The newest addition to my cookbook collection has also become my latest design inspiration. The 5 Ingredient Fix stylistically surprised me, and I was in cook and design heaven as I flipped through the rich, refined pages. There are subtle backdrops of color to each recipe and illustrations like the cow shown above, reminiscent of the Joy of Cooking cookbook my mom used to use. The cover was what really pulled me in, though. There was originally a glossy cover that was most likely created to apease the Food Network, but the hard cover was what sealed the deal. And to answer your question, yes. I purchase books based on their cover.

The one thing I think most cookbooks lack is an attention to the basic design details like typography. Focus is spent on the photography or styling and not too often the written recipe. I love the subtle color choices with the use of well placed fonts and subtle swirls. I really can’t wait to start cooking some of these.