“The food products I might eat in the future speak to me!”

PUBLISHING DATE
January 30, 2025
CATEGORIES


In this exclusive interview, Laura Palmer, graphic designer, illustrator, and graphic facilitator, shares her experience working on major SIAL Paris projects, including the CSR charter and the SIAL Summit, and how visual storytelling enhances discussions on sustainability and innovation in the food industry

Can you tell us about your career path and what led you to work on major SIAL Paris projects such as the CSR charter and the SIAL Summit?
I’m Laura Palmer, a freelance graphic designer, illustrator and graphic facilitator, who’s been with us for 5 years now.I have a bachelor’s degree in graphic design and a master’s degree in ‘Brand Design and food’ from the Ecole de Design Nantes Atlantique, during which I was able to apply my graphic design skills to projects involving food products and services.After this master’s degree, I had my first work experience in a completely different sector from the food industry, at Nod-A, as a junior graphic designer, before setting up my own business.

Today, I work with a wide range of clients on graphic projects (logos, posters, illustrations, graphic facilities), not just in the food sector.

In working on the CSR charter and the SIAL Summit, what challenges have you encountered, and how do these initiatives reflect the current issues of sustainability and innovation in the food industry?
My role at the SIAL Summits, as a graphic facilitator, was to capture the main points of the speeches, and to synthesise them live using this mix of text and illustration. It’s a job that requires a lot of concentration, especially at conferences as dense and interesting as those at SIAL. I have to understand what’s being said, and I draw everything directly in digital form on my iPad, which still allows me to go back and make corrections afterwards. Although I’m not an expert in the field, food is a subject that affects us all, so it was a pleasure to listen to their discussions, which were sometimes more complex, as when we discussed issues around deeptech, and to learn how it all works today and how it will work tomorrow. I particularly enjoyed the discussions at Round Table 2, at the African food summit, with chef Georgina Viou, who inspired me to open up to new flavours. It was also very impressive for me to be at such a big show, and to realise the multitude of proposals and innovations.

It was my skills as a graphic facilitator that brought me to SIAL, and my relationship with Proteines XTC, the event’s partner, with whom I’ve been working for a number of years. I work with them on workshops and other food innovation projects. I help them bring to life the many concepts developed at these workshops, by illustrating them. It’s like a packaging project but without the technical constraints, it’s very creative, and it allows me to put to good use the knowledge I acquired during my Masters. And then, once again, the food products I might eat in the future speak to me! I can have a critical opinion on them, and more easily propose changes and enter into discussions with experts. I’m really part of the project in these cases.

Can you tell us more about your future projects?
For the future, I hope to be back at great events like this one, and to give life to all the information that can be exchanged. I’m already planning to go to a few workshops and company seminars. I’d also be delighted to illustrate food-related projects, such as recipe books, posters for events, the visual identity of a restaurant… all the best!

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