HeyJaredHeadnotes: Thoughts on Cookbook Design
Headnotes: Thoughts on Cookbook Design is dedicated to essays, interviews, and visual galleries exploring the design and production of cookbooks and other exceptional books on food and drink.
- Indexed issues, last 90 days
- 7
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- Sep 18, 2026
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- Jul 10, 2026
Latest issues
Spines that Shine (opens the original)
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Dear Readers, I first wrote about spines—the wingmen to all good cookbook covers—back in 2023. Today I’m bringing you some new examples, while resurfacing a couple of earlier ones that have stood the test of time.Why spines? They are critically important to brick-and-mortar retail sales—for reasons we’ll soon learn. “I didn’t know to do this when I was starting out, but now I always ask to see the spine with the cover when looking over options,”
Favorite Fall Cookbook Covers with Jenna Helwig (opens the original)
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and I sorted through her epic list of almost two hundred fall cookbooks to offer you our selections for this season’s best cover designs. This was tough, as there were so many good ones—like Midnight Spaghetti, <a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/modern-masala-ancestral-indian-flavours-remixed-with-love-sanjana-modha/8
Feeding My Obsession (opens the original)
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<img alt="" class="sizing-normal" height="1244" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!IU7x!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F871a2140-76ed-4acc-bf3c-a62ead58802b_1754x1499.
Debbie Berne Was the Ultimate Cookbook Fan (opens the original)
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Dear Readers, today I bring you a tribute to designer Debbie Berne. She gave this interview shortly after completing her second book, Cookbooking: A Fan’s Guide, which was released on August 18th by Hardie Grant North America. If you’re a regular Headnotes reader, you’ll want to read this book, too. And I have a giveaway that will help you do just that…</e
Headnotes Substack Live with Martin Sorge (opens the original)
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’s new cookbook Great Bakes debuted this Tuesday, and I had the pleasure of speaking with him about its design. I met Martin a couple of years ago via his agent , who recommended me to design his proposal. We immediately hit it off and began working together. Martin was an ideal design partner: engaged, curious, open, and thoughtful. <div class=
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