Sunday 28 July 2013

A design on food - French author evidently draws inspiration from Deighton's cook strip's - FT

The book that started it all
I came across an interesting Deighton reference on Friday in that week's FT - not in the business section but in the life pages (no subscription apparently required to access).

This article by Rowley Leigh uses cartoons to illustrate a recipe for country paté, and draws its inspiration from Len's well-known cook strips from the early sixties, produced and serialised in The Observer. As Leigh observes, of course, "his cookery-book career was small beer compared with his success as the author of thrillers such as The Ipcress File and Funeral in Berlin."

Len's cook strips were, and until now have always been, one of the few attempts at using design to put across consistently and succinctly the key processes of cooking. This article points to efforts by French designer Chrisophe Blain to graphically recount the story of the French chef's experience using a similar approach, but this time in more cartoon format (and in French).

1 comment:

  1. "As Leigh observes, of course, "his cookery-book career was small beer compared with his success as the author of thrillers such as The Ipcress File and Funeral in Berlin."

    I agree to an extent, but it is always nice to know that thriller authors are not one-dimensional and have other interests too. That can indeed enhance their status as a successful author. Cooking is a real skill, and teaching how to cook through a novel approach is indeed a greater skill.

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