When Jamie Oliver decided to take his “Food Revolution“ movement on the road he sought help from the Rockwell Group to design his mobile food truck. Designed pro bono by the Rockwell Group, the truck will travel to communities to educate kids, parents and professionals about healthy food and cooking.
Architect: Rockwell Group Photographs: Courtesy of Rockwell Group
The bold graphics on the outside of the truck will help it to serve as a brand ambassador all across the United States. The powerful black and white revolutionary logo of a hand holding a spoon accompanied by the sharp text “Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution,” will be softened with green, blue, white and orange punches of spray-painted graffiti graphics of stars, utensils, fruits and vegetables. Riffing off of the sunburst theme in the original graphic from Jamie Oliver’s show on ABC, red and white stripes of sunrays appear on the background of the truck, adding a sense of speed and vitality to the design. The spirited, spontaneous nature of the design is a nod to Jamie Oliver’s own way of cooking.
When the truck arrives at the school, state or street fair or farmer’s market, it will create an immediate, unexpected spectacle as it expands in a variety of ways to make room for a culinary event. The sides of the truck push out laterally for events inside the truck, and a white bandshell with vibrant red stars can be inflated outside the back of the truck to house even larger events.
The inside of the truck is covered with white wallpaper with a set of tiny colorful culinary graphics similar to those on the outside. Oversized versions of these stenciled symbols are pasted on the doors and cabinets, complemented by the Corian confetti surfaces. On the walls of the truck are a whiteboard magnet map that will reflect the places the truck has toured through, and a big book mounted in the corner with large whiteboard ‘pages’ that include a welcome page, an integrated monitor with a video of Jamie Oliver, a menu, ingredients, and a thank you page.
When the sides of the truck are pushed out, there is room both for an expo kitchen, and 8 separate cooking stations. Each of these stations or carts are custom designed by Rockwell Group to outfit two children with a kitchen’s worth of equipment. The cart has a red powder-coated metal finish, with a butcher block counter, two stove tops, baskets underneath for pots and pans, and drawers for utensils. This way the children can work on their own, so they can see for themselves how easy it is to use simple ingredients to make healthy meals.
When the children are done cooking, carts can be pushed together to form one big communal table where they can all sit down on metal stools with colorful star-patterned cushions to eat what they have cooked. Rockwell Group also designed placemats with whimsical stencils of a plate and cutlery. And after the event is over, kids can clean their dishes in the line of sinks in back of the truck.
This whole set up can also be moved outside under the bandshell for larger expositions. These levels of flexibility will enable more personal, multi-dimensional, interactive experiences for the public. And when the truck itself arrives, it will provide a fully immersive and theatrical way for kids and adults to interact with the temporary kitchens, and learn about Jamie Oliver’s new, fresh ingredients, recipes, and more.
