>>534166565
>do you have any tips on this, what the UI should be "saying", how to make it so, etc?
for example, stardew valley inventory has a rustic, wooden theme, with nails and ropes(very simplified). resident evil 4 has a briefcase theme. It looks like your game is a foraging type of game, so I would think leather/canvas type of theme, like your icon? or like a field notebook?
pic related is an attempt at that, but way overdone/cluttered, I don't mean full illustration is needed, but colors and maybe corners of the squares etc could have buckle like features or stitching