Chronicle Books Blog

We try not to play favorites with the books we design—all merit equal love and attention. But sometimes a book comes along that steals your attention away. It’s the kind of book you can’t wait to work on, and you think about it when you’re in line for a movie or talking to friends. D.I.Y. Delicious is just this kind of a book for me. All the pieces came together in dreamy book design magic.

The first hint that this would be a great project was the premise: how to make simple everyday foods from scratch, be it ketchup, avjar, or yogurt—all of which taste way better than the store-bought stuff. I don’t usually work on cookbooks, but I loved reading the manuscript for this one. In a friendly and realistic way, author Vanessa Barrington talks about making edible staples to keep in your pantry, like pickles and sauces to use in meals whenever you want so you don’t always need to run for to the store.

It shouldn’t be a surprise, but Vanessa Barrington was a dream author. When we met to discuss the design direction she had great ideas, a good design sensibility, and an open mind. All the recipes were shot in her home, by the lovely Sara Remington. It was a casual setting, using a lot of natural light and styled with low-key homey dishes and vintage fabrics.

I used these vintage fabrics and textiles to inspire the design of book. Sara and her prop stylist Kami Bremyer sent me various tablecloths, napkins, and aprons featured in the book for us to scan, and Vanessa even sent me the shirt she was wearing!

Getting the cover just right was another matter. We had the challenge to make it look different from other books that feature canning and pickling, and we needed to convey that this book has much more than just that. Here’s the first round:

We also felt it was important to show the tasty, good for you, fresh and homey nature of these recipes. Here’s another round of covers:

The cover on the bottom right eventually led us to the final direction, replacing the wheat berry salad with a more colorful asparagus and potato salad, shot just for the cover. We also included the dressing, bread, and butter—all of which are featured in the book, made from scratch.

The fabric on the spine is meant to evoke the warmth of a homespun kitchen, and the stitching motif is a nod to D.I.Y. culture. It was great to have the author on board for this design not only because it made the process a lot more fun, but also to see her so proud and happy to share her book with others:

I’m pretty happy with it too. It’s a chunky book, with good paper and the colors came out great. The only thing that would make it look better would be to see it surrounded by pickled vegetables and homemade treats on a kitchen shelf.

Suzanne LaGasa
Designer

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