Students compete at annual AIGA Chili Cook-off

SCAD Atlanta’s AIGA club hosted the annual Chili Cook-off event on Feb. 17. The event was an opportunity for student designers to show off their skills, as well as for students and faculty to mingle and enjoy some great chili.

This year, seven different student teams competed: Harvest Chili, Chili Chili Bang Bang, CHILL, To Bean or Not to Bean, &Chili, Chili Hot Chicks and Desi Chili.

When asked about the inspiration for the team name &Chill, Cydeny Ahlberg, a fourth-year graphic design student, said, “It’s a play on ‘Netflix and chill’ … and we have toppings and toppings and toppings.” &Chili won the prize for best chili along with teammate Ryan Johnson, also a fourth-year graphic design student.

The event, which started at 10 a.m. and went through 1 p.m., allowed guest to try different chili recipes from each stall and see each team’s branding and design.

When asked about his favorite thing about the event, third-year graphic design student Austin Klubenspies said he enjoyed branding everything along with his team. His team, Harvest Chili, won the prize for best branding and design.

While most teams made traditional chili recipes, other teams offered alternative and creative options. Desi Chili made an Indian-inspired chili with rice, while CHILL added a fun and unconventional twist to the cook-off by offering ice cream.

“[Some] people don’t eat certain things like meat, onions or garlic, and that just leaves beans, so we wanted to make something fun and punny that everyone enjoys,” said Gabby Cidras, a fourth-year graphic design student. CHILL served home-made ice cream with a variety of toppings and Turkish coffee.

Winners were announced by a team of judges in the following categories:

Best Chili – &Chili

Best Vegetarian Chili – Chili Hot Chicks

Best Branding – Harvest Chili

People’s Choice – Desi Chili

“For the trophies, I wanted to do something funny,” said third-year graphic design student Ashley Stewart, who designed the trophies using recycled hot sauce bottles. “A lot of the past trophies have been kitchen appliances and so I thought it would be cool to try something different.” Stewart also said that while it was her first time participating and helping with the cook-off, she’d had a lot of fun organizing the event.

The cook-off was sponsored by Sam Flax, Bon Appetit and Creative Approach, and SCAD Atlanta Radio DJ’d the event.