Anne Mieke Eggenkamp, chair of what’s considered to be the best design school in the world, Design Academy Eindhoven, said that food is one of the two hottest topics on the contemporary design agenda (the other being textiles, if you were wondering.) One of the pioneers of the niche practice is Spanish designer Martí Guixé. His oeuvre includes everything from hands-free lollipops to snacks designed to be eaten while you type. Long time collaborator and photographer, Inga Knölke, explains, “a food designer is somebody working with food, with no idea of cooking.”
We’ve rounded up some of the best examples from this fascinating discipline to inspire the next generation of Willy Wonkas. From cuddly sausages to flavored finger noodles to bad news cakes, click through to check out the most imaginative work from the hottest design trend of the decade.
Atomic Olive Snack, Hands-free Lollipop, I-Cakes and Chocolate G-Power by Martí Guixé
Image credit: The Science of Design
As a food designer, Guixé builds “edible products that are ergonomic, functional, communicative, interactive, visionary but radically contemporary and timeless.”
Cuddly Sausage by Marije Vogelzang
Image credit: AlyssaIP
Specializing in food experiences, Marije Vogelzang creates whimsical, super-sized sausages in knitted casings made of meat from animals living free and in the wild. For all those times you wanted to snuggle with a giant sausage.
Techno-Tapas by Martí Guixé
Image credit: mannschaft
The snack you eat while surfing the net. Brilliant.
Dressing the Meat of Tomorrow by James King
Image credit: Edible Geography
James King is a speculative designer aka someone tasked with coming up with insane, far out ideas. This project, recently acquired by the MoMa, comments on a freakish future where we grow meat in test tubes. Truth be told, we hope that day never comes.
Crack-y-Chof by Clara Blasco
Image credit: Cool Hunting
Boat bread to float in your olive oil dipping pool: a clever, playful design that’s form following function at its very best.
Solid Coffee and Vegetable Lollipops by Berta Josa
Image credit: Porcuatro
Get your no-spill coffee fix and satisfy daily nutritional requirements with vegetables masquerading as sweets.
Bad News Cake by Agathe Bouvachon
Image credit: Agathe Bouvachon
Saying it with flowers is so last year. Say it with cake instead.
Mutant Maki by Delphine Huguet
Image credit: Delphine Huguet
A self-proclaimed Flying Food Designer, Delphine Huguet’s mutant maki gives new meaning to the secret life of food.
Steam Garden by HOPLA
Image credit: HOPLA
The healthy, peaceful dinner of the future: layers of raw vegetables make for a Zen garden on your plate.
Chocolate Song Disc Cakes by Julie Rothhahn
Image credit: julie hhh
Made for the National Theatre of St. Brieux in collaboration with turntablist Raphaelle Latini, Ms. Rothhahn explains that “each cake expresses emotion through its taste, its color and the sound it produces.” Believe it or not, these chocolate LPs actually produce sound!
Flavored Finger Noodles by Julie Rothhahn
Image credit: julie hhh
This is next level food design: colorful, quirky pasta shells that double as finger puppets. Experience a new approach to that old standby: pasta sauce.
Gem of Butter by Agathe Bouvachon
Image credit: domus
As ESSEN: A Taste Magazine reports, butter, a key element of French cuisine, “takes the shape of precious gems and becomes food-sculpture, with a reference to the ancient Breton tradition, in which butter sculptures used to be offered to the gods.”
3-D Sheep Cracker by Paige Russell
Image credit: DesignSponge
For the food designer in all of us, ceramic artist Paige Russell created a DIY design that you can make in your very own kitchen! Head over to Design*Sponge for instructions and a nifty miniature sheep cracker template.
Egg Cup and Dipping Tool by Reyes Mora
Image credit: no quedan
A fresh spin on the bread bowl idea, the edible egg cup is sustainable, zero waste cooking at its finest.
Edible Post-It by Delphine Huguet
Image credit: domus
Edible Post-It origami. Why didn’t we think of that?