I S C O V E R

D O R K I N G

C O M M U N I T Y

Dorking Community Fridge has the aim to reduce food waste and to support local people. Volunteers collect food from local businesses and make it available to the community. It is exponentially expanding, with new businesses pledging to donate food monthly.

I interviewed co-founder, Clare Davies, to understand what they do, how it is used by the community and what still needs to be done to create a sustainable food society.

F R I D G E

T H R I V E

What is the process for donating, sorting and giving out food at your community fridge? I have a team of around 30 volunteers who fill in a rota to collect surplus food from all 4 supermarkets in Dorking every day of the week. There is a cleaning protocol we follow to adhere to Environmental Health, so the fridges are cleaned every day, and any food that’s no good is removed. This is usually bread, as the supermarkets seem to over order hugely. This is sent to a local pig farm. The food is weighed and then put into the fridge and on shelving for anyone to take. It is usually all gone by midday!

Cafe where the Dorking Fridge is located and on those days we keep half the produce to put out for their clients.

M&S trolley, filled it and took it to their car……. but we are happy that the food has been taken. Our Goodwyns Fridge is open Do you work alongside food on two days for two hours banks? each day. That one is manned As above. We give them fresh (or womanned!) and therefore veg, chilled food and bread, and monitored. It is in an area of then the clients know we are deprivation so we limit the there and they can come along food to one bag per family so every day. We have been called it is shared out. a lifeline. What limits/challenges do Are there any limitations you face as volunteers at the to how many times people Community Fridge? can come in to take food, in The challenge is that the whole order for it not to be taken thing is changing almost weekly. advantage of? Surplus food has increased We suggest one bag per hugely since September, I’m person per day, but it really not sure why, and so we now hasn’t been a problem so far. require 3 separate cleaning and Is the Community Fridge for In fact, the more needy people food runs each day. That will anyone to use, or are people in seem to take less and we increase soon to 4 as Lidl will a food crisis prioritised? always make them take more be giving us frozen food which The food is free for all, than one loaf of bread! There is otherwise binned weekly! although the local Food Bank was a story a few months ago We are always looking for meets twice a week in the where someone wheeled in an volunteers.

D I S C O V E R

Is much of the produce from local businesses? Half of what we get is local and we have a 500kg food delivery from a charity called FareShare, from their Sussex depot. They work with Ocado, Tesco Direct, and local farmers etc and receive HUGE amounts of food. Don’t let me near a politician!! Are there any specific types of food that are and are not popular with the community for both donations and taking away? Everything is taken every day, apart from if we get 5 sacks of bread which happens sometimes! We can’t take Use-by or high protein food past the date, but we can take Best Before food. The high protein food that comes from FareShare always has at least one day in date.

T H R I V E

D I S C O V E R

I researched a lot into what is currently happening within the food industry and what issues we face. There seems to be an issue with almost every subject - public health, local produce, food bank shortage, etc. Whilst I will focus on one aspect, I will incorporate other issues into the project to be solved too as the issues are mostly linked by the lack of awareness.

M A R K E T

R E S E A R C H

Happy Cow

Hello Fresh

An online service that provides vegans and vegetarians with help finding suitable restaurants and services.

A meal kit provider. Delivers food to you in the exact quantity you need to produce a meal.

+ Hugely popular within the community. + Gives reviews. + ‘Near me’ feature.

+ Easy for the customer. + Reduces food waste. + Encourages people to try new, healthy food.

- Doesn’t inform people where the produce is from, if it’s organic. - Lists every service near you, is overwhelming.

- A lot of excess packaging, not environmentally friendly at all. - Provides the right amount for one meal, but doesn’t help you know how to cook meals with food you already own. - Limited local food supply.

T H R I V E

D I S C O V E R

Social Media Influence

Fit Bit

Exampling Instagram, Twitter and Facebook which are used to share content and engage with people over common interests.

Activity trackers - wireless-enabled wearable technology devices that measure data like the number of steps walked, heart rate, quality of sleep, steps climbed, and other personal metrics involved in fitness.

+ Short and simple information. + Customisable for the individual (e.g. who you follow). + Collection of tailored content (e.g recommended posts, trending). + Influential.

+ Encourages healthy habits. + Easy to use. + Works based off content admitted.

- Can have a negative side with comments and unrealistic content. - Doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t serve the local community, but access to anyone.

- Can be intimidating to new users. - Doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t advise how to solve problems, just shows what the issues are.

C O O K I E S A HTTP cookie is a small piece of data sent from a website and stored on the userâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s computer while the user is browsing the web. Cookies were designed to be a reliable mechanism for websites to remember stateful information or to record the userâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s browsing activity. In some cases it can then tailor what pop ups on screen.

According to EU law all sites that use cookies are require to seek your express permission to store and retrieve data about your browsing habits. I can apply cookies to my project so that users can be recommended information based off what they have already selected. For example - selecting recipes based upon popular food searches.

