THE MUSEUM OF FOOD AND DRINK
BRANDING • VISUAL IDENTITY • EXHIBITION DESIGN • ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN • FURNITURE DESIGN • MOTION DESIGN
The Museum of Food and Drink (MOFAD) was in its extreme infancy when I and my partner at Labour were approached to help bring it to life through branding and exhibition design. The museum had a complex goal: appealing to a wide audience who may not have any interest in food issues, while also being able to stand alongside the MoMAs of the world from a visual standpoint.
IDENTITY
The sharing of food is the bedrock of culture globally, and the circle is the bedrock of MOFAD. It is the cup, the plate, the saucepan, the saucer, the globe. Our circle is a container when needed, as well as a stamp and a solid. The MOFAD wordmark mixes hard edges with rounded edges, creating a friendly look that rewards closer examination.
EXHIBITION DESIGN –
FLAVOR: MAKING IT AND FAKING IT
The first semi-permanent exhibit was called Flavor: Making It and Faking It, and was all about the flavor industry and how humans perceive taste and aroma. At Flavor, visitors could play smell synthesizers shaped like giant arcade cabinets and sample flavor pellets from gumball dispensers dotting the exhibit. Our studio designed custom modular display racks for graphics to hang from, and custom cabinets and furniture for the smell synthesizers and welcome desk.
VIDEO & MOTION GRAPHICS
Visitors were greeted by a gigantic monitor playing an introductory video on loop, illustrating how our tongues, nose, and brains work together to create the sensation of flavor, narrated by Ted Allen (host of Chopped.) I scripted, directed, edited, scored, illustrated and animated the video, with shooting assistance from Colony Projects.
CHOW: MAKING THE CHINESE AMERICAN RESTAURANT
The second major MOFAD exhibition was Chow: Making the Chinese American Restaurant. This exhibition looked at the history of Chinese immigration to the United States and how xenophobic culture and lawmaking led to the spread and development of Chinese restaurants across the country.
Visitors were greeted by a giant hanging wall of takeout oyster boxes, each box representing 10 Chinese restaurants in the US. There was much for a visitor to taste – a fortune cookie machine anchored the back of the exhibition, and visitors were invited to contribute their own fortunes for others to receive, and a manned wok station cooked up live versions of old recipes for visitors to sample.
Bisecting the exhibiton was an extended wall containing over a hundred vintage menus from Chinese restaurants across the US, showing the wide variety of expressions that have graced the nation for over a hundred years.
