- Client Penguin Books
- Industry Media, Art & Culture
- Region International
- Discipline Print, Book Design
Jamie's strong visual instinct, in depth knowledge of his target audience and ability to recognise opportunities in the market place led him to his latest project 'Jamie Does...'. With cheap, short-haul flights and long weekend getaways becoming increasingly popular and within a few short hours of the UK he recognised that there are new and exciting worlds of food just waiting to be discovered.
The concept seemed simple; hop on a cheap flight somewhere, absorb the culture, see the sights, smell the smells, eat the food and then learn how to cook it when you get home. The challenge for Interstate was to seamlessly and beautifully combine this along with Jamie's zeal and over 7000 of David Loftus's beautiful images, at the same time perfectly conveying the spirit and heritage of each individual country. And do it in half the usual time. What followed was almost 1,450 studio hours of grid systems, layouts, picture editing and skillful typography which resulted in Jamie himself saying: "Interstate Associates - the brilliant designers who took my words and David's pictures and turned them into this beautiful book. The results speak for themselves!"
The key to bringing each of the elements together was a clever grid system which allowed for the tailored styling of each country. The busy markets of Morocco are expressed through overlapping and rich coloured imagery; the antiquity of Greece conveyed in tile-like montages in bright azures and peacock greens and the beauty of Italy is perfectly depicted through artful textured crops and vivid full-bleeds. An additional touch of typographic and photographic textures, translated page numbers, bespoke country-specific page breakers and representative typefaces, all of which gave an overall sense of the country, flavours, optimism and fun.
Flicking through the book, the reader instantly recognises which country chapter they are in; the balance of textures, colours and scenes physically transporting the mind to those destinations: reminders for those who have visited before and inspiration to 'get up and go' for those who haven't. Interstate have created a modern and timeless cookbook and travelogue.
360 page hardback book, and details of the dust jacket and inside spreads.
Initial concept workings; including image colour grouping, hand-made letter press and grid/layout experiments.
Pagination for the 16 page Penguin Publisher’s ‘Book Layout And Design’ (BLAD).
Writing sample from Jamie Oliver and spread options replicating this through other handwriting styles and typefaces.
Development of layouts, and the BLAD printed piece with ‘Jamie’s Weekend Breaks’ as the working title.
Developing the book concept; page header patterns for each country chapter, inspired by the master floral pattern (top) used for other aspects in the book.
Developing the book concept; language translations of “Bon Appétit” in the ‘country specific’ typefaces.
Developing the book concept; the process of constructing a ‘how to make’ recipe spread; from identifying key stages in the recipe method, to choosing images that best demostrate each step and laying out the recipe in an easy-to-follow format.
Remote approval system; using online software, as well as weekly meetings, to develop and review the design of spreads with Jamie Oliver internationally.
Final stages of artwork; proof read mark-ups and the entire record of final corrections.
Final stages of artwork; swatch tests to check colour balancing throughout all chapters.
Final stages of artwork; running sheets from the printers of all spreads from the book.
‘Greece’ chapter divider, ‘Spain’ chapter introduction spread, and a ‘Italy’ recipe spread.
Detail of the ‘country specific’ typography and page number translation within individual country chapters.
Spreads from the ‘Morocco’ chapter displaying a recipe and the story collage of making traditional mint tea.
