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Everyday Tableware Replaces Last Remaining Wonder of World as Icon for Nutrition

By Ray Hu - June 2, 2011

in Graphic Design

As of this morning, the food pyramid that I, for one, was raised on is no longer: the New York Times reports that "[Michelle] Obama, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Surgeon General Regina Benjamin unveiled [a] new healthy eating icon at a news conference in Washington."

The new design is called MyPlate, forming the veritable centerpiece to Mrs. Obama's anti-obesity campaign. Like it's predecessor—which dates back to 1992, by the way—it is a straightforward graphic representation of dietary guidelines, updated to reflect the latest research.

The plate was created by the Department of Agriculture with input from the first lady's anti-obesity team and federal health officials. The agriculture department said that it conducted focus groups with about 4,500 people, including children, as they developed the new icon. Developing the icon and creating a Web site and other educational materials to go along with it cost about $2 million. That money will also help pay for an educational campaign centered on the plate icon over the next year, officials said.

In effect, the new campaign represents a shift from a triangle to a circle... which, insofar as it captures a fundamental goal of graphic design as a mode of communication, is precisely why it is significant. The circle symbolizes a complete whole as opposed to the pyramid, which suggests an incremental, "building up" metaphor for one's diet —a striving towards the fats, oils and sweets at the top, if you will.

L: Original food pyramid from 1992; R: 2005 update

One thing I don't like: it's not clear whether the website is "MyPlate.gov" or "ChooseMyPlate.gov"—Typography 101, folks—though the former simply redirects to the latter.

Plus: Usage guidelines (PDF)!

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Lefty Begone

13 years ago

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They replaced the Food Pyramid, which was totally wrong, with MyPlate, which is still wrong. Astonishing how incompetent the government is. Get out of our personal lives.
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Derek

13 years ago

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No visual for "fats, oils and sweets"? Pretending they don't exist doesn't make them go away. The pie chart (ironic, because apparently you shouldn't eat pie) is strangely shaped, and the website is an absolute joke for 2 million. The 1992 food pyramid might not have been the greatest, but it's still better than all of the "improved" versions.
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powers

13 years ago

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Hey, that could be ice cream too folks!

Nice concept, under-thought. Then again, it's government we're talking about.
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Jonathan Mello

13 years ago

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This cost 2 million dollars? The website feels like such an slapdash afterthought compared to the icon. Even just building something on the regular USDA website template would have been better than what they put up with barely a relationship at all their new spiffy icon.
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Kelsey

13 years ago

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I get the change--definitely necessary--but would it really have been that difficult to set equal vertical margins for each of the category titles? And what's with the fork? It's the only thing illustrated in that style and seems very out of place.

As for the simplicity of it, I think they realized they couldn't fit the complexities of nutrition into one single logo, so they opted for this graphic symbol to get the key factors, and explain more through the website and other such materials. It makes sense in the way that a plumber doesn't need every instrument of plumbing in his logo to show that he's capable of plumbing, however the scale might be difficult for children to comprehend and rely on.
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LSY

13 years ago

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i find the graphics really confusing -- the way the plate is subdivided makes it hard to determine what percentage of each group we should be consuming and the dairy as a circle further complicates the sense of scale and proportions. kinda disappointing that the government is choosing to place so much emphasis on this icon that feels a bit like a fail.
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john

13 years ago

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What? Why no spork? But seriously, this doesnt work. I look at this and see I need a glass of milk per day and 1/4 of my meal should be from each group. 1/4 is close, but we arent aiming for close.
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