Tuesday 26 February 2013

Colour Charts









Imano: Food Experience

For my main food experience while in London I went to the interactive restaurant Imano, a Japanese restaurant in the trendy part of soho. The idea behind the restaurant is that you can see the items on the menu projected onto your plate before you order. With technology advancing everyday why not take this and apply it to something so fundamental like eating. You are guaranteed the food/drinks you order 15 minutes after placing your order. The way you control this interactive system is with a track pad on each table which you then use to control the menu. Other options you can do while waiting for your food is to change the image of your 'tablecloth' as yes that is projected too! You can also watch the 'chef cam' and watch in real time the chefs cooking and preparing your food. A great option that was available was to play games, i.e. battleships and other puzzle based games.

For my meal I had a passionfruit martini, squid and spring onion goyza's, Japanese coleslaw and vegetable tempura. I wanted to look at the colour of the food and the garnishes and how they worked together and how could I work with them. 



Wellcome Collection

One of the galleries I went to while in London was the Wellcome Collection, where the exhibition 'Death: A Self-Portrait' was showing. Although quite a morbid exhibition, I took away quite a lot especially how the artists used colours to portray their thoughts on death. The South American/Mexican artists tended to portray death with bright reds and yellows, in order to celebrate the deceased's life. Where as the more European artists tended to use very dull, and bland colours to show more the intimate feelings that surround death.
South American 'shrine' commemorating death
You can see how the artist has used more dull and subtle colours even when using reds and yellows.

Wednesday 20 February 2013

Bubble tea

During my visit to London, I was set to have a few food experiences. One of the first experiences I had was Bubble tea. Bubble tea has made a big splash in the UK recently. It's a fruit flavoured green tea which you can have hot or cold, there are black jelly balls in the bottom of the tea. You can then chose to add fruit juiced filled 'boboa' balls. I chose to have a Passion fruit cold tea with mango filled boboa. The first sip tasted refreshing and then as I sucked up one of the the black jelly balls I found the texture as I chewed it very odd. I decided to give them another go. Comparing that to the mango filled balls was very odd as the mango balls were very sweet and were pleasant to eat where as I kept trying to chew the black jelly balls I started to really dislike them. In the end I ended up just swallowing the black balls whole so that I didn't have to taste them. My friend had a hot strawberry tea, which was a stark contrast to mine, the black jelly balls melted in hers and somehow they tasted even worse! However I think the strawberry tea was nicer hot and you could taste the underlying green tea very nicely.


Borough Market

Going round Borough Market, what really stuck out to me was the colours, the produce all looked fresh to me and so inviting. I was really interested in how the colours worked together when put side by side.  For example the wild mushrooms, the colours interact with each other and create an interesting mix which I'd like to use as inspiration for looking at collections. I also liked the desserts as the pale colours worked rally well with the richness of the caramels.













Platt Hall

Platt Hall Gallery of Costume

When in Manchester we went to the Gallery of costume, it was interesting to look around and see all the different styles of the era's together in one place. I especially found the accessories interesting and made me start thinking about how I would display accessories and what accessories I would like to use. 







Help I'm a fish

While in Manchester I went to the Arndale market, now we weren't allowed to take pictures really but I wanted to get a few pictures of the fish as the colours and textures were interesting. I was interested in how the light hit the scales and how the different textures of the fish affect how the light radiated off them.





Wednesday 6 February 2013

Barburrito


Yesterday we went to Manchester to go to a few galleries but to also have a food experience. I decided to go to barburrito and I had nachos. You go in and can choose from a burrito, tacos, and nachos. Then choose what meat/filling you would like and any extras. It's made up in front of you and the price is decided on what filling and extras you had. The portion size is fair and you get your money's worth. I think this new way of fast good is good as you can see what is going into your meal and there is no surprises. Although not exotic this is a different way to dine that seems to be catching on.









Monday 4 February 2013

Accessories and Food

So my research into food and fashion has lead me to look at still life accessory advertisements that include food. Some of the images below use colour to highlight their product whereas some use it to contrast their product making it stand out. The 'Exotics' double page spread worked well as the colours compliment the products and stand out on the white background. It looks clean and sharp. I also like the  shoes on the citrus backgrounds, colour has been used wisely here and it pays off in my opinion.
Photo from: http://funfeaver.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/clever-still-life-photos.html
Photo from: http://www.behance.net/gallery/STILL-LIFE/1621675
Photo from: http://www.behance.net/gallery/Still-life-art-direction/5168205
Photo from: http://jencampbellphoto.com/blog/?p=344

Taste of Runway

While researching food and fashion, I came accross a website called 'Taste of Runway'. Set up by Anna Marconi, Taste of Runway combines two of her favourite things, food and fashion.

Scrolling through her blog you see delicious delights compared to the most up to date collections. She choses and makes food that matches the colours in a runway outfit. She will the include the recipe so that you can try to make it yourself.

"Taste of Runway is an act of design, born on an apparently quiet day. But if I think about that, that afternoon was not an ordinary one. It was time for Taste of Runway, an affair of the heart created to share the pleasure of life and give a different taste to fashion. That special taste that can be found only in the kitchen, where every ingredient creates magic, and stories of flavors and people merge together. In the Taste factory we do research, we cook, we take pictures and, lastly, we eat.
Taste of Runway is a story of happiness, between an outfit and a recipe!" - Anna Marconi

Such a simple idea, that is effective and that had such a strong impact on me is something I would like to explore in my own work but relate it to still life rather than runway collections
 
 
MOSCHINO FW 2012-13 / VANILLA CUSTARD WITH FRESH STRAWBERRIES 


 


 
SPORTMAX SS 2013 / COCONUT AND YOGURT


Scroll through the rest of the blog here : Taste of Runway