ISTD Food For Thought Brief
This was a project for ISTD (International Society of Typographic Designers) and the brief was simply to portray ‘Food For Thought’ through typographic means and extensive research. I chose to look at food security in South Africa and focused on an issue known as the ‘double burden of malnutrition’. This means that we simultaneously have a widespread problem of obesity and a widespread problem of an underweight generation in our country. These issues live in the same population, the same communities, the same neighbourhoods and sometimes even in the same houses. And these issues both result in malnutrition. This is a large-scale problem that needs to be addressed within the youth population and amongst the parents of the youth so as to motivate change.
As a student I decided to inspire healthy eating habits by creating the ‘ideal lunchbox (skhaftina)’. In this lunchbox is an informative booklet with two case studies that are used to create awareness around the realities of the two issues. Along with the booklet come two meal plan ‘placemats’ with ideas for what would be the healthiest, most nutritious and most cost effective items to put in a child’s lunchbox.
Process book with images I took of Ntombi in Imizamu Yethu in Hout Bay, Cape Town. She is selling Walky Talky's, which are chicken feet.
Here Patricia is pictured with the meat that she sells.
Reference images for typography development of 'spaza shops' in the townships of South Africa.
Rough typography drawings
The lunchbox
I created a booklet to communicate the two case studies. One side of the booklet looks at kids who are underweight and one side looks at kids who are overwieight - they are both undernourished. The booklet and the two stories meet in the middle (as the booklet reads from both sides).
Side 1
A Day in the life of (not so) little Banam. Banam's side of the booklet is printed on heavy paper and the cover of the booklet protrudes out. The type is a heavy weight. All these visual elements combine to portray the story of Banam's 'hidden hunger' and overweight undernourishment.
Side 2
A day in the life of little Vuyo. Vuyo's side of the story was printed on very thin paper with the cover of the book dicut out. The typography I used was a light weight. All these visual elements combined to portray the story of Vuyo's undernourished diet.
The middle explains the double burden of malnutrition in South Africa
Meal place mat with a healthy, affordable lunch idea for school kids
