Meghan Clapham

Seconds

Meghan’s thesis topic stemmed from her interest in hospitality and the food and beverage industry. Being raised in a household where her partners were involved in the industry and all her part-time work was in restaurants, it was impossible for her not to love it. Her thesis looks at the ‘Gin-trification of the Irish Craft Gin Packaging’ which unpacks the exploitation of portraying traditionality and a sense of a nation’s brand on the packaging of Irish craft gins. This project is based on Meghan’s findings of the shift from an evidential handmade package to a superficial image. She realised that the way an object is portrayed may not necessarily mean it is the truth.

This publication is multifunctional. It provides the audience with an insight into Meghan’s personal life and experiences that she has encountered relating to self-expression in the hospitality industry. This ties in with the theme of not everything is as it seems. Today, society puts labels on everything that we do and even though there are many places becoming accepting of self-expression, there are still barriers. She wants people to think twice. The visual appearance of someone should not hinder their path to reach their full potential.

Meghan has 2applied the theme of not everything is as it seems to foraging as this is a passion of hers. Similarly with nature, the so-called weeds and shrubs have more to give than being that plant on the side of the road. The publication has a focus on identifying these plants and providing recipes where they can be used to their full potential.

Throughout the publication the aim is to demonstrate the shift in appearance from foraging to going to work in the restaurant. Meghan wants to highlight that even though there are barriers into the hospitality industry at an educational level regarding one's appearance, this should not stop you from following that vision and do not let it hinder your own expression.

The title of this project is based on the idea that at a first glance society sees a surface level image of a person or object. It is when you give that person or object the time or space that it needs that you uncover the full potential and therefore it has a second meaning. ‘Seconds’ is also a term which we see used in the hospitality industry for more food.

Slow Way

Fossil fuel combustion contributes to a large sum of greenhouse gas emissions. It is vital to reduce our reliance on motorised personal vehicles to cut down our negative impact on the environment. A solution to this is hybrid travel of active and passive travel. Hybrid travel allows for a more inclusive way of traveling because it covers a larger area and facilitates areas of the country that may not have practical infrastructure for active travelling. Global tourism accounts for 8% of greenhouse gas emissions. One transcontinental flight could equate to a sum of your carbon footprints a whole year’s worth of driving. Walking and cycling help you to save your money, help the planet, and allow you to get to know your surroundings. The aim of this project is to make hybrid travel for holidays a more appealing option by creating a toolkit which the user can order prior to their trip. This will have a personalised route that they will embark on. At the end of their journey this toolkit will be kept as a keep safe.

The target of Slow Way is an audience ranged between 20-29. These people are passionate about travelling and seeing the world, being enriched by what it has to offer. They are also conscious of the footprint that they leave on this planet. The web service allows the audience to input the location which they wish to travel from and where they intend on travelling to. They will be able to allocate how much time they wish to spend making this trip. The service generates a route for the audience. At this point, if the map does not suit the user, they may amend it by editing the amount of time spent on specific modes of transport. This will have an overall effect on the other modes of transport to keep in time with the user's specific duration. This will make the user feel in control of the decisions made and even if they are trying to reduce their footprint but have limited time to travel it will still give them the opportunity to put their best foot forward.