Oct 29, 2015

LITERARY LUNCH - Various

Literary Lunch combines two of the best things in life – food and literature. From Bridget Jones’s Blue Soup to Mary’s Mango Pickle of Guilt from Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children, there’s a dish and a story for all tastes. Dublin based commercial artist Niall McCormack was tasked with the job of creating a suitably enticing cover design:

The starting inspiration was some recipe book covers from the late 1940s and early 1950s, The Small Canteen by G. Cumberlege and Mushrooms Galore by André Simon.

I created some designs based on repeat patterns using book and food icons as elements. I use a lot of texture in my work and love the look of rough print on coarse paper that is particular to so much mid-century ephemera.

 A new colourway was suggested along with a move away from the repeat pattern approach, although one of the original designs, in the new colours, appears as a pattern on the inside cover of the finished book.

 I developed some new drafts using bold silhouettes of cooking utensils and stationary in various combinations. A typewriter was introduced to address the balance and a final arrangement agreed upon.“

 Literary Lunch is published by Vintage books today. 

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