Kitchen Diaries
Website Design for a Cultural Food Magazine
ROLE
UI Designer Prototyper
Jianting,Elsa, Lita, Elizabeth, Thurga
TEAM
DURATION
Sep-Dec 2024
Figma, Illustrator
TOOL
PROJECT OVERVIEW
Designing a digital platform that brings cultural food stories to life through thoughtful layout and storytelling.
Kitchen Diaries is a non-profit magazine celebrating food traditions, immigrant experiences, and cultural heritage through storytelling. As part of our team project, I was responsible for the website UI design, visual layout, and prototyping. The website serves as a digital extension of the print magazine, designed to highlight long-form content, build community, and invite donations to support underrepresented voices in food media.
PROJECT PROBLEM
Culturally diverse food content is often underrepresented or flattened in mainstream food media.
Mainstream food platforms tend to favor quick recipes and trendy aesthetics, leaving little space for stories that explore tradition, memory, or identity. Kitchen Diaries fills this gap but needed a digital space that reflected its heart and depth. The challenge was to create a website that centers stories as much as recipes, invites emotional connection, and remains easy to navigate for new readers.
USER
Young, urban first- or second-generation immigrants passionate about preserving their cultural food stories.
Our target readers are 25–34 years old, living in urban Canadian settings. Many are home cooks, creatives, or cultural explorers who care deeply about food, memory, and identity. They’re not just looking for “what to cook,” but why it matters.
User needs:
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Discover heartfelt stories about food and identity
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Browse recipes with cultural context
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Support the project (donate, subscribe, share)
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Read comfortably on mobile and desktop
OUTCOME
I created a full website prototype inspired by contemporary editorial layouts. The structure is modular and content-forward, with wide margins, soft color palettes, and typography that blends charm and readability.
Key design features:
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A homepage that highlights featured stories and contributors
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A simple filter system that allows users to explore content by Recipe, Tradition, or Story
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Clean story pages that feel like diary entries, with pull quotes and authentic photography
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Donation and story submission links placed gently within the layout, never disruptive
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A fully responsive design optimized for reading across desktop and mobile
The visual system uses soft beige (#FCEBD0), warm oranges (#E6641C, #F9915E), and grounded neutrals. Typography includes Josefin Slab for titles, Volkhov for body copy, and Altform for labels. Imagery focuses on real kitchens and lived-in food preparation scenes, never overly styled.
A responsive, editorially driven website that prioritizes clarity, warmth, and cultural care.
REFLECTION
Working on Kitchen Diaries deepened my appreciation for slow, intentional design. I learned how structure, tone, and spacing can impact how a user feels, not just what they see. I also practiced designing for cultural sensitivity, finding ways to highlight diverse voices with respect and simplicity. If developed further, I would explore interactive features like audio story recordings, user-submitted recipe timelines, or reader comments to foster more community interaction.
