There are many people doing incredible work globally to improve various food systems but too much of it is siloed within specialized frameworks, vocabularies, and languages, This work is disconnected from others and, therefore, not supportive of wider, systemic solutions. A group of food experts and designers have been devising a visual language to unite various food system stakeholders across the world in order to improve this communication and collaboration. The first phase of this process is complete, outlining how to complete a vastly larger system that transcends languages. In order to complete this system, the Foodicons Challenge will a crowdsourced competition to collaboratively design a large system of open-source icons of key food terms and concepts and frameworks that can be used globally by professionals and consumers, alike.
When we started this project, our hunch was that various popular food frameworks were not so different, despite their vocabularies. At their heart, most food frameworks and initiatives work with the same elements and have compatible goals. In addition, work around the world in every community relies on clear communication that often needs to transcend language. The global food supply cycle touches so many regions, people, and stakeholders, that any one language isn’t enough to communicate throughout. We don’t expect a visual language system to solve every communication challenge but we expect that it can ease communication and comprehension and help people understand how disparate efforts and approaches support similar goals and outcomes.
The goals of this project include:
- Enhancing trust and transparency throughout food systems
- Enabling communication and collaboration across food stakeholders
- Illuminating similarities in various food frameworks
- Enabling new solutions in labeling, food maps, games, discussions, tools, and challenges
While the first audiences for this system are those in the industrial and commercial parts of food systems, we do expect these icons to be used by many other groups—right down to eaters and other food consumers. From farmers, marine farmers, and those throughout the agriculture and aquaculture industries, to food businesses, restaurants, certifiers, and consumers, consistent communication is an obvious ideal. Constructing a viable system, however, is not without its challenges.
First, our food systems are vast and spread all over the planet. Supple cycles are long, encompassing all kinds of growing, raising, processing, transportation, packaging, and markets. In addition, some stakeholders use different terms to differentiate their offerings, whether this confuses users or makes things more clear—or both, simultaneously. It’s no surprise that terms are misunderstood at all levels.
However, our initial investigations and prototypes have proven to us that visual languages can help, even if not exhaustively. The discussions that these symbols provoke, alone, have been valuable in illuminating expertise from different people and sectors.
Our next step is to use the learnings from our prototype and launch the first round of the challenge to designers worldwide. It will likely take two, three, or more rounds of challenges to fill-out the iconographic system to meet the needs of so many stakeholders but the process for each challenge can be the same.