A food incubator partnering Michelin star restaurants with UMD Dining Services to explore innovative dining concepts.
Role
Web Designer
Date
July - September 2024 (to be released by the start of UMD's fall semester)
Organization
xFoundry
Scope of work
Website Design
Brand Design & Identity
Wireframing & Layout Design
Copywriting
High-Fidelity Prototyping
Website Development
INTRODUCTION
A COLLABORATION BETWEEN UMD DINING SERVICES AND MICHELIN-STAR RECIPES
DeliXious Labs empowers food, tech, and business innovators to revolutionize the future of dining through cutting-edge collaboration, hands-on experimentation, and data-driven insights. By connecting students, entrepreneurs, and industry partners, we foster groundbreaking innovations that redefine the food experience and drive sustainable, scalable growth.
THE TASK
Design & develop a website that clearly communicates DeliXious Lab’s complex food innovation mission while collaborating with copywrite, graphic, and marketing to create a brand that aligns.
USER RESEARCH
PRIMARY AUDIENCES
The most important users were students exploring how to get involved with DeliXious Labs, and especially potential partners like food tech companies and campus collaborators who could support or join the incubator. The site was designed to clearly communicate the lab’s mission, programs, and opportunities in an engaging and accessible way that spoke to both groups.
wireframing & webcopy
In this project, the landing page’s messaging and layout were developed in tandem. I collaborated closely with our copywriting intern to craft a clear, compelling narrative that encouraged potential partners to engage with the lab.
When wireframing, I focused on clear information architecture and message flow, ensuring the website guided users through an interactive experience that directly explained the concept. I prioritized calls to action like “Get Involved” and “Become a Tenant,” aligning with the site’s primary goal of encouraging participation and partnership.
bRAND DESIGN & IDENTITY
CRAFTING AN ONLINE VISUAL IDENTITY
DeliXious Labs needed a visual identity as bold as its name—something innovative, tech-savvy, boundary-pushing, and, of course, delicious.
Brand guidelines with typography and colors matching xFoundry’s look with a playful twist.
EVOLUTION OF BRAND DESIGN
“Vaporwave” Look- Visually bold but too retro; the colors felt invasive and disconnected from the brand’s core message.
“Spacey” Look - Sleeker and more modern, but lacked visual cohesion and didn’t evoke the appetizing, inviting feel we wanted (not yummy enough)
“Food Lab” - Innovative, fresh, and just the right amount of “yummy” to make you want to eat there.
INTRODUCING: THE ACCELERATORS
xFoundry later decided that they wanted to incorporate a new concept into the website: 3 accelerators that uniquely define DeliXious Labs: food, tech, and business. All 3 of these categories are what make DeliXious Labs a unique multidisciplinary hub.
To incorporate this new concept into the design, I used the bold colors to represent a different category of innovation, to show how each hub has a special purpose.
final web design
BONUS: Kraveworthy Kitchens
I also designed and developed the Webflow website for DeliXious Lab’s current tenant, Kraveworthy Kitchens—a plant-based micro food hall that licenses recipes from award-winning and Michelin-star restaurants. In collaboration with UMD Dining Services and xFoundry, Kraveworthy Kitchens aims to bring delicious, sustainable vegan options to the IDEA Central café.
