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International Conference on Food Design 2012: Food Futurologists, Seaweed Tarts and Feeding Fornication

By embaltz - July 2, 2012

in Events | Conferences | Food

A "food futurologist" forcasted Day 2 of the International Conference on Designing Food and Designing For Food at at London Metropolitan University. Dr. Morgaine Gaye, a trend forecaster-strategist-foodie-academic-and-sometimes-television-personality, offered a stellar keynote lecture that explained her process of looking at food and eating from a social, cultural, economic, trend, branding and geo-political perspective. She discussed the roles of taste and texture in food design, posing questions about the difference between the function and the pleasure of food as it relates to preference, mouthfeel and perception.

This kicked off a day of lectures and project presentations that included reflections on everything from shopping mall food courts to "Nasal Nostalgia". Fabio Scotto Di Clemente spoke on the power of synesthesia in consumer experiences. Synesthesia, he argued, is a kind of full body storytelling in which all the elements of the narrative connect through the human senses, thereby rendering it more powerful than most story-telling devices. He hypothesized that in response to an ever-more demanding consumer, the relationship of food to synesthesia could offer clues in creating the kind full-sensory stimulation that contemporary buyers crave.

Lunch was a natural treat catered by Blanche & Shock Food Design. Focusing on local ingredients and bespoke menus, this design studio-cum-catering company presented sous-vide mackerel, a four seaweed tart, courgette, asparagus and tomato salad and pickled shallots, complemented by Brick House Bakery sourdough bread with saucy trompe l'oeil spreads: what appeared to be peanut butter and jelly pots were actually filled with beetroot, caraway and chipotle ketchup alongside brown butter mayo.

The afternoon sessions focused on food-centric projects, notably Ido Garini's Studio Appetit's Aphrodisiac vessels that explore the flirting, seduction and passion of the sexual act through food. Taking as premise that appetite is both what drives humans to feed and fornicate, Garini's work is half performance, half product design, wrapped up in a cooking degree. Simply put, he's the guy who can design his cake and eat it too. Make dinner before you check out the rest of his work here.