InDesign Skills, a community of graphic designers, illustrators, and print experts offer up some examples of effective cookbook design. Some reflect on vintage-inspired illustrations, others combine colorful graphics, geometric shapes, and mixed typefaces while encouraging design with context and meaning.

Drawing on these two articles and my experience working in Graphic Design, here are three actions that I recommend to amateur chefs or graphic designers who may find themselves composing some tasty recipes in print and digital format that people will want to buy.

• Vision – Incorporate the writer’s vision into the design and visually embody the book’s narrative, through visual language.
• Visuals – Show the author’s personality by adding interesting illustrations and photography, authentic to the writer’s lifestyle.
• Fonts, colors, and layout – The perfect trifecta as you experiment with trends in vibrant colors, playful typography, and a strict grid system to create a stunning identity.

If you imagine cooks already have too many cookbooks in the kitchen, don’t count on it because if you combine a meaningful story, compelling design, and engaging content – it will indeed overcome that goofy notion.