Art direction
Photo direction
Book cover design
Info graphics design
A highly illustrative and informative manual about cocktails presented in the author's unique and often humorous voice.
2017 Spirited Awards® Nominee for Best New Cocktail & Bartending Book.
author: Lou Bustamante
book interior design: Jennifer Durrant
photography on featured spreads: John Lee, Valter Fabiano, Allison Webber
Weldon Owen
Art direction
Book cover & interior design
Chapter opener & icon illustrations
A cookbook created in collaboration with the editors of SAVEUR magazine. Made for the home cook, it functions as an essential guide and celebrates the brand's heritage and global culinary knowledge.
2015 James Beard and IACP cookbook awards nominee.
Weldon Owen
On set photo direction
Cover design for the DA Christmas Cookbook
A series of Downton Abbey cookbooks for the wildly popular PBS drama TV series. Although we touched upon some of the show's fine dining nuances in the photography the main focus was to evoke the culinary spirit of Downton Abbey and to ensure that the food photos worked in harmony with the featured stills from the show.
photography: John Kernick
food styling: Cyd Mcdowell
prop styling: Suzie Myers
Weldon Owen
books in the series:
- The Official Downton Abbey Cookbook
- The Official Downton Abbey Cocktail Book
- The Official Downton Abbey Christmas Cookbook
Art direction
On set photo direction
Book cover & interior design
A Williams Sonoma branded cookbook promoting the healthy benefits of cooking with ingredients at the peak of their season. My approach was to keep the overall design clean and simple to highlight the freshness and vibrant colors of the produce and recipes.
photography: Ray Kachatorian
food styling: Valerie Aikman-Smith
prop styling: Jennifer Barguiarena
Weldon Owen
Book cover concept illlustration & design
A biography about Paul Ricard and his world-renowned anise-based alcohols. I based the cover design on the advertising posters from the era (many of which were painted by Ricard in the 1950s). I kept the bold colors evocative of the RICARD brand but translated the painterly style into flat graphics for a modern look and feel. The final cover shows the iconic pitcher as the main Hero image.
Cover mock up options include:
1) re-adaptation of Ricard’s portrait from one of his original posters
2) iconic pitchers in their multitude of colors laid out graphically
3) a scene of the pouring action with the product/bottle in view
4) a photograph of Ricard for a more traditional approach
Weldon Owen
Art direction
On set photo direction
Book cover & interior design
A Williams Sonoma branded cookbook for healthy eating.
photography: Eva Kolenko
food styling: Erin Quon
prop styling: Claire Mack
Weldon Owen
Book cover & interior design
Custom illustrations for the ‘kitchen’ essentials spread
I Heart Kosher is author and culinary expert Kim Kushner's third cookbook.
Kim’s cooking philosophy is “Less is more, simple is always best and food should look as good as it tastes and taste as good as it looks.”
Kim's elegant simplicity is reflected throughout the design of the book including the photography and illustrations.
photography: Kate Sears
food styling: Hadas Smirnoff
Weldon Owen
Art direction
On set photo direction
Book cover & interior design
The cookbooks from the Williams Sonoma Test Kitchen were usually associated with a branded product sold at the WS stores. From Air Fryers to Instant Pots the products were featured on the ‘intro’ spreads before leading into the main recipes (as shown in the Fresh Pasta Cookbook spreads here).
I was responsible for developing and managing the series design and photo style guide (often working with different photo teams for each title) to ensure that they held well together as a series while preserving the uniqueness of each topic.
The Fresh Pasta team:
photography: Erin Kunkel
food styling: Emily Caneer
prop styling: Kelly Allen
Weldon Owen
Book cover photo concept, styling & design
Inspired by the colorful spices in Thai cooking I created a stencil effect with the raw ingredients for this cookbook cover. As a finishing touch the main title was embossed to add depth.
My Indian Kitchen cookbook followed the same concept. The two book covers were designed to accompany each other.
photography: Jen Straus
Weldon Owen
Art direction
On set photo direction
Book cover & interior design
Ideation & illustration of custom artwork for the chapter openers & step by step how-tos
A richly illustrated cookbook with kid-friendly recipes and step-by-step instructions. The goal was to create an attractive package that would inspire the reader to make the dishes as well as have fun flipping through the pages.
photography: Erin Scott
food styling: Emily Caneer
prop styling: Kerrie Sherrell Walsh
Weldon Owen
Art direction
On set photo direction
Book design
Ideation & illustration of custom artwork for the table of contents/chapter openers & step by step how-tos
A kids cookbook focusing on fun and easy meals.
photography: Erin Scott
food styling: Lillian Kang
The Quarto Group
Liaised with the illustrator on recipe art concepts/Harlem neighborhood scenes and cover ideas. Designed proposed cover shown here (final cover not shown). Liaised with the interior book designer.
Beer infused recipes authored by Celeste Beatty, founder of Harlem Brewing Company and the first Black woman to own a brewery in the United States.
Illustration: Rahana Dariah
interior book design: Laura Klynstra
final cover design: Laura Drew
The Quarto Group
Art direction
On set photo direction
Cover design
A Williams Sonoma branded cookbook with recipes for dining outside. We focused on the play of natural dappled lights and outdoor settings.
photography: Erin Scott
food styling: Lillian Kang
prop styling: Claire Mack
Weldon Owen
