To start understanding the brief I have chosen about exploring plants in their widest possible measures, I will record my research within this blog as to show my development and understanding of the subject matter.
PLANT- An organism belonging to the vegetable kingdom
GARDEN- Cultivated plants and flowers
BOTANY- The study of plants
BOTANICAL- Relating to plants
BOTANIC- As in floral, as in botanical
Plant types:
Cacti (cactus): Cactus plants are well adapted to hot and dry weather by storing water in their succulent stems. They are also known for their spines, for which they are famous.
Flowers: Flowers are the reproductive part of angiosperms, also known as flowering plants. Look through our Flower information for details about specific flowers.
Herbs: Herbs are used for culinary, medicinal and spiritual uses. In cuisine, the leaves of the herb are normally the only part used. All parts of herbs are used in various medical or spiritual practices.
Shrubs and Bushes: Usually under 6 m tall, shrubs and bushes are categorized as woody plants. Shrubs have multiple stems and many are covered with flowers of all shapes and sizes.
Trees: Trees are everywhere in the world. Trees are tall, large and some are very old. Trees are important in fighting soil erosion and responsible for the clean oxygen we breathe.
Vegetables: The term 'vegetable' is not actually a scientific classification of a plant, but rather strictly a culinary term. Vegetables are parts of plants (flower buds, seeds, stems, fruits, etc) that are edible and used in culinary dishes.
I found the article below rather interesting and it made me think; What about those who dont have access to a garden? For example; people living in block apartments with no communal garden or outdoor area. How could this be changed?
''There are many benefits that you can get from having a garden in your own home. Not only for physical health, the garden also has a positive impact on a persons mental health. Therefore, researchers recommend that every house has a garden. Even though the garden is not too broad, but the benefits of gardening can be felt by a whole generation, young and old.
Gardens containing many plants can provide the balance of the house which built with stones and cement . This balance is important to make your home more comfortable and pleasant as a residence.
The plants in the garden will provide an important contribution to the circulation of fresh and clean air for the residents of the house. Especially if you live in an urban area where the air pollution level is high enough. In a place like this, parks can act as an ecosystem supporter and as the supply of oxygen and clean healthy air...''
This has got me thinking about the kind of outcome I want to produce in response to the brief:
- Gardeners information magazine- Something similar to regular gardening magazines but focus on specific subjects e.g. The 'Urban garden'
- Plants series- Something like a 'grow your own' kit with a variety of herbs/spices/plants to choose from that can easily be grown in block apartments/confined spaces. (Think about Potagers)
- Poster series- Infographic based posters, could be sold in garden centres? Or develop into mural work for urban areas?
I have highlighted 'grow your own' kit because I feel that this kind of outcome will work best and I have a lot of ideas to produce this product.
Audience: Young professionals/ Anyone with an interest in gardening or cooking/ people living in urban areas with limited access to gardens.
Where would it be found? Garden centres, waterstones and wide base book stores e.g. ones that sell DIY projects.
Why grow your own herbs?
Why should you go through all the trouble of growing your own herbs when there are plenty of fresh herbs for sale at the market? What is the point to getting all that dirt under your fingernails when you could pull open a plastic package and get the same ingredients? There is more to herb gardening than meets the eye, and the benefits are profound. I’ve listed ten of my favorite reasons for growing your own fresh herbs. I’m sure once you get started, you’ll come up with a few ideas of your own.
- Fresh Herbs Always Available – One of the best benefits of growing your own herbs is having fresh herbs right at your fingertips, whenever you want or need them. When you have your own herb garden growing right outside – or inside – your door, you will always have the right ingredients waiting for you to make dinner time magic.
- No Boring Dinners – Adding a few different herbs to a simple chicken dinner makes it a whole new meal. Your simple side dishes become the main feature. Potatoes are a new adventure on a nightly basis. The results are only limited to the types of herbs you decide to plant and how daring you want to be with your menu.
- Good For You – Adding fresh herbs to your diet is a great way to boost your meal’s vitamin value, but that isn’t the only health benefit you can obtain. Gardening is a wonderful form of exercise. All of that digging, bending, and stretching will pay off in tightly toned muscles, and if you keep at it, you’ll also achieve a bit of weight loss and healthily glowing skin.
- Save Money – Let’s face it: fresh herbs can be expensive when you purchase them individually at the grocery store every time you need them. And the local grocer doesn’t always stock all the herbs you are looking for. When this happens you’ll need to find a specialty store, where you are going to pay even more. After the initial investment of getting your herb garden started, the money you save will be your own.
- Educational – Herb gardening is an educational experience for adults as well as for children. There is always something new to learn, whether it be a new gardening technique, a different recipe, a new and improved use for the herbs you thought you knew so well, or the fascinating history of herbs that dates way back to medieval times.
