Lab Meat – What is it and can it change our future?

In the course “Information Design” we dealt with the topic “Future of Food”. The topic made us think about new and promising ways to feed the growing population on our planet. We decided to look into meat production and consumption, the problems it creates and sustainable alternatives, and created infographics and AR content to educate about this topic.

Short Project 1
Our course was divided into two separate projects, the first one lasting only two weeks. The aim for this project was to create an infographic poster in only 14 days, getting us into working and designing mode rather than just thinking about what we might do. This was a fun design exercise to create a finished poster in a shorter amount of time. For this first project we already decided to inform our target group about lab meat and its positive and negative aspects. We also wanted to create a poster which should not only inform but also encourage us to reflect about the topic. The chosen design approach is rather playful with the illustrative package idea, making the topic less scientific and sterile and also playing with the attention of our audience.

Project 2
For the second project we had more time, so we were able go deeper into research and concept development. The goal was to create a second poster with an added layer in Augmented Reality giving the poster more depth.

The decision to work with the topic of lab meat again was quickly decided. But we wanted to change the perspective of our poster, not only explaining what lab meat is but also how it can possibly change our future. Nevertheless we wanted to stay neutral so our audience is able to form their own opinion.
We decided to work with the topic of how lab meat can change our future, the regulations of food, how lab meat is produced and how lab meat can be produced cheaper every year. Since the playful package idea worked quite well in the first project we decided to go with this idea again, only this time using multiple packages, giving each subject a different container. Using four packages gave our infographic more structure but also divides the topic into present and future aspects.

By using Augmented Reality we wanted to give our audience an additional layer of information. We achieved this by creating a supermarket cooling fridge which opens up when being touched on the screen, then flashcards with information about emission, land and water use are shown. The focus of this is the comparison between regular meat and lab meat.

To showcase our final poster and AR implementation we created a video that provides information as well as showcases our finished project.