I made little mailer packets as my show card(s) for the year end show. They were really fun to do! I screen printed everything, so they all have that nice tactile feeling of the screen print paint-ink on the different papers. I used a nice textured paper for the mini-bread (ha! my favorite) and on the back of it, it says “copain…”, index cards for the red circles of information, and Rolodex cards for my personal info. I then wrapped the cards in newsprint and used the stickers that will be used in my show to seal the home-made envelopes.
Along with the book I just printed for the show, I am also curating an experience-design piece by a London-based designer, Alexandre Bettler. When I discovered what he was doing, I could not stop thinking about it.
“The Bread Friend Map is using bread to improve communication. It is based on the French word for friend, ‘copain’, describing someone you share your bread with. Co-’ standing for ‘with’ and ‘-pain’ for ‘bread’, a friend is someone you share your bread with, and is the level of communication explored for this project. For Gradual, each visitor is offered a slice of a single piece two meter long rye bread, everyone sharing a slice of the same bread. In return, you are asked to add a sticker with your name on yourself and one on the Bread Friend Map, and to trace (dotted line) the link to anyone you know on the map. This will show your connection to other people who you shared the bread with. If there is anyone you fancy, find his/her name on the sticker s/he is wearing and use the map to connect to her/him or any other visitor in the room, everyone being the friend of a friend. The shorter the bread goes, the bigger the map becomes and more friends there are. It reveals the process of design – the physical act of creating – through generating and experimenting rather than finishing and polishing the work.”
For months, I would go back to the Bread Friend map, mull it over, and revel at how it not only connected with what I was doing and believe in pertaining to design, experience, and food, but how it connected on so many other levels as well. First, the entire basis of the Bread Friend Map is that it is all about connections and watching them happen in real time. Second, the map speaks to processes, in particular, the process of design and it’s ebb and flow of many participants, users, and ultimately, people as designers. Third, the connection that the BF map will make between two countries/cities/communities is really neat. Everywhere the BF map is done, it will look, grow, and feel different. This is because no two places are alike, the BF map becoming a visual representation for the differences but also commonalities we share as people. And last, the amazing connection of the internet. I found Alexandre via the web and if either of us did not have a website with our work on it, we may not have ever had the chance to share experiences like this. That is one of the neatest things I think 
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As I continue to formulate my ideas around what it is I do, community is one of those things that I keep coming back to. Sometimes that word, I feel, is abused. It’s like the word sustainable, or green. It’s a buzzword that we all have an idea about what it means, but actually holds different meanings for different contexts. I define community as a group of people who share something in common: it could be anything from living on the same street or in the same country, working in the same profession, your children go to the same school, sharing in the same hobbies, or going to the same place for breakfast every weekend. Even for me, community means something different each time I think about it. But what I find most interesting about community is the individuals who make up our communities, because the individuals themselves can belong to multiple communities. Something that I’ve been exploring, especially with The Favorite meal series, is the individual who makes up our communities. I will continue to do these Favorite Meals, amassing a bunch of them while looking for connections or patterns in how we belong, interact, and change the communities we reside in. Let me know if you are interested, I am looking for a few people to do one this summer. You don’t necessarily have to be local either, that could make things really interesting!
So it all comes back to connections: what they are, how we find/make them, who is involved in the connecting, and the ways to communicate in order to make those connections are all of deep interest for me. This particular series in my Eating Design process has been about connecting people with themselves and with others. It has been so fulfilling to know more about myself throughout this process but also be able to create a framework for others to do the same.
I made that sweet potato cake again the other day. Sheer comfort food! And was it ever comforting:). I am warning you though, you may not be able to stop eating it, so if you make it, have some place to take it to or have some friends over. It’s great with coffee or tea as the nutmeg compliments both drinks. I’m going to go eat some right now. Cheers!
I finally received the proof copy of my thesis book, Eating Design, yesterday! It is so exciting to have a ‘thing’ made and materialized (and then show up at your doorstep:). Especially since most of my work is ephemeral– I create experiences, and once they are over all that is left are the memories (and some pictures). But it is so neat to have a selection of these projects and other information about my work and eating design all in one place! I am really happy with it. I decided to make a book because of the intimacy a book requires. When you read, it is just you, the book, and your interpretation of the book which I believe parallels the intimacy of the Favorite Meal series. The book format reflects this and honors the individual experiences people have, leaving room for personal interpretation.
**Update–I am so excited that this book has generated so much interest! If you’d like to own a copy, you can buy it directly from the publisher, blurb.com. I have self-published this book, so it won’t be found on a bookstore shelf. Each book ordered through blurb is printed per order and all proceeds just pay for the printing of the book. Thank you everyone for all your encouragement and support! **
woot!
(a great trail in the Columbia Gorge, part of a hike I took a while back. The image is very journey-like!)
When I first started eating design, what I knew for sure was that I wanted to find a way to to communicate messages, stories, or ideas to a broad and wide audience. I knew and even anticipated that they may not be from the same place, have the same socio-economic standing, or even speak the same language, but I firmly believe(d) in finding a way for diverse peoples to be able to access information through a common format. While thinking about this, I was simultaneously baking and cooking a lot. I realized that this was a way for me to materialize a specific memory and/or feeling; anything that was ephemeral and intangible (a feeling I could not quite put into words, or words that I did not know how to say out loud), I could make tangible through food. Do others do this? Can our thoughts, feelings, and memories become not only tangible but understandable through food? The answer I found is: yes.
Accessibility in design is not only how my path of eating design started, but what continues to spur me on today. The countless ways we can express our selves, thoughts, feelings, ideas, and concepts through food amazes and excites me everyday! Eating design functions as a mediator between the intangible and an experience, between a design that effectively communicates and a design that will knock your socks off.
Having fun and inciting interest are also hugely important to what I do and believe in. Not only do we remember things better when we are more relaxed and having a good time, but we are more open to possibilities and ideas; we broaden the scope of our problem solving abilities in order to come up with some really great ideas. Innovative teachers and educators take this approach to teaching their students new material; having fun is efficient as well as results oriented!
As students of life, we are learning new things about our selves and the world around us daily whether we realize it or not. Eating design simply points to these things, the food becoming an entry point and involving the senses (which in turn involves more of your brain and attention while experiencing) allowing people to explore the deeper message or idea. Something that I love about working this way is I have become a facilitator of thought. I am not pushing anything on anyone, but gently opening the door to a new way of thinking, looking, or remembering something. The best part is, if people choose to not go any deeper than the food itself, they still walk away with a tasty treat, snack, or meal. It’s a win win! And great design 
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How can eating design make an impact on your life? Think of it as a framework and a new (but most importantly fun!) way to communicate something, incite interaction amongst people, or simply reflect. It is as versatile as you.
(A HUGE mushroom growing off the side of a tree stump on the same trail, I loved the color explosion effect it had on it’s surroundings!)
(Cherry blossoms were in full bloom here a few weeks back and oh so lovely)
