A personal project combining a love of food, music, photography and design.

My girlfriend and I have always had two shared passions; cooking and music. They’ve been there all through our relationship, from bonding over restaurant meals to cooking classes in Morocco and eventually cherished nights in the kitchen of our home, all the while with music in the background. Recently, we decided to do something about it in the form of Act the Goat, a food and music brand designed to provide an accessible way for others to embrace cooking and have a good time doing it.

A close collaboration that speaks to our shared aesthetic, sense of humour and style, Act the Goat is infused with both of our personality throughout. While Charlotte’s dealt with much of the marketing, product development and cooking, I’ve naturally taken care of the visual side and website of Act the Goat. From art directing and designing the brand to developing a custom Wordpress theme, photographing the food and writing the features, it’s a diverse challenge that utilises my experience in design, photography and copy-writing to satisfying variety.

While developing the brand, we wanted Act the Goat to be quirky and fun - a nod to it’s name which literally means to be silly - but still visually appealing and with an element of musical cool. Taking a minimal approach that would allow the food photography to be it’s hero, I developed a bold, recognisable logo along with clean, impactful typography. Splashes of colour categorise it’s different tenets while injecting an element of personality.

Where Act the Goat really shows it’s personality is in it’s voice; relaxed, carefree and even potty-mouthed at times. An ode to the kitchen where anything goes but fun is the order of the day. We wanted the brand to be personal and accessible, speaking to an audience just maturing into a love of fine food who’ve likely come from musical scenes where decadence is celebrated and brands reflect every-day life.

Working off the Wordpress platform - one excellently designed for the scale of a website such as this and the categorisation required - I designed and developed a custom theme including pre-loaders, css animation and a fluidly responsive grid.

In a bid to expand our audience and spread the word of musicians, chefs and other writers we appreciate, we wanted to encourage third party features. Soliciting recipes from artists and cooks, we create promotional features from them that allow them to share their love of food while promoting their own output in a fun, creative way.

Wanting to take Act the Goat beyond merely the digital world, we’re developing a range of product to build into an online store. From chopping boards - made in a prison workshop where inmates can develop much needed skills - to our hand marbled tableware, forthcoming moleskin recipe books and a streetwear inspired apron, we hope to bring a new slant to what’s currently available. Incorporating an element of music and streetwear with a much loved passion of throwing a damn good dinner party.

While Act the Goat has hit the ground as a running success - quickly gaining a respondent audience both on it’s website and social channels with many cooking our recipes - it’s an ever growing project.

Originally conceived as a way for us to work on something productive together, it’s been entertaining, challenging and educational in equal measures - everything I could hope for from a side project.

With product currently in development, we hope to be able to monetise the audience and create a brand we truly care about while spreading the word of others and are excited for what the future holds.

View the website at actthegoat.com