365 Days Taiwanese Foods Calendar by Hsiao Ting Tang and Goyen Chen is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2022 Bronze A' Design Award in Graphics, Illustration and Visual Communication Design Competition Category.
BronzeGraphic· 2022
365 Days Taiwanese Foods Calendar
by Hsiao Ting Tang and Goyen Chen
Client: Goyen Chen
Bronze A' Design Award Winner in Graphic Category
Verified Award Winner
Verify Award Status for #130364The Design
About 365 Days Taiwanese Foods Calendar
Different from the general calendars in the market, the design and packaging of 365 days Taiwanese Foods Calendar is based on the prototype of Bento box, a unique Asian food container. The packaging is designed with a magnetic closure for easy display, collection and portability. In addition to the graphic introduction of the calendar itself, it also shows the Eastern concept of time and introduces festivals, ingredients and festivals, all of which show the unique food culture of the East.
The Recognition
About the Bronze A' Design Award
365 Days Taiwanese Foods Calendar is a Bronze A' Design Award winner, a highly prestigious recognition granted to outstanding designs distinguished by creativity, ingenuity, and astuteness. Bronze winners are amply skillful and strikingly creative artifacts that authenticate the vast experience, imagination, and resourcefulness of their designers. 365 Days Taiwanese Foods Calendar is expected to be a highly regarded, admired, and cherished object that is notably professional and innovative. This Bronze A' Design Award-winning design incorporates best practices in art, science, design, and technology, and is excellent for its attention to detail. 365 Days Taiwanese Foods Calendar splendidly satisfies needs, touches desires, charms feelings, and appeals to curiosity.
Interviews
Grand Interview
Your innovative approach to transforming the traditional Bento box into the packaging design for the 365 Days Taiwanese Foods Calendar represents a beautiful marriage of form and function - could you share the creative journey that led to this distinctive concept?
The idea stemmed from the cultural significance of Bento boxes in Taiwanese daily life. We aimed to reinterpret this humble yet iconic object by integrating its practicality into a medium for storytelling. The packaging design evolved to resemble a Bento box, emphasizing modularity and organization, which mirrors the diversity and variety of Taiwanese cuisine. The journey involved sketching concepts inspired by traditional lunchboxes and experimenting with how they could serve as a functional container for the calendar while highlighting Taiwan’s culinary heritage.
The 365 Days Taiwanese Foods Calendar earned recognition including the Bronze A' Design Award for its cultural significance - how did you balance preserving authentic Taiwanese culinary traditions while making them accessible to a contemporary audience?
Balancing authenticity and modern appeal required meticulous research into traditional dishes and their regional significance. By pairing these elements with minimalist illustrations and clean typography, we ensured the content remained relatable to a contemporary audience. The calendar serves as a bridge, presenting these dishes in a visually engaging format that sparks curiosity while respecting their cultural roots.
The magnetic closure system and ceramic spoon paperweight in the 365 Days Taiwanese Foods Calendar demonstrate thoughtful attention to user experience - what inspired these functional elements and how do they enhance the calendar's daily interaction?
These elements were inspired by the tactile experience of enjoying a meal. The magnetic closure symbolizes the anticipation of uncovering something delightful, akin to opening a Bento box. The ceramic spoon, functioning as a paperweight, draws a parallel to the everyday tools of Taiwanese dining, grounding the calendar in its cultural context while adding a playful, functional touch to its use.
Behind the Design
Press Kit
Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.
- Unique Properties
- This calendar can be displayed and collected at the same time and is also suitable as a gift or for personal use. You can look at it when you don't know what to have for lunch. This calendar not only conveys the rich diversity of Taiwanese cuisine, but also provides a deeper understanding of the unique Taiwanese food culture. Through the creation of the merchandise, we look forward to promoting the spirit of Taiwanese cuisine and traditional culture.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- Product dimensions 215 mm x 150 mm x 55 mm. Calendar size 120 mm x 80 mm x 35 mm. Magnet opening and closing design.
- Tags
- Taiwan, food, Bento, calendar, lunar calendar
- Production Technology
- The trial is made using soybean printing and handmade gift boxes. At the same time, the magnetic clasp design allows the concept of instant collection to be put into practice at the same time. Because of the fear that the old calendar would be blown away in the display, the calendar comes with a Chinese ceramic spoon as a paperweight, which not only fits the image of the product, but also symbolizes the fullness in the oriental symbolism.
- Design Challenge
- The most difficult aspect was that the composition of the packaging needed to be handmade. One of the most challenging aspects was to distinguish it from the usual calendars on the market and even to highlight the characteristics of the subject. Therefore, the merchandise was worked into the material of a gift box, using the outer packaging of a usual meal. Echoing each other.
- Research
- The 365 Days of Taiwan Food Calendar feature a variety of Taiwanese cuisine as the main visual presentation. Showcasing the importance of Taiwanese food culture. The magnetic clasp is specially designed for collection and display and is suitable for gift giving or personal use! It is different from the usual calendar formats sold in the market. The calendar not only conveys the rich diversity of Taiwanese cuisine, but also provides a deeper understanding of Taiwan's unique food culture. This product looks forward to carrying forward this spirit.
- Inspiration
- Through Taiwanese cuisine, this team has drawn and accumulated hundreds of illustrations. For the sake of commercialization, a calendar dedicated to Taiwanese food was created by specifically combining the "Bento box", a local lunch box packaging unique to Taiwan, with a Taiwanese calendar. As a result, a lot of research on local food was also done, and the inspiration for the illustration content was found through the collection process.
- Project Duration
- The project started in September 2019 in Taichung and finished in September 2020 in Taichung. Successfully raise funds through the ZECZEC fundraising platform.
- Operation Flow
- Because this product is packaged with magnets, it can be displayed and stored at the same time, and the calendar itself can also solve your worries about what you eat every day. When using the calendar, you can tear off today's calendar and display it on the top cover of the box. Because the edge of the top cover is designed with a magnetic buckle, it can be folded inward to clamp the calendar. When changing the calendar, you can put the old calendar in another space, and tear off the new calendar as a display at the same time. You can also put some small stationery that you usually use.
- Team Members
- Illustrator：Hsiao Ting Tang
Designer：Goyen Chen - Image Credits
- Image ： Illustrator Hsiao Ting Tang, Taiwanese Foods, 2020.
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