Paper innovation touches new senses

BY Gerard Ivall

Interactivity is a word we have grown used to associating with digital technology. But today's innovators are looking for other ways to engage on a human level. Is the sense of smell the next sensory frontier for design?

Paper is a tactile and visually exciting media; it can provoke emotional and physical responses in ways that screen­based media could never do. Our coloured and textured stocks are specifically designed to make the most of paper's natural qualities in this respect, and we partner with pioneers in many fields to explore the possibilities of paper.

Food is another area where experimentation is currently rife, and where boundaries are being pushed on a daily basis. Food experimentalists Bompas & Parr, who recently spoke at the Beauty in the Making event, work at the forefront of food technology. They specialise in 'mashing up' the culinary arts with other creative disciplines, using science, scale and drama to challenge our preconceptions and entertain us.

Their latest project is a crazy golf event on Selfridges' rooftop featuring scale models of London landmarks made from cake and jelly. But while the licking of the obstacles is not allowed, players will enjoy sniffing the scorecards; in collaboration with GFSmith and Taste Tech, specialist manufacturers of control release flavourings, Colorplan cards were impregnated with the aroma of Bakewell Tart using flavour encapsulation techniques.

The effect adds another sensory dimension to the event, which visionaries, like Bompas & Parr, see as the natural next step in experiential design. That paper is  the vehicle in this case, helps illustrate the untapped and unlimited potential of the material in a creative world where the discovery and application of new sensations is the future.

Play Crazy Golf with Bompas & Parr on Selfridges rooftop from 31st May until 2nd September 2012.

Book tickets or find out more about the ingenious work of Bompas & Parr at jellymongers.co.uk