TV FOOD
SCIENCE

EDUCATIONAL ILLUSTRATIONS
FOR (TV) SET DESIGN

BRAVO TV + SYFY NETWORK

EDUCATIONAL ILLUSTRATIONS
FOR (TV) SET DESIGN

PhD student Augustine Urbas, dressed in a white lab coat, and Chef Hugh Acheson dressed in a white chef coat with a black apron on, talk in front of a stainless steel table with various beakers on it, on the set of Bravo TV’s Top Chef Masters “Blinded Me with Science” episode. Behind them on the left is a large yellow and purple illustration on EMULSION, and on the right a large greenish illustration on ELASTICITY.
PhD student Augustine Urbas, dressed in a white lab coat, and Chef Hugh Acheson dressed in a white chef coat with a black apron on, talk in front of a stainless steel table with various beakers on it, on the set of Bravo TV’s Top Chef Masters “Blinded Me with Science” episode. Behind them on the left is a large yellow and purple illustration on EMULSION, and on the right a large greenish illustration on ELASTICITY. Curtis Stone in an open collar blue shirt with a navy jacket on and Padma Lakshmi in a bright orange dress talk to a chef, with the large orange VISCOSITY illustration seen behind Padma’s shoulder, on the set of Bravo TV’s Top Chef Masters “Blinded Me with Science” episode. Chef Naomi Pomeroy, dressed in a black button down shirt, hugs PhD student Carlin Hsueh, dressed in a white lab coat, while they both laugh in front of the greenish illustration on ELASTICITY, on the set of Bravo TV’s Top Chef Masters “Blinded Me with Science” episode. Standing in front of the red and blue illustration on ACIDITY, PhD student Carolyn Tepolt, dressed in a white lab coat, holds some cooking aparatus, on the set of Bravo TV’s Top Chef Masters “Blinded Me with Science” episode.

Though used as Hollywood backdrops, these illustrations are neither flimsy nor fake, but both educational and scientifically correct. Set in food colors and packed with molecular diagrams, they explain the concepts in a delectable way.

Originally created for Bravo TV’s Top Chef Masters “Blinded Me with Science” episode, these illustrations have also been featured on SyFy Network’s Warehouse 13 “Endless Wonder” episode, as well as in several science exhibits.

The food science topics – Viscosity, Emulsion, Elasticity, the Maillard Reaction, and Acidity – were narrowed down by the show creators.

The illustrations were actually developed independent of the show, but with the knowledge that they were intended for a general TV audience and at the high school level of the students featured in the show.

The amount of information chosen to be displayed was based on an intuitive guess as to how long the camera would span over the images. For this reason, the backgrounds play a big part in organizing and conveying the big concepts. For example, the purpose of the curves in the acidity illustration is to allude to the fact that the pH scale is not linear, but logarithmic.

The show valued the digestible illustrations enough to spend costly airtime zooming in on the posters.

As an intuitive cook, dissecting food from new analytical perspectives helped me understand how to better innovate.

The toughest idea to convey was the Maillard reaction, which explains why browning makes food taste so much better, and why food items with lots of protein – or more complex protein chains, like meats – are more flavorful. This helped me understand why I often chose to roast vegetables.

While I had great PhD student science mentors to advise me and to bounce ideas off of, this project entailed conducting a lot of personal science research – chemistry as well as physics – in a very short amount of time.

FOR / ON TV

  • · SyFy Network’s Warehouse 13 “Endless Wonder” Episode, 9/2012
  • · Bravo TV’s Top Chef Masters “Blinded Me with Science” Episode 8, 6/2011

EXHIBITS

  • · “Theory, Food Meets Science at OMSI,” Oregon Museum of Science & Industry, Portland, OR, 12/2012-1/2013
  • · National Science Week, Presented by ScienceFare, Victoria, Australia, 8/2012
  • · “What’s Cooking in the Shine Dome,” Australian Academy of Science, Acton, Australia, 8/2011

FOR SALE

Please contact me for prints or digital rental rights. I still have a few sets of the small prints (8“x12“), printed at the same shop as the TV shows. While bigger the ones have sold out, if you very much want a bigger print, I may be able to coordinate with a local printer.

WORK / CREDITS

Design (& Science Research): Ioana Urma. Science Advisors (as PhD students): Kevin Miklasz (main) and Julia Stewart, with TV show guest scientists Heidi Bednar (Viscosity), Augustine Urbas (Emulsion), Carlin Hsueh (Elasticity), Michael Klopfer (Maillard Reaction), & Carolyn Tepolt (Acidity) also participating in the conversation. Photos: Pulled from TV shows as logos show.

