Under The Red Tree

Themed - Food & Memories, the completed project was about editorial design illustration for a collaborative fanzine. I was looking at food as a device to sustain relationships. Food, more often than not acts as a means to sustain relationships. These relationships can be at multiple levels. One dimension is a relationship with someone we love and want to celebrate life with. Another dimension is a relationship with somebody we miss or has departed from this world and cannot be met. The third dimension is that of a relationship that we build with ourselves over a certain period of time. Food also can evoke memories of past experiences and feelings of belonging by creating emotional connections and acting as a tool to strengthen bonds besides nurturing us physically, emotionally, and spiritually. It can also significantly help us cope with loss and grief.

Literature Reference: The Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto

I have been particularly fascinated by the novel „The Kitchen“ by Japanese Author, Banana Yoshimoto primarily because of the kitchen-loving main character Mikage Sakurai and the concept of the brevity of life. The kitchen was the only place she could express her feelings and look for some warmth while struggling to deal with the death of her grandmother.

Mind Mapping

My mind mapping was about reminiscing the good old days with my mother when she would prepare a special dessert in large quantities made from carrots every winter. As far as I remember, the entire preparation for this dessert used to be a celebratory experience, and family and friends were always offered this treat.

Mood Board & Color Palette

After the mind mapping, I made a storyboard to pull out visuals and aesthetic direction. I remember my mother would often wear red or tones of it. I also vividly remember a blue pattern over the vintage ceramic set that was used to serve the dessert. To keep it minimal and contrasting, I selected three colors for my palette: Red, black, and blue.

Initial Sketches & Color Palette Testing

The initial drawings were more about testing what the composition could be like and how I would like to use elements to represent „Connection“, and the idea of a relationship device. These sketches evolved to another stage and I used outline drawings to create a visual story.

Direction 1 - Sketches

The first direction for me was storyboarding using visuals and keeping it simple. However, I did feel that there could be another way to go about communicating the same that isn´t too literal.

Direction 2 - Storywriting using Archetypes

PDF

There once was a beautiful red tree in the woods.pdf

The second direction was something that I was happy with. By the time I finished writing the story, I was clear about the representation of my idea through symbols. However, choosing the right kind of aesthetics was again a challenge as I wanted the tree as the main element to match the persona of my mother.

Exploring with Watercolors & Mixed Media Collage

During this time, I was also keen to do some experimentation with the mediums and see what works best for my ideas. The best way to do this is always to try and test so I made several attempts to be able to capture the mood that I wanted to create. I enjoyed that this process was raw, messy, and organic and it helped me move to the next stage.

Digital Drawings & Renderings

Keeping the raw and organic feel intact, I started off with some digital drawings and renderings for my next phase. I also wanted to reduce the visual noise that some elements created in the previous stage so I proceeded with a minimal approach. The flower was rendered soft and the subtle texture of the overlapping petals was to create a cozy sense of fullness.