My Recipe Journal
Official merchandise, 2018
Tools - Copic markers, blending paper, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Illustrator
Cooking and storing recipes should be fun and cosy, instead of difficult and stressful. I found myself storing recipes that I liked on loose sheets of paper or notepads that went missing 3 months down the line when cravings reawoke.
I had the idea to make a recipe journal that would feel personal and handmade. Even though there are a wide range of apps and digital planners for people to store recipes more conveniently, storing them in writing can be a fun way to keep things handmade (and also to make personal notes on any tweaks).
I started off with some moodboarding.
Then, I went on to draw the cover illustration with traditional media. I took inspiration from the festivities around Christmas and New Year’s in Dhaka, when the weather is cooler and it feels easier to move about and get baking. Most families are off from work and school around this time and family dinners are more possible.
The front and back covers
I drew a young girl pouring some drinks for dinner with family or friends. In the background. I picked out a colour palette that felt festive yet easy for the eyes. I kept the artwork deliberately handmade.
Inner front pages
For the inner front pages, I used acrylic paints to make the motifs, and made a pattern design by scanning them, digitising them on Adobe Photoshop, and creating a pattern design. I wanted there to be an option to write the name of who the book belongs to because I wanted it to feel as personal as possible.
The inner pages
For the inner pages, I drew out the motifs by hand, scanned and vectorised them, and then arranged them onto pages using InDesign.
Final stage
Having finished designing these, I printed almost 55 notebooks and promoted them on social media. They sold out within 2 weeks so I assume the spontaneous project was a success! I look forward to working on more custom stationery for a similar target audience with a better promotion plan and images. I used organic and paid promotions on my Facebook page targeted towards a very specific niche and it seemed to have performed better than expected!
