Project Direction
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Creative Direction
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Design Strategy
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Illustration
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Production
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ADA Compliance
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Stakeholder Interviews
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Tone Strategy
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Project Direction • Creative Direction • Design Strategy • Illustration • Production • ADA Compliance • Stakeholder Interviews • Tone Strategy •
The
Ask
Annually KNOCK executes an initiative to connect with and show thanks to our clients from the previous year and beyond. In 2022, KNOCK requested a digital initiative to reach out to their clients in thanks and celebration for their collaboration and trust with the agency.
The
Solve
Through personal recipes, we celebrate differences and similarities in our multicultural world, big and small. All while also giving thanks to our clients, colleagues and communities. We created illustrations, that accompany vivid stories from fellow co-workers to “share a meal” with our clients in this post-COVID, highly digital, era.
The Table Setting
Having heard that KNOCK is one of the most diverse agencies in Minneapolis, I wanted to highlight their multiculturalism. I began by thinking of aspects that spans culture. Pretty quickly, the role of food came to mind. Food is unique in the ways it brings people together in conversation and community. Recipes can be a carefully guarded secret, a source of pride and identity, but, more importantly, how they are shared with trusted loved ones, and adapted, generation after generation.
Arepas con Queso
A Columbian Family Buffet
Each dish illustration is packed full of meaning and nuance gathered from co-workers through interviews. Alexandra Cuervo's Columbian Arepa recipe is presented with an array of butter, Cotija cheese, tomatoes, and limes on the table. While these are items her family enjoys atop their Arepa's, on the plate are items Alexandra personally delights in.
Latkes
Lighten Your Heart with Bubbie’s Latkes
While Latkes are center stage in this illustration, Zola Pineles’ story of her family Hanukkah celebrations tells a vivid story of gathering around a feast of food and family. There was an excellent opportunity to feature, not only additional food and drink, but also familial traditional card games. In doing so, a more vivid picture can be portrayed to align with her lively story.
Moqueca de Peixie
Send Your Tastebuds to The Brazilian Coast
While we featured two stories that are made with family at home, we also took the opportunity to explore a recipe from KNOCK’s founder, Lili Hall, that cannot be easily replicated in Minnesota. This was a unique story of her tradition of traveling to Brazil for holidays, and the long wait to enjoy this dish. It was appropriate to have a formal restaurant setting with this meal.
Spaetzle
Cultural Rediscovery
Not only does this project feature multicultural celebration through race, religion, immigration, but also heritage rediscovered. So is the case with Spaetzle rediscovered by me. We explored the perspective of an American with German heritage, reconnecting and learning how to make Spaetzle. This image ended up being one of the more sparce recipes, as a reflection on more knowledge and reconnection to be learned.
The Locale
Food is well known to be the universal coming together of a community. However, as my research into food and cultures progressed, issues related to origin arose. Many dishes have been traded among cultures as people have moved throughout history, likewise, country lines have shifted, ultimately changing the "place of origin." While I wanted to acknowledge the often-fraught history of origination, that story was too vast to explore in this project of gratitude. Instead, we chose to highlight our co-worker's personal relation to their dish and how they engage with their culture while making and enjoying it. In a nod to the culture our co-workers shared in this project, Fuechee Thao, designed these beautiful stamps.
This project was created in collaboration with KNOCK Inc.