1. Design elements – Taste and Smell

2. 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.

3. Types of taste Design elements – Taste and Smell The taste receptors in our mouth can detect five basic sensations: sweet salty sour bitter unami.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. Design elements – Taste and Smell Smell can be pleasing, for example, perfume can evoke a feeling of luxury, flowers can remind us of spring.

8. Design elements – Taste and Smell Smells can be repellent, for example, a rubbish bin or a toilet. Smells can suggest hospitals and cleanliness.

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. 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.

13. 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