Publication Design

Gift of Love — Cookbook

A warm, family-feeling cookbook built on a calm grid and generous food imagery.

Role: Publication design, grid system, layout and artwork for print
Disciplines: Publication, Print

The challenge

A cookbook has to work in the kitchen, not just on the coffee table. Recipes vary wildly in length, ingredient counts and step counts, so the layout needs to absorb that variation while staying readable at arm's length with flour on your hands.

Gift of Love cookbook recipe spread for Kerala Style Stir Fried Beef, with a photograph and story panel on the left page and the ingredients and method on the right page — Kerala Style Stir Fried Beef: photograph and story panel on the left; ingredients and method on the right.

The approach

Each recipe runs across one spread. The left page carries the photograph of the dish and the contributor's own story in a soft tinted panel; the right page carries the recipe — the title in bold condensed capitals with the contributor's name beneath, ingredients grouped into lettered sets, a numbered method, notes, and a small table where a recipe needs one, such as the layer order for a lapis. Section openers like Drinks use the same tinted panel for an introduction and a health tip. Running headers mark the section and the recipe on every page, and the book is wire-bound so it opens flat.

Gift of Love cookbook recipe spread for Lapis Chempedak, with a photograph and story panel on the left page and the ingredients, method and notes on the right page — Lapis Chempedak: photograph and the contributor's story on the left; ingredients in lettered sets, numbered method and notes on the right.

The outcome

The finished book keeps a steady, unhurried rhythm from cover to cover, and the template means new recipes can be added later without redesigning a page. 100 books were printed to a high quality standard.

Gift of Love cookbook Drinks section spread, with an introduction and health tip on the left page and the Lemongrass Drink recipe on the right page — Drinks opener: introduction and health tip on the left; Lemongrass Drink with its benefits, ingredients and method on the right.

Gift of Love cookbook contents page with a large vertical CONTENTS on a mustard block and recipes listed with page numbers — Contents: sections in mustard, recipes and page numbers in two columns.