Overview
NOMO is an app designed to tackle household food loss and waste in the United States and reduce environmental harm in the comfort of your own home.
As a Brand Designer of the team, I took charge in building a sustainable solution in the form of an app by crafting a cohesive brand identity + brand strategy and conceptual digital and social media assets.
Wasting Food = Wasting Money
Household loss and waste (FLW) in the United States is an issue worth tackling especially in today's culture of ordering takeout food and general over-consumption. An average household of four loses over $1,500 every year just from throwing away leftovers and expired food.
Why throw out food?
We all want to save the Earth... So why waste food in the first place anyway?
During my time in Sustainable by Design, I got the opportunity to work with four skilled teammates for a semester-long group exploration. Through applying Switzer's in-class teachings of System Dynamics and five Dimensions of Building Ecology (which Switzer developed himself), we were able to devise a diagram similar to a user journey map revolving around buying food from the grocery and the main reasons why we end up throwing out food into the trash.
Notable Reasons
> Food in the household is often overlooked and eventually forgotten by household members.
> Grocery-bought fresh ingredients (fruits, vegetables, meat, fish) usually expire within 2-4 days if not used immediately or properly stored in the fridge/freezer.
> More interest in eating ready-made meals or takeout rather than cooking with ingredients from scratch.
NOMO Mascot
I instinctively recognized that anything about trash and landfills makes people feel down, depressed, and even disgusted just from mentioning anything related to the topic.
My thinking was that people in general are basically defenseless to anything cute and approachable. So, I brought up the question: "What if our mascot was a trash bag...but really cute?" and made a quick sketch that then ended up being the final design. Thus, NOMO - your local friendly trash bag - was born!
Key Learnings
Through this amazing 5-month team effort in developing this project as well as studying from Switzer himself over the course of the semester, I personally gained more insights & knowledge in:
> Food Loss and Waste (FLW) as a household and global issue
> Corporate ESG and Sustainability
> System Dynamics
> Five Dimensions of Building Ecology (DimBE)
> Building an inventory tracking app (special shoutout to Jeymi and Dolma!)
> Creating an environment for collaboration -> online and in-person team meetings
> Expanding into various types of brand experiences beyond an idea (app -> social media, posters, ads, etc.)
