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Future Makers: Kumi Allen on food and design

  • Words Ayla Angelos
  • All Images Courtesy Kumi Allen

Using hand-bound books, bold visual motifs and influences from Irving Penn, the London-based grad dives into ‘tablescaping’ to show the ways in which dining and design are intertwined

Future Makers is a new series from Anima, spotlighting the work of emerging designers, recent graduates and the next wave of creative talent.

The art of tablescaping – creating an elaborate tabletop, often using decorative objects linked by a theme – dates back years, seen in the banquet tables of royals and the lavish feasts in Renaissance oil paintings. But thanks to Instagram and TikTok, the activity has grown to become a popular trend amongst social media users, hosts and designers alike. Only now, goblets and pig heads with apples lodged in their mouths are swapped for Insta-worthy visuals that could also take up home on a Pinterest board. Chequered table cloths, sculpturally folded napkins, coloured, wobbly candle sticks and plenty of chrome, are just a few examples.

When Kumi Allen, a recent graduate from Kingston University London, started researching for her dissertation, she became infatuated with this rising fad. “In recent years, the ‘tablescaping’ trend has become increasingly popularised by social media, which has resulted in an increased appetite for stylish food,” she says. “Personally, my Instagram explore page is filled with beautiful food and surrealist ‘tablescapes’.” At the same time, Allen had also become interested in the work of still-life photographer Irving Penn – known for transforming everyday objects, like food, into succulent works of art. “I admire his ability to subvert how these everyday culinary objects are perceived,” she says. Additionally, Allen moved to the Netherlands during the research phase to work as a graphic design assistant at Mediamatic, an Amsterdam-based arts centre. Here, she was introduced to the concept of Neo-futurist Dinner – “an immersive dining experience created to celebrate innovative and future conscious food design,” she explains – which sparked a new direction for her work.

Inspired by her findings, Allen wanted to dig further into how design can be used to elevate the modern dining setting, taking it beyond the traditional four chairs and a table. The result of which is Designing Taste, a project that explores how design can influence dining and ultimately the food we put into our mouths. By exploring the concept of ‘tablescaping’, naturally, she’s created her very own. Visually speaking, her set-up has all the elements of traditional dining aesthetics. There’s a table, some wooden chairs, a red and white chequered tablecloth – nodding to the Italian bistro – and lace doilies paired with sweet tulips. Yet Kumi’s arrangements, be it the layering of cloth, the atmosphere and elements of graphic design feel distinctly contemporary. A key influence, says Allen, was the brand Gohar World, a New York-based tableware company founded by sisters Laila and Nadia Gohar, known for placing function and traditional crafts at the core of their designs. “They exaggerate patterns, colours and forms, such as the chequered tablecloth, which have traditionally existed at the dining table,” she explains. “In conjunction with this I have always aimed to produce accessible and easy-to-understand design. The iconic tablecloth makes the connection to dining clear and immediate for anyone encountering my project for the first time.”


To deepen this experience, Allen created two hand-made books: a “host book” with text and a “guest book” with images, both of which she bound herself in her living room – bar the foiled-blocked text on the cover, which was done in the printing facilities at university. The “guest book” is placed on the dining table, serving as a catalyst for dialogue and “food for thought”, she says. “The Coptic binding of the signatures allows the book to lay flat, clearly displaying the spreads, which feature the same imagery on both sides. This design detail enables people on both sides of the table to engage with the material simultaneously. If guests wish to learn more about the images, they can request information from the host, who possesses the 'host book'.”

The books themselves are designed like plates at the table. Splashed in vivid red and contrasting white, they’re bold and punchy, with decorative typography to boot. Allen chose Dinamo’s Monument Grotesk and Velveteen’s Director as the primary typefaces; the latter chosen for the chapter headings and page numbers. “As a monospaced typeface, it is harder to read when printed small, making it unsuitable for body text,” she explains, citing her reasons why Monument Grotesk was an apt choice for legibility. Goher World and Mediamatic, her key case studies for this project, both use serif typefaces in their work. “So choosing Director felt like an informed decision to align the form of the publications with their content,” she says.


Designing Taste reflects Allen’s belief that dining is inherently shaped by design – whether in curated experiences, the ambiance of a table or through interacting with books, laid out on a table much like food. “In my opinion, design and dining are always intertwined. This is true not only for the immersive dining experiences and luxury fashion dinners I analysed in my dissertation but also for the mundane aspects of daily life,” she adds. “Whether it's your grandma's floral plates that evoke Christmas memories or a poorly designed wobbly table you try to fix with a folded receipt, these more daily instances illustrate how design has an impact on the dining experience.”

So what’s next on the menu for Allen? The now London-based designer is preparing for her next chapter, returning to her family home in Kent as she begins applying for design roles in London and across Europe, undeterred by the added paperwork Brexit brings – something she navigated before with her Amsterdam move. She also views collaboration as her guiding principle: “Graphic design tends to be a solitary practice… I try to embrace collaboration as much as possible.” In the short term, she’ll refine her portfolio with a focus on photography and moving image. Long term, she envisions working as a freelancer or launching her own studio, and continuing to be part of The Collective, a group of female designers who met on the graphic design course at Kingston. “It was born out of frustration with the lack of female mentors in leadership roles and the insufficient teaching about female designers,” she finishes. “I have found being part of a collective a hugely comforting and encouraging experience. I anticipate that having this network when leaving university will be a continuous source of inspiration.”