The Shelf Life of Emotions
Ishita Saxena
“Let me treat myself to some ice cream” is a thought people often have after a stressful day. This is one of many examples that reveals how food is a source of comfort, reward, and emotional coping in our everyday lives. The Shelf Life of Emotions explores how food packaging can respond to people’s emotional needs. Inspired by the phrase “eat your emotions,” the thesis examines the spectrum of how people deal with their feelings.
In a world shaped by overstimulation, speed, and constant emotional pressure, food is one of the most familiar and easy coping mechanisms. This project uses that coping behavior as a point of departure, investigating how commercial packaging can become a medium for emotional recognition, and care. In this way, food packaging becomes not just a container for a product, but a storytelling device that embodies emotional progression.
Each stage of this thesis reflects a different relationship to emotion: quick, impulsive formats align with avoidance or denial, while slower, more intentional formats suggest reflection, acceptance, and peace. Through language, form, and interaction, the packaging system mirrors the shifting ways people cope with what they feel.
The Shelf Life of Emotions positions food packaging as more than a branding surface. It proposes packaging as an empathetic design tool, one that can acknowledge emotional realities and transform everyday acts of consumption into moments of comfort, self-awareness, and connection.