These design-inspired sushi rolls have us questioning our lunch choices.

Core77 2013 Year in Review: Top Ten Posts · Furniture, Pt. 1 · Furniture, Pt. 2
Digital Fabrication, Pt. 1 · Digital Fabrication, Pt. 2 · Digital Fabrication, Pt. 3 · Digital Fabrication, Pt. 4
Insights from the Core77 Questionnaire · Maker Culture: The Good, the Bad and the Future · Food & Drink
Materials, Pt. 1: Wood · Materials, Pt. 2: Creative Repurposing · Materials, Pt. 3: The New Stuff
True I.D. Stories · High-Tech Headlines · The Year in Photos

From Kickstarted CNC cookware to sandwich doodles, we've had quite the year in food hacks and innovations. Some of them completely unnecessary (I'm looking at you, Budweiser beer can design) and some were absurdly awesome flags made of regional food favorites.

Beer

We started out the year with an influx of beer innovation in design in the form of a designer-centric drinking guide—to your brew's color, that is. The Beertone Color Reference Guide is an ode to Pantone's color swatch format that gives beer drinking designers an industry-friendly look at the brew they're throwing back.

Of course, mainstream drinkers were more likely to come across some of the new beer packaging we saw. Sam Adams' parent company, Boston Beer Co.—a group who had never previously dealt with the design of their cans—turned to IDEO to help them come up with the best of the best. And then there was that time that Budwesier developed a more "on-brand" shape with the curved form that matched their bow-tie logo. (We aren't quite sure whether that accomplished anything or not.) And IDEO isn't the only one getting involved in beer—Marc Newson took a stab at designing a storage system for Heineken, dubbed The Sub.

Union Wine Co. put wine in a beer can (and we love it).

What We Drink Out Of

Another spirit also inspired a bit of innovation in the can industry, as this year saw the introduction of Union Wine Co.'s revolutionary wine in cans. More traditional oenophiles might be more interested in simple, tilted glassware, designed by Nicolas Brouillac for Peugeot (the French automaker also used to produce coffee mills). These carafes are only matched (or topped, depending on your happy hour tastes) by a dual beer glass from the Pretentious Beer Glass Company.

And speaking of drinking vessels, 2013 marked the centennial of the so-called "Perfect Mason," and we took the occasion explore the history of canning jars. Read up and wow your friends with your new knowledge on the commercial throwback to "the good old times" the next time you're being all trendy with your Ball Jar Bloody Marys... or accessorizing the storied object with a handy compartment or French Portland press.

National flags were given a tasty makeover with these regionally inspired food flags.

Food That Looks Like Other Things

There's nothing more patriotic than a flag made out of your homeland's favorite chow. Absolutely nothing. Which is why ad agency Whybin/TBWA completely nailed it with this commissioned art series. Eye candy and meal-worthy—it doesn't get much better than that. But a notable needs to go out to illustrator Takayo Kiyota and her art-inspired sushi rolls. We've been admiring her edible take on the iPhone for months.

If you're looking for something a little less conspicuous, a series of art museum lookalikes (really made out of gingerbread and other candies) Caitlin Levin and Henry Hargreaves is worth a double-take. The duo combined their food art and photography skills to show off some truly architectural sweets.

The Future of Food & Drink

Maybe its the beer and wine talking, but 2013 has certainly been a fun year for food and beverages. On a more serious note, I'm curious to see if 3D printing spurs a new kind of processed foods in stores in the near future. We've been covering digifab food since the French Culinary Institute started using a 3D printer in their classes, but this year saw at least a couple new developments on that front.

Whether it's extending the shelf life of produce through special paper or finding new (and incredibly dangerous) ways to cook our food, we've got a lot to look forward to in 2014.

Core77 2013 Year in Review:
» Top Ten Posts
» Furniture Design, Pt. 1
» Furniture Design, Pt. 2
» Digital Fabrication, Pt. 1: New Machines for Consumers
» Digital Fabrication, Pt. 2: Materials, Processes and Business Developments
» Digital Fabrication, Pt. 3: What Designers Did
» Digital Fabrication, Pt. 4: Research & Education
» Insights from the Core77 Questionnaire
» Maker Culture: The Good, the Bad and the Future
» Beer Innovation, Fine Art Sushi and More Beer Innovation
» Materials, Pt. 1: Wood
» Materials, Pt. 2: Using Old Materials in New Ways
» Materials, Pt. 3: The New Stuff
» True I.D. Stories
» High-Tech Headlines
» The Year in Photos