Chez Henri Cookbook Design
FOR Graphic Communication Senior Project
MEDIUM Photography & Graphic Design
DATE Spring 2022
THE INSPIRATION
My grandma, Bonnie (shown to the right), has collected recipes from her friends and family from over 50 years and has compiled them into a book filled with photocopies, handwritten notes, binder paper clippings.
Since my grandma lives near me in San Luis Obispo, I thought a great idea for my senior design project would be to redo her cookbook with my graphic design and photography skills. Over the course of 10 weeks, I worked with Bonnie to create an abridged version of the new and improved Chez Henri Cookbook.
WHO IS THIS FOR?
This book will be read by people from all generations and all different cooking backgrounds in my family. From teenagers to old grandmas and grandpas, the most important thing is to ensure that the book is accessible for all.
In order to do this, the book needed incredible consistency. I made sure that each recipe followed the same styles from listing ingredients, to chef notes, to instructions. I used InDesign paragraph/character styles throughout the cookbook to ensure continuity between each page. To ensure each page followed the same layout and spacing, I used an 8 column grid that can be seen on the right.
KEEPING ORGANIZED
Since I only had 10 weeks to complete this project, it was imperative that I made a schedule and stuck to it. I used a GANNT chart to lay out what needed to get done in what parts of the weeks.
GANTT CHART
Categorizing all aspects of this project into 3 categories allowed me to see everything clearly, what needs to be prioritized above other things, and just how much I needed to do.
WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE
PHOTOGRAPHY PROCESS
The meat and potatoes of this project was the cooking and the photographing. Over a period of 7 weeks, my grandma and I cooked 8 different recipes, photographed them (with a plethora of trial and error), and staged each dish in a way that would represent her style. All photos were taken at her house with my own Nikon D7500 camera.
THE FINAL PRODUCT
Although the goal was to get this book printed, the 10-week time crunch did not permit that so below you’ll find the final product of the book mocked up. Enjoy!
