Let me first say, I try to not eat any food that requires a plate. If I can’t hold it, wrap it up, not served in a bowl or stuck on a stick, it’s too much work and I move on. Plus, I hate cleaning dishes, but I hear that some sophisticates still use them and as plates go, designers have pretty much stuck with new ways of creating a simple flat surface to eat your fancy food on. Until now, that mostly meant round designs vs. square designs vs. slightly less rounded designs and slightly more rectangular designs and the occasionally the triangle plate design for weirdos. Well finally someone added some function to a plate we can all use. No more pushing that last bit of food onto your fork with a knife or piece of bread. No more wondering where on the plate is socially acceptable to plant your thumb when serving. Designer Angela Schwab has taken the anxiety and guess work out of food presentation by adding a flipped up edge to a traditional round plate design and called it the “Benta” Plate….clever girl. As part of Umbra’s U+ collection for 2008, these plates exemplify form and function and I now find myself wanting to own my own fork and knife. Bon apetit.
2007 marks the first time in history that the world’s population is predominantly urban. This global shift has significantly impacted upon developing economies in particular as traditional sectors such as agriculture yield to rapid industrialisation resulting in dramatically reduced levels of food security for the urban poor.
Project Eden is an agricultural system facilitating intensive cultivation of plant-crops in the rapidly expanding and increasingly dense urban areas of developing countries. It is derived from an advanced growing technique that has been re-engineered to address the specific needs of subsistence farmers while also constituting an entrepreneurial business opportunity for urban residents.
If Facebook’s Scrabulous gets scrapped, at least there’s still Chocolate Scrabble! The dark chocolate, spell-worthy snack is available through the designers, Mary & Matt.