RECIPE CARDS
→ Sustainable recipe cards and an app prototype to reduce food waste

💬 Introduction

The challenge of deciding what to cook every day can be overwhelming, especially when trying to balance nutrition, cost, and convenience. This challenge inspired the idea for YOMI, a set of recipe cards with a simple, visual solution to provide balanced meal ideas. What started as a casual conversation soon evolved into a deeper exploration of how to create nutritious, affordable, and shelf-stable meals.

As the project grew, I expanded beyond physical recipe cards and began prototyping an app concept that would allow users to access recipes, track their meals, and manage their pantry with ease. For this personal project, I played on multiple roles—developing the branding, curating and designing the recipe content, calculating nutritional values, and creating the app prototype in Figma to bring the idea to life.

💡 Concept
Inspiration for nutritious and simple meals

🎯 Goal
Cook delicious meals that balance nutrition, cost, and convenience

⚠️ Considerations
Easy recipes that are nutritionally dense and affordable,
Simplify meal planning and pantry management,

✅ Solution
Recipe cards and an app prototype that offer meal ideas, tracks ingredients

🔎 Research

One of my key motivations for this project was to maximize resources and minimize food waste. The project also aligned with my personal values of sustainability and nutrition, leading me to focus on primarily pescatarian and vegetarian recipes.

To create a solid foundation for the recipes, I established clear guidelines: each meal would balance fresh, seasonal produce with shelf-stable canned goods to ensure nutritional density and affordability. For inspiration, I watched YouTube videos on meal prep strategies and nutritional rankings of vegetables, and consulting food databases to compare ingredient profiles. I had recently moved to a new country so supermarket visits became an opportunity to observe which regional vegetables were the most affordable and could be used to shape the ingredient list.

With my research in hand, I began planning and testing recipes, drawing inspiration from my favorite dishes while refining them based on ingredient availability and nutritional value.

📚 Resources
Food databases and food blogs
Videos on meal prep and nutritional
Local supermarkets for ingredient availability


🧩 Exploration
Adapting recipes to regional availability and seasonal vs. shelf-stable ingredient combinations


🔑 Key Learning
Observing local markets helps identify affordable, nutrient-dense options

📝 Sketching

The goal for the recipe cards was to create a design that was both practical and visually engaging. I aimed for a compact format that could easily fit on top of the fridge, making it convenient for daily use, while bold, lively colors ensured it would stand out. Early on, I decided to use illustrations instead of photography. This allowed for consistency across all recipes, the flexibility to reuse assets, and avoided the complexities of food photography.

Leveraging the assets I had already created, I began sketching ideas for an app that would complement the physical cards. The app concept evolved to include features such as tracking nutritional intake, pantry management, and automated meal suggestions based on available ingredients.

🛠️ Design Approach
Compact format for convenient placement
Bold, lively colors for a visually engaging design
Illustrations over photography for consistency and flexibility

📱 App concept
Complement physical cards with app
Features included nutrition tracking, pantry management, and meal suggestions

🔑 Key Learning
Reuse digital assets for multiple recipes and for the app concept

🎏 Design Highlight

The tamagoyaki card was the first recipe I sketched and finalized—a Japanese rolled omelette that’s simple in flavor but challenging in technique. This recipe became the testing ground for experimenting with layout and design decisions.

To make the most of the limited space, I embraced a playful approach to typography, allowing the text to flow rather than sticking to rigid lines. I reused the egg element as a letter, adding a touch of fun and making the design feel unique. This process helped establish a creative and engaging style that set the tone for the rest of the recipe cards.

✈️ Prototype

To bring the concept to life, I started by designing several app screens and collaborating with a software engineer to develop a potential app pitch.

The app was envisioned as a companion to the recipe cards, combining the benefits of a physical reminder with the digital advantages of tracking data. It aimed to help users cook simple, nutritious meals. Features like calorie and macro tracking positioned the app as a comprehensive food and nutrition tool. To tackle food waste, the app would include reminders for when pantry items were nearing their expiration date and recipe suggestions designed to use up ingredients already on hand.

Alongside the app, I printed the first batch of recipe cards and distributed them to 10 close friends for initial testing. Feedback from this testing phase highlighted the practicality of the cards, with the “Tuna Croqueta” recipe, an adaptation of a family favorite, becoming a regular part of their weekly meals.

📊 App Features
Calorie and macro tracking
Pantry expiration reminders
Recipe suggestions for reducing food waste


📣 User testing
Printed recipe cards distributed to 10 testers
Positive feedback and favorite recipes

🔑 Key Learning
Complement physical elements with digital

🎏 Design Highlight

The tone of the content played a key role in bringing the recipe cards and app to life. For the recipe cards, I adopted a short and direct writing style. Each recipe included pairing suggestions to encourage meal creativity, and every set of instructions ended with a simple: “Enjoy.” This touch reinforced the idea that cooking should be both practical and pleasurable.

For the app, I extended this approach by referring to every user as “Chef.” This decision served a dual purpose: to empower users by framing them as capable cooks and to add an inclusive tone when addressing potential users.

🌟Results

The project successfully combined practical design with fun visuals, receiving positive feedback from testers.

At the end, the results were:

• 10 Curated recipes tested for flavor and cost-efficency.

• 10 Recipe cards featuring bold and playful illustrations.

• App Prototype designed in Figma with 2 designed sections and accompanying UI elements.

• Conceptual app features to tackle food waste, including pantry reminders and recipe suggestions.

• Digital and printed brand with bold colors, engaging illustrations, and playful typography.

I want to expand this project further. My plan is to add more recipes to the collection, finalize the app prototype in Figma, and potentially pitch the app as a comprehensive tool for cooking, pantry management, and reducing food waste.

🎯 Deliverables
10 Curated recipes
10 Illustrated recipe cards
App Prototype designed in Figma
Conceptual app features
Digital and printed brand

☀️ Wrap up
Personal lessons