Zoom in on Chef Mary Sue Milliken’s upper body, dressed in a blue chef top, holding up a glass plate on which different thick liquids pour slowly down, while standing in front of the large VISCOSITY illustration framed in stained pine, on the set of Bravo TV’s Top Chef Masters “Blinded Me with Science” episode.
Poster on VISCOSITY featuring illustrations of different liquids and syrups hanging different lengths off of seven spoons, and illustrations of molecular bonds, set against a pink and orange background.
Zoom in on Chef Hugh Acheson’s upper body, dressed in a white chef coat with a black apron and two pens in his left arm’s pocket, head looking down, concerned, standing in front of the large EMULSION illustration framed in stained pine, on the set of Bravo TV’s Top Chef Masters “Blinded Me with Science” episode.
Poster on EMULSION comparing mayonnaise with vinagrette, with illustrations also of molecular and chemical bonds, set in yellow, orange, pink, blue and maroon.
Zoom in on biochemistry PhD student Carlin Hsueh’s upper body, smiling while talking to someone behind the camera, hands down in front, standing in front of the large ELASTCITY illustration framed in stained pine, on the set of Bravo TV’s Top Chef Masters “Blinded Me with Science” episode.
Poster on ELASTICITY featuring illustrations of the elastic limit of jello and dough, with additional illustrations on the molecular bonds in gluten, set in green and red colors.
Chef Floyd Cardoz, dressed in a white chef outfit, explains something with his arms up and open, behind a table with cooking equipment and in front of a large MAILLARD REACTION illustration framed in stained pine, on the set of Bravo TV’s Top Chef Masters “Blinded Me with Science” episode.
Poster on the MAILLARD REACTION featuring diagrams of all the flavor molecules created when onion is browned, and a temperature range across the top going from raw to burned food, set in yellow and mostly brown colors.
Chef Traci Des Jardins, dressed in a white chef outfit motions with hands up at face level, in front of a large ACIDITY illustration framed in stained pine is behind them, on the set of Bravo TV’s Top Chef Masters “Blinded Me with Science” episode.
Poster on ACIDITY showing a large range of food items across the pH scale background, with illustrated details of hydronium on the left, a neutral ion mix in the center, and hydroxide ions on the right. The background alludes to the logorithmic scale by curving in the shape of a bell curve from left to right.
Curtis Stone in an open collar blue shirt with a navy jacket on and Padma Lakshmi in a bright orange dress taste some food. There are a lot of people and high school students roaming behind them, and on the right can be seen the large red and blue ACIDITY poster, on the set of Bravo TV’s Top Chef Masters “Blinded Me with Science” episode.
Curtis Stone in an open collar blue shirt with a navy jacket on and Padma Lakshmi in a bright orange dress talk to a chef, with the large orange VISCOSITY illustration seen behind Padma’s shoulder, on the set of Bravo TV’s Top Chef Masters “Blinded Me with Science” episode.
Zoom in on illustration on VISCOSITY diagrams of molecular bonds.
Camera zoom in on illustration on emulsion showing water, egg, and oil ingredients, on the set of Bravo TV’s Top Chef Masters “Blinded Me with Science” episode.
Zoom in on illustration on EMULSION diagrams of emulsifiers.
Camera zoom in on illustration on elasticity showing fingers pushing down jello, on the set of Bravo TV’s Top Chef Masters “Blinded Me with Science” episode.

The show valued the digestible illustrations enough to spend costly airtime zooming in on the posters.

Zoom in on illustration on ELASTICITY diagrams of how glutening and gliadin in gluten physically interact to stretch the dough.
Blurry face of a white man listens to what white woman with black curly hair seems to say. An illustration on the MAILLARD REACTION is between them in the background, on the set of SyFy Network’s Warehouse 13 “Endless Wonder” episode.
Zoom in on illustration on the MAILLARD REACTION onion cell diagram which shows the water, sugars, and amino acid molecules present in the cell which can be later recombined using heat to create flavor molecules.
Camera zoom in on illustration on Maillard reaction temperatures at which baking, browning, and burning occur, on the set of Bravo TV’s Top Chef Masters “Blinded Me with Science” episode.
Zoom in on illustration on ACIDITY graph, with partial hydronium ion on left and partial neutral ion on right, and the graphic organization of acidic food items in between.

next project

Aerial rendering of a very lush green hill with residences all over it, typically semi-detached or row houses, layed out along the twisted contours.

WOVEN
HILL

S.E. ASIA
(AT JERDE)