Good Egg Books
services editorial, cover design, illustration
designed at freelanceGood Egg is a beloved, independent cookbook store in Toronto’s Kensington Market. After 10 years of success as a retail store, they have ventured into the cookbook publishing scene themselves with Good Egg Books, a small press championing oft-overlooked ingredients.
I work with Good Egg Books on each of their publications, both as a designer and as an illustrator. Below is my work on the first three books, Blood, Limes and Tender Herbs, as well as a couple fun illustrations for Good Egg’s merch!
Tender Herbs
services editorial design, cover design, illustrationThe latest instalment in Good Egg’s publication series is Tender Herbs by Amy Rosen. This is the first of Good Egg Books where I also took on the editorial design. The recipes are laid out in a clean, readable manner with hand drawn touches to liven up the page.
I developed an ‘Herb Legend’, assigning each herb an illustrated shape to frame the serving size. This allows readers to quickly see which recipe calls for which herbs, without reading the entire ingredients list.
The book was written in three sections: A Little Something, A Little Something More, and The Most, all referring to the amount of herbs in each section’s recipes. There is also a Desserts chapter and some helpful pages on storing your herbs. I hand drew the herbs in both their flowering and more recognizable states, and they adorn almost every page in this lovely little cookbook.
Limes
services illustrationLimes by Toronto food writer Corey Mintz is a fun, creative and accessible book singing the praises and versatility of the humble lime. To match Mintz’s playful writing style, I illustrated 50 cheeky spots for his collaboration with Good Egg Books. I was given creative freedom and it shows: from Shakespearean citrus to an in-to-the-juicer pool party, I had a ton of fun with these zesty little guys.
Blood
services cover design, illustrationBlood by Jennifer McLagan is the first and arguably most fearless of Good Egg Books’ publications. McLagan is known for encouraging cooks to use all parts of the animal—her other books include Bones, Fat, and Odd Bits.
I designed the cover as a gentle but playful introduction to an oft-maligned ingredient. A soft pink background and recognizable Bodoni lettering balance the blood spatter to keep it from veering into Dexter territory. The cover also features embossed lettering to elevate the feel.
The illustration style was inspired by classic cross-hatched illustrations in classic European cookbooks. Again, the goal was to position a controversial ingredient in a non-threatening and maybe even recognizable way! Featuring traditional illustrations helps drive that message home.
Fancy Egg
services illustrationFancy Egg is a Fragonard-inspired illustration I created for Good Egg’s tote bag, and one of my favourite illustration projects to date! Available for purchase on Good Egg’s webiste.