T H R I V E

D I S C O V E R

C O N T A C T L E S S Contactless cards have a chip inside them that emits radio waves. An antenna is built into the plastic to secure the connection with a contactless reader, known as radio frequency identification (RFID) technology. Mobile phones and other electronic devices use near-field communication (NFC) to transmit data â&#x20AC;&#x201C; which is based on the technology used in RFID. 29

Building the same technology into packaging could change the way we shop completely. A chip built into the shelf of a product could be scanned by the shoppers phone where they could then learn all the information they needed about the item. Products could then be loose on the shelf, if appropriate, to avoid excess packaging.

D E F I N E

U S E R Primary - Millenials Secondary - General Public

Needs - Instantaneous results - Interesting content - Sharable on social media - Improving what they already do - Easy to use - Charitable element Approaches - App - Service design specific to an area - university? - Participation event

T H R I V E

M Y

D E F I N E

B R I E F

I produced my own brief based off the RSA brief so I could be more specific with my process. To produce a service that will encourage people to make healthier habits for themselves and their community, particularly involving food waste and consumption.

T H E

S M A L L

I D E A

Printed receipt informs you which of your produce is local. - Know what needs to be changed next time you shop. - Quick and easy to see. - Small thing to introduce to the public, like 5p carrier bags. 34

Feedback - Easily done but needs to be bigger. - Concept could work well alongside something else. - Providing people with alternatives is a good incentive for supermarkets.

Blackheath Farm 19 November 2018

Fresh Baked Wholemeal Loaf

£2.50

Free Range Eggs

£2.00

Strawberry Jam

£2.30

Pork Sausages x 6

£4.00

Total

£10.80

Save 20p with Dorset Strawberry Jam next time you shop with us.

T H E

M E D I U M

I D E A

App connected to receipt to recommend recipes and provide you with information to local produce. - Reducing paper receipts. - Reduce food waste. - Encouraging healthy alternatives. - Endorsing local food. 36

Feedback - Great way to get people to interact with each other over food. - Can cater to individual needs, rather than generalising. - Will inform people quickly and on a daily basis.

Recommendations

37 Chicken & Chorizo Bake Blackheath Farm Chicken

T H E

L A R G E

I D E A

System change for supermarkets - any supermarket within 50 mile radius of local food businesses must stock/endorse their produce. - Makes quick change. - No longer loss of high street shops (butchers, bakers etc) - Public have no choice - makes it easier to install. 38

Feedback - Is something that can be attainable long term. - Loss of independent stores - everything chain owned? - Develop so farmers can sell their own produce - new supermarket specifically for local produce?

Local

C O L L I D E

W O R K S H O P

Kieran Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Connor and Malcom Kennard The workshop helped to develop concepts, and fuse together simple ideas to create a strong, unique outcome. One of the activities was to cut up and combine known symbols to produce our own imagery. This was really valuable for me as it helped greatly when it came to designing new but familiar symbols for my app. 40

EQUALITY IS KEY

T H R I V E

D E F I N E

D E V E L O P

N A V I G A T I O N I mapped out the specific pages I will have on my app in order to see what works best where and what links. This was incredibly useful when I produced a prototype on Adobe XD.

T H R I V E

D E V E L O P

T H R I V E

D E V E L O P

P R I N T S Using fruits and vegetables I made prints in the hope to use the outcomes as part of the branding, However I later found that it was too busy. The final prints though are beautiful. Made using acrylic paint, the mushroom made by being placed spore down on paper and concealed for a day.

T H R I V E

T H U M B N A I L S Originally I started the design digitally however I found I wasnt making much progress because I couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t produce a consitent and clear layout. I decided to draw out thumbnails for each screen of the app. I was able to play around with different content and see what fit best where. I then went back to producing digital designs, referring back to the thumbnails helped to see everything already in a clear format. Having had tried lots of different formats was really useful when I decided to add features later, since I had a library of consistent layout and design decisions ready to apply and use.

D E V E L O P

D R A F T

D E S I G N S

My draft designs quickly helped me realise what I wanted from my app. At the time I wanted to produce a colourful, curved design but once I saw all the designs together I could see how basic and young it looked. However, despite wanting to change the colour palette and shapes I did like the layout of the app and how the pages linked to eachother. The fonts used worked well, but I did adapt it to include capital letters. 50

At this stage I also realised I needed to create a design that could be applied to different screen sizes. The grid layout works with this, but it needed to look good as the user scrolled.

T H R I V E

recommended

D E V E L O P

farm

U S E R

T E S T I N G

I asked a variety of different people to try out the prototype of the app. I told everyone a very basic premise for the use, and then allowed them to use it without input. I wanted to gage what they understood from the app, what they were and were not attracted to, and how easy it was for them to navigate.

+ Clever concept, would use.

I used Adobe XD to produce the effect of a working app, this also helped me in the design process since I could see how pages linked and the apportopriate size of content on a phone screen.

+ Specific recipes on homepage is great, but having an explore page as well to discover new things is a great addition.

