The Robin Collective: Bonkers

Every now and then we'll be talking to someone we work with about how they got to where they are, where they hope to go next and what advice they'd give to anyone wanting to get into the industry. This week we're talking to the very lovely Brandy from the Robin Collective.

Teatime: So, Brandy.... how would you describe your job?

Brandy: I've always regarded myself as a designer as I am a formally trained product and graphic designer but with The Robin Collective I consider myself more of a food futurologist. We push food to new realms by creating sensory and often silly events. Most are like a children's birthday party on steroids. I head up most of the creative concepts, food design and just getting stuck in with cooking. 

Teatime: How did you end up where you are now?

Brandy: Through hard work and kindness. Our roots are with Bompas & Parr and I still regard them as our jelly family. They not only taught us that anything is possible but by being sociable and kind, you create business contacts that become loyal friends. 

Taxidermy in action at Taxidermy and Tea

We are eternally grateful for the opportunities we have been given and the collaborations we've had. In 2011 we joined forces with Animal Vegetable Mineral to create Taxidermy & Tea. We had had the idea but with other projects in the way, it was impossible to implement by ourselves. These girls were amazing and put their own twist on the event, bringing a fresh feeling to our events catalogue and proving that collaborations can work rather well.

My colleagues, Elspeth and Robin are fabulous creatives as well but with much more practical PR experience which has been invaluable. It can be daunting but we owe a lot to social media!

Teatime: Do you wish you had done anything differently?

Brandy: A couple of things...

Quit my day job sooner rather than later. Life is so much better being my own boss.

Get over the fear of proposal rejection. I used to hold back on my more bizarre ideas and thus held back our potential. It's taken me a long time to realise that most clients find those far-out ideas charming and innovative.

Teatime: What are you working on at the moment?

Brandy: A series of bitters called Historical Bitters. We go into the spaces of famous Britons and extract moisture from the walls, then brew it into our delicious bitters. Each one is unique to the historical figure and can be used to sip or jazz up cocktails and spirits. So far we've brewed Winston Churchill, Alfred Conan Doyle and The Elephant Man.



We are also rolling out our Medicinal Marshmallows into a travelling event called Marshmallow Apothecary. We diagnose and fill prescriptions with marshmallows. My favourite flavour is The Broken Heart Mender, a red wine and black pepper mallow.

Teatime: What have been your favourite projects so far and why?

Brandy: Cafe du Piqué Nique as it was our very first and was such a feel good project. We filled the Future Gallery with turf, pumped it full of cut grass scents and sunshine and invited guests to picnic with us. The food was delicious, it was early days so our friends lent a hand and we even had a chap propose to his lady. 

Cafe du Pique Nique at Future Gallery

In those days we used to present fun ideas at White Blackbird, an ongoing event that would host country house parties. I always think about this incredible room that they had which was filled with trampolines. Things like that I wish we had thought of!

The White Blackbird Childhood party. Image via NY Times

We also loved working with Pinkberry when they launched in Westfield Stratford City. The Robin Collective created a series of seasonal toppings including Santa's Beard and Christmas Tree flavour. They looked almost too nice to eat!

Teatime: What are your hopes/plans for the future? Do you have an end goal?

Brandy: We are in the process of moving into a larger workshop in order to implement more props into our events and have a larger experimental test kitchen. My colleague, Elspeth, is also an actress and I'd love to bring more of that element into our events. We really take pride in offering work experience to creatives new on the scene too. Implementing and developing that programme is very important to us as we know the industry can be like. Too often good talent is overlooked just because that individual does not yet have an impressive list of client names.

Teatime: How and when does inspiration strike? Do you have a process for coming up with ideas?

Brandy: We just like having a laugh about anything and everything so inspiration is always there. The idea for Taxidermy & Tea came about while joking about how bored we can get with cupcakes, Wonderland themes, vintage furs and curiosities. The concept for Historical Bitters hit when I suffered a rather terrible lung infection last year and had to go on inhalers.

Elspeth loves bees and my parents keep hives so it was natural that we'd create a giant beehive in central London. As you do.

Robin is a bit more structured with ideas, he loves to trial things and test. One of our events was based on a novel that he wrote while driving the wedding jelly van across Europe for Bompas & Parr. We try to create the next trend, such as marshmallows taking over the spotlight from red velvet cake.

Teatime: What are you interested in right now?

Brandy: For me, nakedness and microwaves. I think there is a lot of potential in those areas.

Robin is into radios at the moment, he's been working on a fabulous concept where we hang radios from the trees like apples and then transmit the soundtrack to a forest dance party. Of course this would take place on a secret island near my house.

Teatime: Who do you admire and why?

Brandy: There is an animator in the United States named Pendleton Ward. His ideas come from the most obscure places and he always finds time to draw with friends. He draws because that's what he loves, not just because it is his job. I really admire that he's successful because he loves what he does. 

Pendleton Ward in contemplation

I'm also quite taken with Alexa Perrin at the moment, creator of The Experimental Food Society and recently House of Wolf. We've known her for years but I'm still in awe of her ability to curate a great mix of artists without exploiting. She always looks killer beautiful too! 

Teatime: What is your advice for people who would like a job like yours?

Brandy: Roll up your sleeves and get experience but be insistent that you want something to show for it by the time you're finished. Be firm, but fair and really helpful. I'm a director and still stay up to 5am writing proposals or even cleaning pots after an event.

You can find out more about the Robin Collective and their amazing projects via their website, Facebook and Twitter.