Background
This project was developed as part of the course Joy/Happiness: An Illustration and Visual Lab for Graphic Product, which focuses on translating personal definitions of joy into visual and graphic outcomes.
For me, joy is closely connected to food and human interaction, especially pastries. In my cultural background, food often carries emotions, memories, and care rather than serving only a functional purpose. Many emotional connections in my life are tied to specific tastes, textures, and shared eating moments.
One of the strongest emotional anchors for this project is chiffon cake. Every year on my birthday, my grandmother would bake one for me. Even now, whenever I eat chiffon cake, I am immediately reminded of her and that sense of being cared for. Through experiences like this, pastries became more than food. They became vessels for memory, comfort, and emotional connection.
Inspiration
During periods of stress, uncertainty, or emotional suffocation, eating a small piece of bread or cake often allowed me to pause and breathe. These moments were never dramatic solutions, but they worked as quiet interruptions in everyday life. Pastries became a gentle form of self-care, offering a brief sense of grounding.
Beyond personal comfort, sharing pastries with others also brought me joy. Whether homemade or bought, desserts often create warmth and connection between people. Offering someone a pastry, or watching them enjoy it, felt like a form of emotional exchange. This project builds on that feeling and asks how such small moments of warmth could be translated into a visual and interactive form.
Design Question
As the project developed, I began to question how joy could be shared rather than only expressed. I wanted to move beyond decorative illustration and explore illustration as a medium for interaction, reflection, and gentle emotional support.
Instead of telling people how to feel, I wanted the illustrations to accompany them quietly. This led to the following design question:
How might illustrated pastries become a medium for sharing joy, mindfulness, and emotional comfort in everyday life?
Design Goals
The project takes the form of a card-based system titled Roni’s Happiness Bakery. Each card pairs a pastry illustration with a short mindfulness-inspired sentence.
The intention is not to give advice or instructions. Instead, the cards aim to offer warmth, reflection, and companionship, similar to the feeling of receiving a kind note or opening a fortune cookie.
The design goals of the project are:
Create a collectible and shareable object
- The cards are designed to be something people want to keep, draw, and possibly share with others.
Encourage slow, mindful moments
- The act of drawing a card invites users to pause and engage with the illustration and text without pressure.
Embed joy into everyday life
- Rather than existing only as an art object, the cards are meant to naturally fit into daily routines.
Process
Cards were chosen as the medium because of their personal and tactile quality. A card can be held, shuffled, drawn, and revisited, which supports the idea of slow and intentional interaction.
The project was initially planned as a larger system, with pastries categorised into four sensory groups: Fruity/Fresh, Fluffy/Soft, Creamy/Rich, and Crispy/Crunchy. Each pastry was supported by research into cultural stories, historical background, or emotional associations.
All illustrations were hand-drawn using Procreate. Drawing food was new to me, and I approached the process similarly to baking. I focused carefully on texture, colour, and small details. Each illustration required at least two hours, making the process slow but deeply rewarding. This slowness became an important part of the project rather than a limitation.
Outcome
Due to time constraints, the final outcome includes twelve completed pastry illustrations rather than the originally planned full set. Instead of producing a physical card deck, the project was presented digitally through an interactive card-drawing website.
Although the format shifted, the intention remained the same: to offer moments of pause, joy, and gentle encouragement. Users can shuffle the cards and draw one at a time, mimicking the experience of randomly selecting a physical card.
This process reminded me that scale is not essential. Even with fewer outcomes, the act of making itself held value. The project reinforced my belief that small, carefully crafted moments can still carry emotional weight.
Card Categories Overview
Interactive Website
The interactive website allows users to shuffle and draw cards digitally, maintaining the sense of surprise and reflection found in physical card decks. The visual language remains soft, warm, and calm, supporting the project’s emotional goals.
Zine
Future Possibilities
With more time, I would like to expand the collection and bring the project into physical form. Possible extensions include printed card decks, calendars, stickers, or notebooks. These formats would allow the illustrations and mindful messages to naturally appear in everyday life and extend the project beyond a single interaction.
Conclusion
This project explores the idea that joy does not need to be loud, efficient, or productive to be meaningful. Through illustrated pastries and short mindfulness-inspired sentences, the project reflects on how small, familiar experiences can offer comfort and emotional grounding. By transforming personal memories and everyday food into a card-based system, the project positions illustration as more than decoration, but as a quiet medium for connection, reflection, and care. Ultimately, it highlights the value of slowing down and allowing space for gentle moments of joy in daily life.
