Noma is famous for what arrives on the plate, but its obsession starts much earlier.
The team follows the seasons, forages, works closely with farmers and producers, and experiments with ingredients long before anything reaches the dining room.
The dish is the part we see. Most of the work happened before the cooking started.
Iâve noticed the best brand projects are similar. The first few weeks can feel like weâre barely making anything. There are conversations, customer quotes, half-finished thoughts, strange references, and observations that may or may not lead somewhere.
Thatâs the work.
Youâre looking for the raw material that will eventually become the positioning, the story, the identity, and everything else people see.
By the time design starts, the ingredients should already be interesting. Otherwise youâre asking the creative team to make a memorable meal from whatever happened to be in the fridge.
Written by Elan Miller, a brand strategist and creative director and founder of Off-Menu. For longer essays and ideas from the studio, read the Off-Menu newsletter.