Design elements – Taste and Smell

About taste and smell

Design elements – Taste and Smell

Taste is a sensation we experience through the

taste receptors on our tongue.

Smell is a sensation we experience through the

olfactory receptors in our noses.

The experience of food also involves:

• sight

• sound

• touch.

Types of taste

Design elements – Taste and Smell

The taste receptors in our mouth can detect five basic

sensations:

• sweet

• salty

• sour

• bitter

• unami.

Types of smell

Design elements – Taste and Smell

Smell is a complex interaction of many volatile

components.

The olfactory receptors in our noses can detect or

discriminate between tens of thousands of different

smells.

Taste and smell can communicate

Design elements – Taste and Smell

Taste and smell can suggest:

• emotions

• feelings

• ideas.

Taste and smell can evoke memories and

psychological responses in individuals.

Taste and smell can serve many design needs

Design elements – Taste and Smell

Taste and smell can be used to represent:

• objects

• people

• places

• ideas

in descriptive or symbolic ways.

Design elements – Taste and Smell

Smell can be pleasing,

for example, perfume

can evoke a feeling of

luxury, flowers can

remind us of spring.

Design elements – Taste and Smell

Smells can be

repellent, for example,

a rubbish bin or a

toilet.

Smells can suggest

hospitals and

cleanliness.

Taste and smell can be functional

Design elements – Taste and Smell

Pleasing tastes and

smells can encourage

us to eat.

Taste and smell can

tell us when food is

unsafe to eat.

Other sensations associated with food

Design elements – Taste and Smell

Astringency – some types of food, such as unripe

bananas, can cause dryness and puckering inside the

cheeks.

Hot/cool – some types of food, such as chilli or black

pepper, can cause a sensation of hotness. Other

kinds of food, such as cucumber or watermelon, can

produce a sensation of coolness.

Pain/pungency – some types of food, such as

mustard and horseradish/wasabi, can produce a

biting or burning sensation.

Design elements – Taste and Smell

Texture, or the way food feels in the mouth, is a

sensation associated with eating, for example, the

crunch of raw celery, the crispness of fresh apples,

the slipperiness of baked custard, the creaminess of

icecream, the chewiness of minties or the hardness of

toffee.

Design elements – Taste and Smell

Flavour is the total sensory impression formed

when food is eaten.

Cultural background and personal experiences can

influence the way an individual responds to food

flavours.

Design elements – Taste and Smell

The experience of food involves all of the senses;

taste, smell, sight, sound and touch.

The cooking of all different cultures is recognisable

by distinct flavours.

China

India

Japan

Italy

Thailand