The exhibition “Appetite: A Reciprocal Relationship between Food & Design” opened on September 14th at the Cooper Gallery in The Cooper Union. Alexander Tochilovsky, Director at the Herb Lubalin Study Center, curated the show with assistance from Mike Essl, Emily Roz and Wai-Jee Ho. The show was presented and sponsored by the Herb Lubalin Study Center of Design and Typography at The Cooper Union.

The exhibition will be on view through October 9th, 2010, but you will miss out on wine served in cucumber shot glasses and spreading butter letters on fresh bread. There are tid-bits of interesting food-related facts on display cards throughout the show. I'm inclined to go back when it is less crowded to read the captions more thoroughly.




In a recent interview for Eye, Alexander Tochilovsky offered some insight on the motivation behind the idea of the show:

"I am interested in the way we perceive food and the way that design influences it. We as consumers are very adept at reading signs, even if subconsciously. We consume things visually before we consume them physically. My interest lies in trying to understand these signs and who is responsible for them." —Alexander Tochilovsky, excerpt from "Graphic Appetiser" article on the Eye blog





Including numerous works and quotations from designers such as Debbie Millman, Matteo Bologna, and Louise Fili, the exhibit has a good showing of contemporary design aesthetics for restaurant signage and food packaging.

"My job is to make information as clear as possible, and sometimes it can be subliminal information. With Balthazar, the objective is not to read all of the text. There are many different typefaces, the type is small, it's light, there's too much—but this 'too much' is what I want to convey. I want to convey the craft, the care for details, the playfulness, the history, and in this case, the tradition." —Matteo Bologna, Mucca Design (text from exhibition)

From high-end custom lettering to hand-painted bodega signage, the exhibit shows many typographic styles among the spectrum. There is also attention paid to less appreciated but important information designs such as the Guest Check and nutritional labels.



I'm not sure if it's intentional, but the show does seem heavily New York centric. But when NY is such a hot spot for melding of cultures and culinary adventures, it isn't surprising that this becomes an underlying theme to the exhibition.

"...Encountering food in New York City is an amazing experience. We are surrounded by food everywhere we turn—from fine restaurants to diners, from the corner store to the gourmet market, and from food carts to the supermarkets—it is ever present and ubiquitous. If you look closely at it you will find that every single object or experience has been affected by a designer's hand in one way or another. There is a constant exchange of visual aesthetic between the things which are considered designed and the ones which are not..." —Alexander Tochilovsky, excerpt from introduction text for exhibit

Some brands transcend geographic location, such as Burger King and Dunkin Donuts, and their iconography falls within universal vernacular. The fun part was seeing the work we all recognize but never knew whose name to place alongside the design or the history. This might be the case with Leslie Buck's design for the Anthora Coffee Cup or the 300-meter man mascot for the Japanese confectionery company, Glico, which dates back to 1935.




"...While “Appetite” includes important works by AvroKO, Matteo Bologna, DuPuis Group, Edenspiekermann AG, Louise Fili, Derick Holt, Sterling Brand’s Debbie Millman, and Douglas Riccardi, the exhibition also acknowledges the subtle and unexpected ways designers influence our lives and daily relationship with food such as the design of the waiter’s check, the typeface on the grocery store’s price labels, the Nutrition Facts label, and hand-painted signs on bodegas, to name a few. “Appetite” investigates the designer’s process and motivation, and will leave the viewer contemplating the influence of graphic design on food and if design creates appetite?..." —Lubalin Center




I was happy to see the inclusion of Lou Dorfsman's Gastrotypographicalassemblage wall, and Alexander Girard's designs for La Fonda del Sol.


The exhibition pays little attention to interactive media, but there is a small room with food web sites projected on a wall in a random (or intentional?) sequence. I found the de-emphasis of the internet to be fitting, while a couple others I spoke with viewed this as a clear oversight. When you are dealing with a subject matter as broad as food and design, the possibilities are endless, and there will always be something or someone left out. I think the exhibition showed a careful attention to detail, culture, and an immense appreciation for design in relation to food.

It would've been great if there was an exhibition catalog or book available for purchase, although some attendees did leave the exhibit opening with loaves of baguettes as souvenirs instead.