We hope to integrate education and public welfare, using fun ways to help everyone understand alien species!" Master students Zhong-Wei Lin and Kai-Jie Xue from the Department of Design at Taiwan Tech collaborated with Gofe Sheltered Workshop and the TPCA Environment Foundation for nearly a year to create the “Don Don Cookie” love tin box cookies. They designed eight kinds of cute cookies featuring common alien species in Taiwan. Through cross-disciplinary collaboration, they aimed to create job opportunities for friends with disabilities. Additionally, the team will donate 10% of the profits to environmental organizations. This initiative not only allows purchasers of the Don Don Cookie to enjoy delicious treats but also increases awareness of environmental conservation, contributing to Taiwan's ecological environment.

Taiwan Tech master students Kai-Jie Xue and Zhong-Wei Lin created the “Don Don Cookie” love tin box cookies, which were launched for sale on the Zeczec fundraising platform from April 9th to May 23rd.

Kai-Jie Xue shared that this was their first commercial design project for fundraising from the outside world. From the beginning, the team wanted to focus on “environmental education”. Through a series of creative brainstorms, they incorporated exotic species into the cookie designs, allowing children to experience the importance of ecological balance through playing with cookie puzzles and Jenga. Ultimately, they aimed to advocate for the environment by symbolizing “eating the cookies = removing alien species”, using a simple and enjoyable approach to raise awareness about the invasion of alien species damaging crops and endangering native species in Taiwan.

The design team used cookie puzzles to educate children in a fun way, introducing them to 8 invasive alien species.

The team selected 8 invasive alien species, including Giant Hogweed, American Crayfish, Apple Snail, American Bullfrog, Giant African Snail, Tilapia, Red-eared Slider, and Nutria, for their designs. These cookies come in four flavors: almond cream, chocolate and strawberry, and seaweed according to their color. They also feature marshmallow fillings to provide a richer, multi-layered taste experience. The packaging is done in a minimalist style to reduce the environmental burden caused by excessive plastic packaging materials and color printing, adding more eco-friendly and public welfare value to the cookies.

Zhong-Wei Lin and Kai-Jie Xue opened a design studio together after graduating from university. Zhong-Wei Lin mentioned that they planted the seeds of fundraising and commercialization during the course “Visual Communication Design Entrepreneurship Practice”, which gave them a concrete understanding of entrepreneurship, fundraising, and marketing. Taiwan Tech also provided them with many resources and assistance on the path to commercialization. Zhong-Wei Lin also jokingly said that for a startup team to save costs, they really need to be proficient in various skills. Besides their design expertise, they also need to learn and improve in market research, financial accounting, photography for promotional photos, video editing, marketing cooperation, etc. Diligence also made them realize the challenges of starting a new company.

The sandwich cookies about 2 centimeters thick can stand upright, allowing children to experience the importance of ecological balance through Jenga games.

However, as a typical employed designer, “it's actually quite challenging to balance doing what you love and helping the social environment”, Zhong-Wei Lin said. Therefore, he hopes to have more space for creative thinking during his graduate studies, so that he can serve the public while promoting charity and environmental education.

Director Shu-Zhen Wang of the Gofe Sheltered Workshop mentioned that the “Don Don Cookie” cookies are entirely made by children with disabilities, from kneading the dough, pressing molds, and baking, to assembling. This process helps train their hand-eye coordination, spatial organization skills, concentration, and patience. Besides giving them a sense of achievement in their work, “the problem facing sheltered workshops is the lack of channels, so we hope that through this cross-disciplinary collaboration, the public can get to know us better”.

The Taiwan Tech design team has collaborated with the Gofe Sheltered Workshop in Neihu to create job opportunities for people with disabilities while also promoting sustainable development in Taiwan.

The “Don Don Cookie” love tin box cookies are now available for pre-order on the Zeczec fundraising platform until May 23rd. Interested individuals are welcome to support this initiative that combines environmental education with sheltered workshops by visiting the Zeczec platform. (Zeczec fundraising pre-order link: https://www.zeczec.com/projects/don-don-cookie)