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INTERNATIONAL FOOD DESIGN CONFERENCE (2016)

As creative director and convenor for the 2016 International Food Design Conference and Studio, I curated a festival of food design that has delivered more than 50 presentations, hands-on workshops and pop-up dining experiences. With my co-director, Adrian Woodhouse, I was also the overall creative director for 9 multi-sensory dining experiences.

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The role of creative director includes:

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  • developing the overall theme and associated narrative for the conferences;

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  • coordinating and directing a several design teams (of more than 100 staff and students) responsible for the design and delivery of:

    • spatial elements (layout, set design, transformation of the space);

    • communication (brand identity, way finding, story-telling multi-media, event communication, photography and video capture, daily newspaper);

    • food experience design (meal breaks that tell stories, multi-media/multi-sensory gala dinner experience , evening on-site pop-up event, soundscapes, lighting and music);

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  • developing and directing deliver of brief for all elements of the in-house design elements;​

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  • identifying and commissioning national and international talent to deliver keynotes, presentations, workshops and pop-up food experiences around Dunedin (direct contact and open RFP);

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  • identifying and developing partnerships with local restaurateurs, chefs, artists and designers to facilitate collaborations for pop-up food experiences; 

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  • securing and managing sponsorship, grants and ticket sales for a budget in excess of $135,000 (cash and in-kind);

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  • coordinating market and PR (with PR agency) and speaking to media.

2016 HIGHLIGHTS
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  • 8 story-telling food experiences

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2016 MEDIA & AWARDS

 

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  • media reach 6.7 million (Glow Consulting)

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  • "World class... It’s been unbelievable! Just, unbelievable!​" (Al Brown, celebrity chef)

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  • "food on another level" (Lauraine Jacobs, Listener)

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  • "We were all blown away by the entire package." (Kelli Brett, Cuisine)

DESIGN ELEMENTS

 

 

  • spatial design that evolved each day

    • 'land, sea, sky' elements

    • backdrop for story-telling of people in food

 

  • meal breaks become story-telling food experiences around a daily theme

    • Day One: 'waste not - want not'

    • Day Two: 'cultural influences on technique'

    • Day Three: 'stories from our New Zealand past'

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  • overall experience design, including the rhythm of emotional engagement

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GALA DINNER
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  • the climatic, premiere event of the conference.
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  • a three-hour, multi-media, multi-sensory dinning experience.
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  • the production included the design of:
    • oral histories & live performance;
    • art works, graphics & illustrations;
    • sets & layout;
    • video, soundscapes, animation & projections;
    • serviceware, food, service and experience design.
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  • 164 guests experienced seven, story-telling, courses (see slides below).
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  • $35,000 budget plus $10,000 in-kind contributions (5 core sponsors).

DESIGN PRINCIPLES

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The design and development of the Food Design Conference and Studio (2016) was underpinned by three core experience design principles. All design teams were encouraged to consider these and integrate them into their design processes:​

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  • Experience design underpinned by Lefebvre's rhythmanalysis

    • rhythmanalysis has very recently begun to be used in some areas of architecture, urban design and interior design to help understand spaces at different scales and the natural and cultural rhythms of those spaces.

    • interaction design has also used it help to explore the (embodied) resonance between people and the spaces they inhabit. It is an invaluable way of exploring the temporality of space and the embodiment of the rhythms of these spaces.

    • our notion of 'rhythm' being used to design food experiences was also informed by the work of Professor Paul Rozin on making meals memorable.

    • here it was applied at different scales (across the three days, within each day and within each individual experience). For example, the gala dinner oscillated between slow-paced/low sensory stimulation and fast-paced/high stimulation parts of the evening. 

      • 'eurythmia' (matching the 'natural'/expected rhythms of the event) was used as a design principle, when we wished to provide a lower level of stimulus to create a sense of calm.

      • 'arrhythmia' (mismatching between the 'natural' and the constructed rhythms of the experience) was used to create dissonance and heighten stimulation in an experience (e.g. simulated explosions in the middle of the gala dinner, confronting messages about food insecurity while enjoying an expensive/exclusive dining experience).

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  • The performance of food narratives was at the core of the design of this event. Narratives were used to move the guest beyond the 'gaze' traditionally associated with the aesthetics of fine dining.

    • a discussion of this framework was presented in New York in the lead up to the event. This was informed by the lessons that were learned at our 2014 conference​.

    • later in 2016 (post-conference) I also presented on the 'performance of kiwi cuisine' at the Symposium of Australian Gastronomy, using the conference as a case study.

    • Key narratives surrounded the gala dinner, other food experiences and the curation of some of the workshops and pop-ups included:

      • the 'rural idyll' narrative - farmers, fishers, hunters and gatherers as representations of an 'idyllic' food system.​

      • a sustainability narrative - this was particularly evident in the careful curation of talks, workshops and food experiences, especially relating to waste-reduction.

      • food as cultural- and self-expression - this included an emphasis on 'kiwi-ness' (rather than kiwiana), migrant identity and nostalgia. 

 

  • Where possible, workshops and experiences should involve participatory/phenomenological design approaches (sometimes used in interaction design), where guests participated in the design and construction of the temporality of the experience (rhythm, flow), the artifacts (food, recipes, etc) and social constructs (relationships, conversations and stories) of the lived experience of th event.

    • This also included elements of relational aesthetics (as used in our White Nights performance), where guests became part of the design and construction of the experience as it unfolded. 

    • Several workshops were highly participatory in nature. For example, a workshop by Fransicsca Tan (from Austria) had guests used participatory techniques to develop edible graphics for a food waste issue that they were interested in.

    • The gala dinner had deliberately designed elements that encouraged guests to participate in the design and construction of the experience that followed. This relied on tables actively negotiating the roles (of, for example, 'carver' for the roast dinner) to be played and the design of the sharing of food (how the meat was to be distributed around the table). Each guest brought their own experience to the design of these acts (as chef, matriarch/patriarch, farmer, butcher, home cook, diner, etc) and each contributed to the negotiated and 'lived' design outcome.

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