- Relieve Stress – Tending, or just visiting, an herb garden can do a world of good towards relieving all that built up stress that daily life likes to give us. The sights and scents that abound in an herb garden delight the senses and revitalize the soul. Having one at your own home makes it that much easier to get to.
- Curb Appeal – Adding an herb garden to your home’s landscape gives your yard real curb appeal. Most herbs are just as pretty as shrubs and flowers. You can even add them to your shrubs and flowers if you don’t have room for a formal herb garden. They blend in beautifully.
- Share the Wealth – Growing your own herbs means that you will always have more than enough herbs than you can possibly use yourself, leaving you plenty of extras to share with friends, family, and neighbors. Just think how popular you will be when you show up at the next dinner invite with a basket full of fresh herbs. Dried fresh herbs in pretty jars make wonderful gifts too!
- Exotic Variety – Did you know that there are more than 30 different types of basil? The local market will usually only carry the most common, sweet basil. Dark opal basil, which is purple in color is a bit more difficult to find, as are cinnamon basil, anise basil, Italian basil, and globe basil, which happens to be perfect for those of you with smaller gardens. Growing your own herb garden will allow you to sample some of the other more exotic and fun herbs that are out there waiting for you.
- Good Clean Fun – Okay, well maybe it’s not the cleanest hobby, but gardening and watching your fresh herbs grow is well worth the little bit of dirt you’ll need to wash off. Get out there and start planning your own beautiful and aromatic herb garden. It really is fun, and the benefits can’t be beat.
Existing Kits for influence/Inspiration:
I likes the link between organic typography with this project along with the natural colour palette. The illustration aesthetic creates a more personal appeal and is visually interesting.
The innovative packaging design instantly caught my eye when browsing past this project. Its quirky style is nicely complimented by the organic recycled brown paper for the use of delivering information and branding style.
As I have decided to aim my product at people who have limited access to gardens, bright, cheerful pots like the folded card plant pots above will create a new, friendlier atmosphere to any environment...hopefully therefore affecting the mental state of individuals in a positive way.
I absolutely love the style of illustration and water colour used in this design for gardeners mugs. Personally, I think that the letters on each of the mugs should have been hand rendered to synthesise with the illustration, but thats just one persons opinion! I also like using watercolour and having not used the medium in a while I may take this as an opportunity to create some visually interesting packaging etc.
The above is an interesting way to package live plants to prevent damage whilst in transit. The inclusion of illustration and information on both outside and inside is a good use of space to deliver all information necessary. However with my kit, I think to enhance interactivity I will include seeds in the pack so that the audience may fully engage in the care and growth of their new plant... after all, that's the calming bit according to researchers!
The clean yet hand rendered aesthetic of the design above is visually appealing and gives a fresh, urban style. The use of one colour at different saturations keeps the design simple yet intriguing.
The simple idea of this herb potager is unique in design and clean cut something that I would like my outcome to appear like if more than one product was bought by the target audience. I will aim to construct a product that interlinks with others of its kind, creating synergy between different herbs and spices.
The booklet above is not very relevant in content however I particularly found the composition of the pages interesting and how one double page spread is considered one long landscape page with overlapping images and text. I may consider trying something like this when designing my small info booklets.
The simple illustration style caught my eye in the pictures above. They don't explore experimentation with mediums however are straight to the point and recognisable. I particularly like the idea of taking a journal with me on my travels and beginning to illustrate objects more as it's something I have an interest in that I need to pursue more time in.
Again, I have selected this as inspiration of illustrative aesthetics. I particularly find the detail and depth of grey scale interesting in the pictures above.
I thought this was an interesting way of combining clean cut type with hand rendered illustrations. The greyscale compliments the solidness of the black text however the letters are sometimes not readable as there is too much illustration placed over the letter.
I will also need to create a packaging to house the seeds contained within the 'grow your own' kits...
The perspect box above that slots into itself is an interesting take on flat-pack packaging. It creates an interesting dimension to the plain, standardized tea bags in which it is holding.
I have been looking into teabag designs as the seeds will be tiny so something similar to a teabag to keep them together will be handy. The design above is concise and allows for information/design to be printed on both sides.
Printing onto the canvas that holds the seeds would be interesting... perhaps screen printing would be the best option for this?
The idea of a tea pyramid is an interesting one as like shown above, a window may be placed so that the consumer may view the contents before opening.
I just had to include this on the blog because the process of design is incredible and makes such a unique difference with the end outcome as to something done solely digitally. I also thought that the tea bag 'infuser sticks' were an innovative design to stereotypical tea bag shapes.
Moving away from fabric to hold the seeds of the herbs, the idea above of the use of a test tube is different and would hold seeds better. I could possibly use vials as well as test tubes?
