All images by Ed Anderson
Volt ink.
Category: book publishing, design, relationship management
Role: art director, visual designer, photo editor, style director, production artist
Project Summary: For more than seven years, I worked as the Senior Art Director for Weldon Owen, a custom publishing company that creates and publishes books specializing in celebrity chef and culinary books for independent and renowned national brands. Here I'm highlighting the creative process I used for a cookbook in collaboration with brothers and Top Chef contestants Michael and Bryan Voltaggio (Michael won the competition), titled Volt ink. I created a complex, intelligent yet personable journey that shared unique recipes, brotherly love, and a little friendly competition. The launch of this book was accompanied with a custom clamshell package and candid portraits, bonus video recipes, recipe demos by the Voltaggios nationwide at Williams-Sonoma stores, and numerous book-signing events and media appearances
Branding Partnership
Creating a book for a chef can be an incredibly personal journey, as the book is often a reflection of their career, brand, personality, and perspective on the culinary craft. I partnered with Michael and Bryan, as well as Williams-Sonoma (our co-publisher), to create a book that captured the chefs’ take on the world of food in their very first book.
Photo Strategy
In addition to recipes, there are intimate stories of how food made an impression in the chefs’ childhood, their families and personal beliefs. I envisioned a very specific photo style that clearly shifted between food photography and candid images of food prep and personal interactions. The full color, overhead shots of the food boldly stamped the brothers’ mark on the food, while the black and white candids captured the controlled chaos of the chefs’ kitchen and the passion the two bring to their art. All the food images and candids were shot in their working restaurants, along with some in-studio photoshoots.
Page Layouts
I wanted the page design to feel strong, confident and masculine. The font selection of DIN provided sharp angles and multiple styles that created texture and structure. This style variation allowed the quotes from the brothers that accompanied each recipe to stand out. I further relied on typography by using the dense copy blocks to my advantage and making them into graphic elements on the page. The result is a unique and compelling book. Throughout every single page, the voices or faces of Michael and Bryan came through
Cover Evolution
The unique structure of this book and the Voltaggio's willingness to break free from what is traditionally expected in a cookbook, allowed me to experiment with cover directions. Whether it was with the words of the food families explored in the book, the surface of the dark bar counter top from Michael's restaurant, or with a visual study of a crab's claw, the cover options reflected the layers, texture and boldness also found in the brothers' food.
Final Product
The final cover centered on the book's core message of family by combining a visual pattern with the names of the food families (which was emphasized by a spot gloss UV coat on the words and copper foil on the book title for additional texture) and the background image is the surface of the bar in Michael's restaurant that was custom made. The variation in the bar surface was added by Michael and represents the hard work and commitment the brothers poured into their physical space and relationships. The logos of each of their restaurants make up the name of the title itself and branded their professional journey. The oversized book fitted snuggly into a cloth clamshell box with a picture of the brothers working side by side.
