Blindsided with Room4Dessert

For the first time in 70 plus days, the four of us came together in one room to create a little experience for Room4Dessert's Blindsided dinner guests.

”Together but apart. The menu is meant to be a surprise and won’t be too complicated—you will have to boil some water and slice some things. We will leave a little space for your magic touch. At least for the dessert portion, where we will invite you to plate one of our signature desserts.”
—Chef Will Goldfarb

Inspired by the pass the parcel game, we created an interactive experience where guests got a wrapped gift that had a connection to the course they were about to enjoy. All the products came from Room4Dessert's new range of Pasar products, including sourdough panko, lemon kosho, a tisane, and seeds.

Individually wrapped and hand-lettered parcels with the names of the corresponding courses.

For some beautiful shots of the plated food created by one guest, head to over to R4D's instagram. You can also add the playlist for the night to your Spotify account. It was lovely to be back in the realm of creativity and events, even if it was ‘new normal‘.

Behind the Design: Attendee gift bags for TEDxUbud

Our attendee gift bags are one of our favorite things to put together for our guests. When we start the process of thinking about what we want to give our attendees we want to make it as practical, beautiful and durable as possible. The last thing we want is for the attendee to get home after the event and throw everything into the trash.  

Starting with the bag itself, we ensure it's something people will want to use again and again. Some of our 'frequent flyer' attendees still use all their editions on a weekly basis. This year we created a backpack style, perfect for both men and women and for people on motorbikes every day. We also design the bag itself to have minimal branding; no one wants to be a walking billboard. 

Then we turn our attention to curating the contents of the bag. Everything is chosen to be useful at the event itself or to be something the attendees can use at home to remember the day by. We are very lucky to be in Bali- home to some of the world's most talented artisans and creators. 

This year we had a mixed nut and dried fruit snack by Bali Buda, a health food institution in Bali; Utama Spice's all natural and highly effective bug spray for dusk; Krakakoa's amazing Indonesian sustainably grown and fair trade chocolate; a beautiful bangle by Aum Rudraksha; a traditional Indonesian ikat sachet of cloves and screen printed bookmark with a prayer of creation by Threads of Life; and a set of wooden reusable cutlery to use at the event and then during ongoing travels. 

We chose to create a set of cutlery because while we could buy bamboo disposable cutlery for the event, we thought it would be a good way to also remind attendees of their impact on the environment and the role 'single use' anything plays in that. 

Behind the Design: TEDxUbud Gift Bags

Coming up with a new way to surprise attendees is one of the biggest challenges each year. In the past we've done an 'offering box' of gifts, experimented with typography, and had the program on the bag itself- all in the name of creating whole new and fresh experiences for the return TEDxUbud attendees. 

This year we wanted to use some bright colors and have a bigger bag; we were excited to work once again with Hatiku Indonesia to create something beautiful in canvas with leather accents. 

This year's program was created in homage to the venue, The House of Masks and Puppets. They doubled as a hand-fan for anyone feeling the heat and we tied them to the bags. 

Of course, once you have a bag you need amazing things to put in it! We always curate the gifts in line with the needs of attendees during the day- the last thing we want to do is provide an item destined for the bin once people get home.

This year we had the amazing good fortune to work with the team at Quarzia, an amazing artisanal company creating modern batik textiles, to create a silk sleeping mask for each attendee. 

We also had a drink bottle supplied by our presenting sponsor Zurich Indonesia to help reduce waste caused by plastic water bottles at events, organic Indonesia cacao nibs by Big Tree Farms to satisfy any cravings, and the all-natural bug spray by Utama Spice to keep the mosquitos at bay in our outdoor venue.