Eggplant, cherry, peach, banana…

Still Just A fruit

This project was born from a moment of unexpected honesty.

While scrolling through a comments section, my younger cousin noticed one of these fruits and innocently asked what it meant. What should I have told her?

That simple question revealed a quiet but troubling truth - how symbols that were once harmless have been reshaped by internet culture, often without children understanding the context they’re being exposed to.

As a creative, I felt compelled to explore that gap between innocence and meaning. The design approach intentionally strips the fruits back to their most familiar, natural forms - unembellished, clean, and almost childlike, challenging viewers to confront how perception is learned, not inherent.

By presenting the fruits plainly, the work asks a simple question:
when did this stop being just a fruit?

The internet has quietly rewritten our innocence. Symbols that once belonged to childhood - simple fruits, playful icons, now carry adult meanings shaped by memes, slang, and digital culture.

Children are growing up in a world where innocence isn’t lost overnight, but gradually reinterpreted.
As a brand rooted in sexual health and responsible education, Durex exists to guide conversations around intimacy, timing, and protection. This project aligns naturally with that purpose -highlighting how sexualized meanings now surface in everyday digital spaces without context, often reaching children first.
By addressing the erosion of innocence online, Durex steps in as a voice for awareness and responsibility, reinforcing its role not just as a product brand, but as an advocate for informed, age-appropriate conversations.
What children see as fruit, adults now decode as innuendo. Our collective innocence hasn’t disappeared - it’s been adjusted by the internet.
Create a visual pause.

Strip familiar internet symbols of their coded meanings and present them plainly again - as just a peach, just cherries, just an eggplant. The work speaks directly to adults, reminding them of the moment before meaning changed.
As Creative Art Director and Designer, I crafted a minimalist visual series using softly lit, hyper-clean 3D fruit forms set against gentle pastel backdrops. Each execution carried a simple line:

“To those who still see this as just a peach.”
“To those who still see these as just cherries.”
“To those who still see this as just an eggplant.”
Paired with Happy Children’s Day, the contrast did the heavy lifting - no shock, no explanation, just recognition. The visuals mirrored internet culture while quietly questioning how far we’ve drifted from innocence, and who gets to keep it.