The Elephant’s Secret Kitchen:
bespoke illustrations - 2018
The Elephant's Secret Kitchen is a cookbook that captures a collection of vegan recipes created by the owners of Café Jamyang, located in London’s Buddhist Centre. For this project, I was commissioned to create six bespoke illustrations, each tailored to specific recipes and sections of the book. The publication features contributions from multiple illustrators, whose styles were thoughtfully blended to create a cohesive and harmonious visual experience.
Aims and challenges:
For this project, my primary goal was to create illustrations that complemented specific recipes, following a visual language that was earthy, warm, handmade, and rustic.
Some illustrations presented a greater challenge, as they needed to represent sections of the book focused on broader topics, such as sustainability in the kitchen, often conveyed through metaphors. My role was to visually interpret these titles, like “Love Like Salt,” which compares sprinkling salt on a dish to adding love in relationships, and “A Short Blanket,” symbolizing the balance between demand and supply in the food system.
The resulting illustrations were thoughtfully crafted to enhance the writing, blending meaningful concepts with engaging visuals. Each piece maintained a consistent style that was unique, yet seamlessly integrated with the work of other illustrators contributing to the project.
