Vietnam possesses a rich history and cultural diversity. The exploitation of cultural values contributes to the embellishment, preservation and introduction of the national identity: historical relics, cultures, festivals, customs, traditions, and landscapes. This also entails the aspect of Vietnamese cuisine, which is distinguished on its own as it embodies a philosophy that has lived through thousand years of history. It is without a doubt that cuisine is an important part of Vietnamese culture as well as the people’s lives. The designers are receiving quite positively with new opportunities coming from the 4.0 technology revolution, creating new innovations and trends. However, the core value of art is still a cultural and social reflection, I found it necessary to go back to the traditional values because the old things may bring the answer, become the basis to develop further design ideas. The proposed solution to resolve this problem is to create a cuisine artbook with digital illustrations, which presents as a refreshment for readers where their senses can be engaged.
“Ngũ Vị”, as the book title, which is meant to be five representative flavors: salty, sweet, spicy, sour, bitter. These are indispensable flavors in every dish. Depending on the terrains and weathers, each region has dishes with distinct flavors, all create a concordant combination for Vietnamese cuisine. Just through the title “Ngũ Vị”, it has encapsulated the plenitude of culinary culture associated with a long-standing history.
The contents of the book were divided into 5 main sections:”Văn hóa ẩm thực Việt Nam” (Vietnam culinary culture); “Sự ra đời của Ngũ Vị” (The birth of Five-spice); “Miền Bắc” (The North); “Miền Trung” (The Central); “Miền Nam” (The South). For each part of the North, Central, and South, there will be 5 dishes corresponding to 5 outstanding flavors (15 dishes total) . Each specific dish will include content related to the origin, ingredients, taste rating or the way and context to enjoy the dish, the special features to make differences with the other books are the Vietnamese folks and proverbs which are associated with particular dishes.
Instead of a digital advertising campaign on websites and social networks, the project chooses to create a merchandises sales campaign at a time before the main product, “Ngu Vi” artbook is open for sale. The main purposes are to gain awareness and interest from the community. These products are essential items of most people from students to office workers, which supports the work of learning and working or simply collecting. They will be sold in local souvenir shops that attract many young people and tourists by supporting and selling works from local artists. For those who are inquisitive about the project, QR codes and necessary information will be integrated into the product packaging. For more details, after scanning the code, it will lead to the project’s Instagram account, which shows detailed information.
