Lateral Cooking by Niki Segnit, bestselling author of The Flavour Thesaurus, provides a detailed examination of the key techniques and culinary categories that underpin contemporary cookery. Segnit draws on history, food science, personal recollection and the observations of myriad other cooks and food writers throughout the book to demonstrate how recipes evolve from, and relate to, one another.
Our bold but simple approach to the design evolved out of the unique structure and extensive content of Lateral Cooking, making it enjoyable and accessible for the reader. We created over 400 original illustrations for the book to bring the words and ideas within its extensive text to life, reflecting Segnit’s desire for suggestive rather than prescriptive imagery to accompany her writing. Each chapter opens with an illustrated double page spread which introduces the reader to that chapter’s recipes. The three spot colours used throughout function like a key, and a clear visual hierarchy helps differentiate between Segnit’s prose, recipe instructions, helpful postscripts and flavour suggestions. Alongside the illustrations, other design details such as a repeated arrow motif, stepped painted edges and footnote-styled supporting texts reflect and experiment with the visual language of traditional reference books. Our design for this book was shortlisted for the D&AD Awards 2019.
The book is divided into twelve chapters covering subjects such as ‘Bread’, ‘Sauces’ or ‘Custard’, and the recipes in each chapter are arranged on a continuum, with the transition from one to the next incorporating only a tweak or two in the method or ingredients.
