Archive · Creative project · 2025

Nomtopia

Collectible characters that tell the stories behind fusion food.

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Role: UX / UI design
Research
Prototyping
Team: Ruby Wu
Yaya Zheng
Helen Burt
Maleekah Khan
Year: 2025
Tools: Figma, After Effects

Problem

Creative-minded youth enjoy fusion foods without knowing the histories of migration, colonization and trade behind them.

Approach

Collectible characters, storytelling and interactive design that turn cultural heritage into something curious and tangible.

Outcome

Nomtopia: a fusion-food blind box with seven characters, story cards, packaging and a companion app.

Skip to final outcome ↓

02 Context

Food is never just sustenance.

Food carries histories of migration and cultural exchange. Fusion cuisine has become a symbol of blended traditions, yet the origins behind these dishes often go untold. Nomtopia asks how we might enrich creative-minded youth’s understanding of where fusion foods come from, using collectible characters, storytelling, and interactive design to turn cultural heritage into something curious, tangible, and worth exploring.

03 The challenge

Loved dishes, untold stories.

In today’s diverse culinary landscape, many creative-minded youth enjoy fusion foods without fully understanding their rich historical and cultural origins, and may unknowingly contribute to their misrepresentation.

Rather than presenting history as static information, we designed an interactive approach that invites people to explore how migration, colonization and trade shaped global cuisine, weaving storytelling with hands-on engagement to spark curiosity and a deeper appreciation of heritage through food.

04 The process

From research to a blind box.

During ideation we gathered research and observations to find key themes, and identified three focus areas: authenticity in cuisine, fusion food & culture, and accessibility & logistics.

Three focus areas: authenticity, fusion food and culture, accessibility and logistics

Down selecting

From three initial concepts, we moved forward with Chef Mart: a fusion food blind box collectible that merges aesthetic appeal with insights into the history of fusion cuisine. It balanced visual engagement, cultural storytelling and interactive learning.

Three concept boards: Chef Mart, expressful and FUSE — Three concepts, one direction: Chef Mart.

Co-designing with stakeholders

We interviewed people from diverse cultural and culinary backgrounds to see how they relate to food heritage and where knowledge gaps exist. We asked open-ended questions to understand:

01
Defining fusion
How users define and experience fusion cuisine.
02
Engaging narratives
Which cultural food stories they find engaging.
03
Memorable interaction
Which forms of interaction feel most inviting and memorable.

Constructive feedback

In group critique sessions we presented early concepts and evaluated:

01
Cultural value
Whether the concept clearly communicated the cultural and historical value of fusion foods.
02
Lasting engagement
If the interactive and collectible elements were compelling enough to sustain engagement.

This feedback pointed us to richer visual storytelling, a clearer user journey and better accessibility.

05 Prototyping

Sketch, build, test, refine.

Low-fidelity

Early mockups explored box structure, card layout and figurine design, testing how form and function could support the story while staying collectible.

High-fidelity

After several iterations and feedback cycles, we refined the visual language, interaction flow and educational content, capturing the playful essence of blind box culture while keeping the focus on cultural appreciation.