Sown Narratives

by Diego Dorantes

Between 2022 and 2024 I conducted a design research project as part of my Master's thesis project that I took on Emily Carr University. The research explored the space of editorial design and alternative food narratives, from a very empirical perspective. During this research I inmeresed in a reflective (design) practice that was “feed” by local food communities that encountered in two different and at the same time personal contexts: Mexico City and Vancouver. The first is where I was born and raised; the second, where I moved three years ago and now call home.

To investigate this intersection between food and publications I proposed to develop a body of editorial materials as an outcome from a theorethical framework. All these materials as well as the theretical framework eventually was documented in a thesis called Sown Narratives. The project is grounded in the necessity of seeking alternative narratives related to food that contrast with the current conventional food industry—an industry driven by efficiency and profit.

Research scope.

From this perspective, it positions editorial design practice as a critical mechanism to empower voices that advocate for other possible ways to relate to food. This is based on the premise that awareness of overlooked food systems is necessary to confront the negative impacts of a food system that is harming our lands, bodies, and cultures.

The Feast of the Bean King, Jaxob Jordaens, 1615.

Sown Narratives explores these ideas from a practice-based approach centered on reflective practice. The project focuses on a body of editorial work related to typography, photography, and illustration. Through these explorations, it inquires how to echo alternative food narratives within the creative practice of editorial design, asserting that the form of these accounts also creates meaning.