What Can We Learn From Carl Warner's Foodscape
Do you know what foodscapes is?
It's the art of arranging food to make a fairy-tale like landscape picture. It's been popularized by a artist photographer Carl Warner from London.
Pretty, right?
It has been successful, also career wise. Carl got some gigs from world-size brands such as Unilever, Lays, VW, The Times and Visa. Without his foodscapes art, he wouldn't be where where he's standing now.
But there are deeper science that made it a success than simply photographing food, which we, web designer, can learn from:
Build your own crossroad...
Sure, the food art itself is not the most original. We have sushi art and coffee art, even Indonesian tradisional's tumpeng can be considered food art in it's finest. But Carl did something different, he arranges food as if it's a landscape. He combines these two arts in an intersection, and he did it very well.
.. and be very good at it.
Carl is a master in landscape photography. Different from other landscape photographer who went out to search for perfect scenery, he makes his own.
Look at this framing technique�
and the lighting technique
(sure, it seems that he's talented in Photoshop as well).
So, even after building your own crossroad, still, bring the best out of both world.
Let your design tell a story.
If you look closely at his pictures, each of them tickles our imagination to create our own story within our mind. It's has fairy-tale air around it�
Don't you think that this onion camp just like a hometown of some cool race?
And this food-filled air balloon just like a transport system of a fantasy game?
If you can build a story that sticks, people will remember you.
If you want to waste some food, do it in the coolest possible way.
When people trying to make something functional out of garbages, he's throwing away food. It's not the greenest way to make art, but if you want to do something stupid, make sure you do it in a very awesome way so that your mother won't blame you for it. (Please tell me if you know that the food is really being eaten after being photographed, so that I won't feel that guilty to praise him this much).
Look at this chocolate train...
I won't mind finish it after it being photographed, even if it's half melted due to studio lights..