My interests include: food styling, collage, vintage homeware, film photography, thrifting, and street fashion.
Here are my ten ideas for potential personal projects:
- Curate a photo collage cookbook – Style and photograph recipes using vintage dishes and props
- Film a stop-motion movie using vintage toys and miniatures as characters in whimsical food landscapes.
- Make conceptual food ads – Style food products in surreal ways and photograph them as mock print ads.
- Create a vintage dinner party – Source a full table setting from thrift stores and style a retro dinner menu. Photograph the tablescape.
- Design zines featuring collages of food, fashion, and interiors with a retro vibe.
- Style food within dioramas – Make miniature dioramas using vintage figurines and toys, add food items to bring the scenes to life.
- Organize a swap meet – Swap vintage cookbooks, homeware, or clothing with friends. Document with a photo booth.
- Launch a street style photo blog – Photograph stylish people you see around town with a disposable Kodak or Fuji film camera for an authentic aesthetic.
- Curate exhibit on food in film – Research how food was styled and used in classic movies. Display learnings and film stills.
- THE ONE I’D EXPLORE: Style a tablescape with vintage wares and foods from a particular period in time. Then, try and generate a similar image using MidJourney
Why do you feel it would be a good experience or addition to your portfolio?
It only takes a quick scroll of my instagram profile to see that I am drawn to the visual splendor of food.
I was brought up in a family who’s major expression of love was through food. So I’ve been fascinated by the ritual surrounding it for as long as I can remember. In particular, I’m interested in the link between food and the spaces in which it takes form. From our kitchens and dining tables to hole in the wall mom and pops to fine dining experiences, I see the beauty and the universal language of gathering over a meal transcend through each of these environments.
We all have a romanticized version of a dream job in our heads. I am no different. I’ve always dreamed of working as a designer within the food industry, whether that is packaging design and branding for food brands, or styling editorial shots for food magazines like Bon Appetit. I’m aware that generative tools are becoming part of the food styling landscape so this seemed a perfect opportunity to leverage my natural eye for styling food and props with a deeper knowledge of those analog practices as well as dive into the growing AI side of the industry.
What skills do you hope to gain?
Research skills – I’ll need to research visual designs, decor, food, and presentation styles from the specific time period to style an authentic scene. This involves investigating aesthetic trends.
Sourcing skills – To find good vintage items, I’ll have to source from estate sales, flea markets, antique shops, etc. This requires persistence at hunting down the right props.
Food styling – Carefully styling the food, dishes, and decor to craft a pleasing overall tablescape composition and evoke the time period I’m going for. Considering color palettes, arrangements, etc.
Photography – Photographing the tablescape in a way that captures the nostalgic tone and strong visual details. Experimenting with lighting and angles.
Prompt writing – Carefully crafting a text prompt for MidJourney that describes the tablescape imagery in detail so the AI can generate a close representation.
Technical skills – Manipulating the AI output images to fine-tune colors, sharpness etc. to match the original photo more closely.
A Visual Proof of Concept piece, moodboard, sketch, etc.
