Decisions and Conclusions

Following a short time period that had enabled us the opportunity to work individually to test and experiment with media, content and composition – another pre-arranged FaceTime meeting was a chance to review and share the project’s progress.

We started by looking at the work T had done on the plate composition and decisions around working methodology and materials were discussed and finalised. The type experiments had been considered previously via email – but a conversation regarding title and position led T to suggest that the structure of the book could be reversed to enable the back stories to form the inside of the book rather than the outer. We also debated whether any aspect of the individual stories could offer a reason for the ordering of each book – we concluded that where possible the sequence would follow any references to calendar months. Whilst considering the content it was noted that we both had a story relating to feast celebrations – T proposed that the title should reflect the food theme and we agreed to the one-word title Feast; the position of this would now fall within the plate image and I suggested using the rubber stamps as a simple, understated solution. Going forward our only remaining decision was how to present the pair of books – a wide range of ideas were discussed and rejected and we concluded that a white paper bag, stamped with the title and one individual illustration was the solution.

We turned our attention to the schedule – and the logistics of completing the book – setting deadlines for each element; we recognised that this edition has started to follow a similar working methodology to Sewing Secrets, with the book being exchanged at regular intervals to enable us to each input into its production

The lack of access to a printing press has also informed the development of this book, and enforced limitations such as paper size and weight, however we have responded positively by pushing boundaries with the use of low-tech methodologies and solutions that have hopefully enhanced rather than diminished its production values.

Division of Labour

The FaceTime discussion gave us a clear direction and enabled us to both start developing the visual language for the next book pair of books. I started with further research into regional foods, this was a little problematic as I live in Rutland, the smallest county in the UK – it measures just 17 x 18 miles at its maximum – therefore traditional food references were limited. I decided to broaden the search area into Lincolnshire, as I live less than 2km from the county border – so this seemed acceptable – and it afforded better results. The format of the A3 one-sheet book offers 8 pages to both front and back, therefore it was logical for each book to feature eight recipes, along with eight plates on the reverse – this being the number of plates within a set of tableware. I made the decision to use four recipes from Rutland and four from Lincolnshire as a compromise.

Having found relevant recipes I started to work digitally with the text matter, I wasn’t happy with the visual appearance so reverted to the typewriter, the results were better but the issue was the amount of text that had to fit each A6 area. At this point I recognised that many of the recipes had an interesting ‘back-story’ therefore, through email discussion with T, we decided to make this the focus. Having typed each story I started to pull out key words and working with wood type – and just an inkpad – began overprinting them, this made the pages more playful and offered a more interesting sense of hierarchy. These developments will form part of the next pre-arranged FaceTime discussion.