Role:
Project:
Purpose:
Layout Artist & Graphic Designer
A cookbook template to easily add new recipes.
Personal use.
"Now I don't have to worry about my phone display turning off while my hands are gross!"
Me, Kitchen Amateur
The Task
When I started living on my own, I sourced recipes from family, cookbooks, and the internet. Collected recipes quickly became a mess of saved links, bulky books, and pictures of handwritten notes. I needed to organize recipes into a physical database that could accept additional entries over time: a self-made cookbook.
The Approach
Brainstorming
I started by considering the pros and cons of available formats.
Features | Handwritten Cards | Blog Posts | Retail Cookbooks |
|---|---|---|---|
Uniform Formatting | ✔ | ||
Legibility | ✔ | ✔ | |
Available Offline | ✔ | ✔ | |
Available Templates | ✔ | ||
Proofread for Mistakes | ✔ | ||
Replaceable | ✔ | ✔ | |
Personal Collection | ✔ | ||
Customizable |
Comparison of recipe mediums.
I studied how information was organized in each form.
Formatting research, annotated with likes and dislikes.
Considerations
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Binding method: 3-ring binder
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Using cheap materials for low cost home use
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Limited to maximum 8.5" x 11" paper
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Color printing possible, but grayscale is easiest
Preparation icons.
From left to right, top row: fryer, slow cooker, oven.
Middle row: (skillet) stovetop, rice cooker, blender.
Bottom row: mixing bowl.
Clock icons.
Grey sections indicate elapsed time.
Dark grey section indicates a second revolution.
Elements
Cooking can get hectic, messy, and require strict timelines. The ability to gather information at a glance was important.
I created a series of icons that showed the primary method of preparation. This helped identify required tools at a quick glance, and helped with planning weekly menus.
I initially created a series of clock icons to suggest the length of time needed from start to finish; to help plan mealtimes. Due to the wide variation of time requirements, the icons were designed with the most common increments (15 to 90 minutes).
In the end, this idea was scrapped after realizing some oven/slow cooker recipes required multiple hours. Instead, I opted for a blank clock face to act as a label and listed the exact cook times underneath.
The Result
Full page recipe template.
Knowing I would use a home printer, I kept the design within standard print margins. The printed page would be kept in a plastic page protector for easy cleaning, and bound in a 3-ring binder to lay flat on the counter.
The typefaces are balanced between a script font as a nod to handwritten cards, and a sans serif for maximum legibility.
For flexibility, the majority of space was reserved for ingredients and directions, separated by a light gray box.
Cooking directions are clearly labeled. Paragraph spacing visually separates the steps, but keeps the lines of each step close together.
In the top right, three circles provide the most important information: primary preparation method (including temperature for ovens), cook time, and number of servings created.
I used free stock photography as a visual reference when flipping through several recipes. Every image is cropped to a square shape.
Half page recipe template.
For household staples such as breakfast foods (or desserts), I created a variation of the original design.
Proportions were halved so 2 cards may be printed on the same sheet of paper. The paper would then be cut in half, and tacked to a corkboard or hung on a fridge.
This variation also includes additional "half batch" ingredient portions—useful when cooking for one or two people. I felt this detail was important to avoid mathematical mistakes or accidentally using a whole portion of one ingredient and a half portion of another.
Final Thoughts
I would consider the project a success for personal use. Adding a new recipe to the 3-ring binder collection was a straightforward process that would take about 10 minutes of transposing information, proofreading for accuracy, and selecting an image.
When I decided to include the cookbook in my portfolio, I reconsidered some elements and shifted the design from personal preferences to something better suited for general audiences.
Changes included:
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Selected a more legible script font
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Replaced ragged lines with a smooth alternative and a flair under the recipe name
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Replaced top right circles with underlines for a better overall look
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Made information over 'Directions' more straightforward with clear labels
Revised design to better suit consumers.