+ Features are clear and really useful. + Red for non local produce on ‘receipt’ feature.

- Colour palette is too basic. - Buttons on ‘recipe’ page need to be simplier, perhaps include reviews. - Include name caption under image on homepage. - Reduce size of bozes, text for phone screens.

T H R I V E

D E V E L O P

B R A N D I N G I experimented considerably with the design and overall aesthetic of the app. I wanted it to be approachable to anyone but still sophisticated and inspiring. Originally I created a branding that was hand drawn in order to communicate a hand crafted touch, alike the philosophy. Whilst I did like the name in cursive, the icons looked very young, and in a small scale werenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t legible enough. To keep the handwritten name wouldnt be cohesive to the now simplier design. 54

All of the icons were made using circular edges creating a modern effect. Thrives â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; was transformed into an upward arrow to symbolise a forward thinking and sustainable future. The dotted circle logo is simple and eye-catching and is used to represent a continuous future and the coming together of a community.

T H R I V E

D E V E L O P

F I N A L

C R I T I Q U E

Feedback given during my critique allowed me to perfect any snags in the final design. The colour palette, easy navigation and layout was received really well. However, I realised that whilst the app worked well, some of its key features weren’t prominent enough in order for the user to understand the app quickly. These changes were ammended:

Placing the ‘receipt’ feature in the navigation panel for quick access. Making the profile page clearer Adding a feature to tell the user how local a business is at a quick glance. Slimming the ‘saved’ feature so it appears more like a bookmark. Change user ‘watch list’ icons to images, often more fancy, unusual items will be needed to be watched and so unlikely to be able to produce icons for everything.

T H R I V E

D E L I V E R

T H R I V E

D E L I V E R

T H R I V E

D E L I V E R

T H R I V E An app that recommends healthy recipes based off your latest food shopping, as well as informing you where your food comes from. It encourages a positive attitude towards sustainable food use and community relationships.

Home

Saved

Locals

Notifications

Explore

Shopping List 63

Receipts

Donate

Profile

% Local

Settings

H O M E P A G E The â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;homepageâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; displays recommended healthy recipes, based off your latest food shopping. - Tap image for recipe page. - Tap ellipsis for recipe options.

T H R I V E

D E L I V E R

L O C A L S The â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;localsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; page provides a map of information on local businesses. - Search your area. - See local businesses. - Tap for food business account page. - See top produce, local produce percentage and user reviews. - Tap receipt icon for purchase history with the business.

E X P L O R E The â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;exploreâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; page encourges users to seek new recipes, and food businesses.

- Search. - Quickly see account local percentage. - Select recipe. - Scroll through images and reviews. - Add to saved list. - Go to recipe author page.

T H R I V E

D E L I V E R

R E C E I P T S The â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;recieptsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; page connects to your debit/credit card to automatically recommend and inform you on recipes and advice. - See purchase history. - Tap for more details. - Non-local food is highlighted (radius adjustable). 67

P E R S O N A L

P R O F I L E

The â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;personal profileâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; page is a hub of information for your food needs. -

Select your food habits. See your local percentage. See your saved recipes. Be notified on watched foods, new recipes, alerts, reminders and more. - Create a shopping list. - Donate to a health charity. - Create a top 3 watch list for when food becomes local or is in seaon.

T H R I V E

- The ‘shopping list’ informs you of the price and locality of your selected produce. - Food donations are encouraed and easily done on the ‘donate’ page, guides are provided. - Adjust your preferences and information with the ‘settings’.

D E L I V E R

R E V I E W

T H R I V E

R E V I E W

E V A L U A T I O N

M O V I N G

Overall I am really pleased with the outcome for this project. I believe I have answered the brief well and provided a solution to my userâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s problem. The concept easily provides people with the knowledge and understanding of where their food comes from and how to use it sustainably is invaluable and will help create healthy habits for the future. The design of the app is modern and simple to keep people interested and is useable for any age. I am happy with the navigation of the app - having feedback from lots of potential users helped streamline their journey and see what they really need.

I would like to set this project in motion and so I will research further into what is needed to make an official app.

Despite experimenting with different organic aesthetics I decided that keeping the app clean and simple with the colour palette and imagery made it less confusing, and provided focus on what was really important - the content. Whilst there are lots of features to the app it still remains understandable and isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t overwhelming. I think if I had just focussed on one feature it could be too simple and less desiring to download. Several small features together creates an all-you-can-need food area.

F O R W A R D

I would like to do more vigourous testing on a larger and wider range of people to see whether the app needs to be modified for any unexpected needs. Another feature that could be really beneficial is advice on growing your own produce. This is very expansive though and requires alot of information, and with the infinite range of recipes this could be too much data for one app.

F I L M

S T O R Y B O A R D

I have mocked up a storyboard for a film I will produce for RSA submission. I hope having a film will help explain the concept and act as a trailer to â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Thriveâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;.

Bored? Hungry?

Want to help others?

T H R I V E

R E V I E W

6 75

Help your community thrive?