Food Stylist: Design for Cuisine!

Posted: March 8, 2010

Food stylists are culinary artists that work with marketing companies and other clients to make food look appealing. Food stylists style food for magazines, billboards, commercials, product packaging and other advertisements.

Food styling is an artist’s job. It takes creativity and an innovative knack to get the job done right. It is up to the food stylist to bring the taste, smell, and appeal that one gets from the actual food, into a two-dimensional photograph. In other words, it can be harder than it looks.

Food stylists start out in culinary school and generally spend a few years working as a chef or caterer before beginning their career as a food stylist. The best way to begin a career as a food stylist is to work with and established stylist. After assisting, you can begin to branch out and start to look for clients and agencies that may need your skills.

Food stylists have a challenging task – make food look appealing to the public, while utilizing different ingredients in order to do so. Whether it’s using heavy whipping cream as milk or using lipstick on strawberries to make them look more colorful, food stylists must always be on top of their game.

Some interesting tricks of the trade include: blanching green vegetables to make them brighten in color, using chemicals for the appearance of steam, using acrylic ice cubes to prevent shifting or melting and adding detergent with a dropper to give the appearance of bubbles in cold beverages.

There are many different tricks and styling techniques that can only be learned and honed with proper practice and attention to details. Food stylist must be inventive, strategic and patient as food is not very obedient. Food stylist must have a knack for learning and observing new things and must be constantly open to new ideas and techniques.

Food styling is as rewarding as it is entertaining. Food stylists spend their days purchasing, prepping and assembling food for production. Food styling is the perfect career opportunity for detail-oriented individuals who enjoy working with and being creative with food and beverages.