Chosen plants to create outcome:
Coriander
Coriander (Coriandrum sativum), also known as cilantro, Chinese parsley or dhania,[1] is an annual herb in the family Apiaceae. Coriander is native to regions spanning from southern Europe and North Africa to southwestern Asia. It is a soft plant growing to 50 cm (20 in) tall. The leaves are variable in shape, broadly lobed at the base of the plant, and slender and feathery higher on the flowering stems. The flowers are borne in smallumbels, white or very pale pink, asymmetrical, with the petals pointing away from the centre of the umbel longer (5–6 mm) than those pointing toward it (only 1–3 mm long). The fruit is a globular, dry schizocarp 3–5 mm (0.12–0.20 in) in diameter. Although sometimes eaten alone, the seeds often are used as a spice or an added ingredient in other foods.
All parts of the plant are edible, but the fresh leaves and the dried seeds are the parts most traditionally used in cooking.
Storage:
Do not clean coriander with the roots still attached: instead, simply keep them wrapped in a damp paper towel inside an open plastic bag and store in the salad drawer of the fridge, where they should last five to six days.
Recipes:
Coriander is one of the world's most commonly used herbs - in spite of the fact that the name comes from the Greek, koris, meaning bed bug! It is green, leafy and strong-smelling with a fresh, citrus taste that makes it an invaluable garnish and flavour enhancer. Both the fresh leaves and stalks are edible, as well as the berries, which are dried and called coriander seeds. Native to southern Europe and the Middle East, the plant is now grown worldwide. Coriander tends to be associated most with Asian and Central and South American cooking. For maximum flavour, it is best added to dishes just before serving.
Vuelve a la vida – Mexican prawn cocktail
Try a Mexican twist on prawn cocktail with this refreshing salad.
Ingredients
- For the Mexican prawn cocktail
- 2 shallots, finely chopped
- 1½ jalapeño chillis, finely chopped
- 1-2 tsp chopped fresh oregano
- 2 tomatoes, peeled, seeds removed, chopped
- 6 tbsp tomato ketchup
- 110ml/4fl oz orange juice
- 2 limes, juice only
- Tabasco sauce, to taste
- Worcestershire sauce, to taste
- 400g/14oz cooked Atlantic prawns, peeled
- 200g/7oz cooked tiger prawns, peeled
- 1 avocado, peeled, flesh diced
- 6 tbsp chopped fresh coriander
- salted crackers, to serve
- For the salad
- ½ garlic clove
- 1 tbsp chopped onion
- 1 tsp chipotle chilli paste
- 1 orange
- 5 tbsp sunflower oil
- 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
- pinch sugar
- 1 bunch radishes
- 1 bunch breakfast radishes
- 2 handfuls baby spinach leaves
- 1 Little Gem lettuce, leaves separated
- 4 pieces hearts of palm, sliced lengthways into quarters
- 1 small avocado, peeled, flesh thinly sliced.
- 2 tbsp flaked almonds, toasted
Preparation method
- Mix the shallots, chilli, oregano, tomatoes, tomato ketchup, orange juice, lime juice, Tabasco sauce and Worcestershire sauce together in a bowl until well combined.
- Stir in the prawns and season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
- For the salad, crush the garlic, onion and chipotle chilli paste in a pestle and mortar. Add half a teaspoon of orange zest. Slowly stir in the oil, then season, to taste, with salt, vinegar and sugar.
- Peel the orange and cut into segments. Slice half of the radishes thinly and cut the remaining radishes into quarters.
- Mix the radishes, orange segments, spinach, Little Gem lettuce and hearts of palm together in a bowl. Add a little of the salad dressing and stir until well combined.
- Tip the salad onto a serving plate and top with the avocado and flaked almonds. Spoon the prawn cocktail into margarita glasses and top with the avocado and coriander. Serve the salted crackers alongside.
Curried carrot soup
This lightly spiced carrot soup couldn't be any simpler to make, yet it makes a delicious supper on a cold winter's evening.
Ingredients
- 150g/5½oz unsalted butter
- 150g/5½oz onions, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 500g/1lb 2oz carrots, peeled and chopped into small pieces
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- ½ tsp Madras curry powder
- 300ml/½ pint chicken stock (or vegetable stock)
- 1 tbsp chopped fresh coriander, to serve
Preparation method
- Melt the butter in a saucepan and sweat the onion, garlic and carrots, with a pinch of salt, for 5-6 minutes, or until softened.
- Meanwhile toast the cumin seeds in a dry frying pan until fragrant. Add the toasted cumin seeds and Madras curry powder to the vegetables and cook a further 2-3 minutes.
- Add the stock, bouquet garni and 500ml/18fl oz water and bring to the boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes.
- Remove the bouquet garni, then blend the soup in a blender until smooth. Pass through a sieve into a clean saucepan and season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
- To serve, ladle the soup in serving bowls and sprinkle with chopped fresh coriander.
I will also need to create a packaging to house the seeds contained within the 'grow your own' kits...
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