Xua: Old Times

My Honours project, Xua: Old Times include an illustrated cookbook and a collection of recipe cards. Xua can translated to old, but it can also mean nostalgia in Vietnamese. This project is a personal journey of finding pieces of memories. My story - and those of other Vietnamese students in New Zealand - are delivered through food, with simple recipes giving a taste of the good old times. Thus, this project aim to reconnect with cultural
heritage and embrace identity.

editorial book print typography Poster Design ILLUSTRATION food illustration vietnam identity

Xua includes a cookbook and a seperate set of recipe cards

The aim of these recipes is for student and young adult who have a busy lifestyle, or who don't have much experience cooking as they move out from their parents and live independently.

These recipes not only for the Vietnamese student community in New Zealand but for anyone who want to try the basic, accessible Vietnamese food.

It has to be simple and the ingredients have to be accessible in other countries outside Vietnam, for instance, New Zealand Aotearoa.

Digital posters

Printed posters and gift cards

Book size: B5

Perfect binding and hard cover (self binding)

Paper stocks: 135gsm birch

Card stocks: 250gsm china white

Digital section openers

Using patterns from cement tiles for the background, which influenced by the French architect during their colonisation in Vietnam. These patterns have been a part of childhood memories of many Vietnamese generations.

The cookbook is divided into 3 parts.

Part 1: Nau An (cooking and eating) is about my topic of the relationship between Food, Culture and Identity, which I have researched during the 1st semester, and the reason why I started this project.

Part 2: Moi (bon appétit) introduces about the overview of the Vietnamese cuisine, the main ingredients that Vietnamese people use and a brief history of foreign influences on our cuisine.

Part 3 Xua (Old Times) is the main part of this book, about the recipes themselves and the stories behind it. The recipes are not only from me but from other Vietnamese students in New Zealand Aotearoa as well.