Flavors of the World — Meiyun Chen

Flavors of the World

Flavors of the World explores the intersection of typography, generative design, and cultural identity by using food as a metaphorical and visual medium. I built this concept starting from the street food culture of Los Angeles. The project investigates how regional ingredients and cooking methods can inform and transform type design.

Concept

Every dish has its own unique way of being made and its distinct flavor, but when it spreads to different parts of the world, it often adapts to local tastes and cultural habits. These changes not only make the dish more in tune with local lifestyles but also allow cultures to communicate and blend through food.

Research

During my in-depth research, I explored various factors from different countries that influence the flavor of food, such as cooking time, ingredient choices, temperature, spices, and more. These factors collectively shape the final taste of a dish. As a result, I incorporated these variables into my typeface design, using the form of the font to reflect these influences.

Font Design

I used ingredients like pasta, chocolate, flour, and croissants to create and shape the foundation of my generative typography. The form, texture, and characteristics of each ingredient were incorporated into the design, making the letters both fun and unique.

Generative Typography

Incorporated variables such as seasonings, ingredients, and cooking methods, to influence the typography. These changes are reflected in the texture, weight, color, and contours of the typeface.

Recipe Book

By using generative typography, I broke down a dish into multiple steps and adjusted various variables to reflect the cooking methods of different countries, highlighting the cultural differences. Ultimately, I presented this process in the form of a recipe as the final output.

Display

By applying the generated typeface onto the real food ingredients, to showcasing the differences of cultures, and how different cultures view about food.