Fruit for Thought

We often see parents and young children express affections towards each other. But, as children grow older, words of appreciation can become rare as they start to become self-conscious. Although we are often asked to say "I love you" before it’s too late, expressing love can be awkward and uncomfortable for some families. Many regrets in life involve not expressing love more intentionally before one's family member passes on, often because of awkwardness at the moment. The aim is to design a product that makes such intentional relationship-building process feel safer, more comfortable and accessible.

Fruit for Thought lets family members create portraits of one another using fruits and human-shaped tart shells. Using dessert as activity medium reduces inertia for the communication session, since in dining people are ready to settle down and have a relational moment. By allowing people to express their appreciation through making something, it gives a natural space for people to first reflect about and then edit what they feel about each other. Finally, sharing about their finished tarts lets communication become exciting and joyful, as family members curiously discover and share feelings using the tarts as a projective medium.

A simple re-organisation of resources - changing the fruit tart shape and using the fruits symbolically, can make the relationship-building process comfortable and natural in families. Many social and psychological problems stem from a lack of communication of love within families. While crutches to communication (e.g. conversation cards) exist, they can be dry and stressful to use still. Fruit for thought injects joy and excitement into the communication experience by tapping on people's love of food. The tart-building and sharing make expression of appreciation thoughtful, safe, and fun, without needing any drastic changes to the food production process.

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