The bible of traditional French home cooking, I Know How to Cook, has been a best seller since its first publication in 1932. With millions of copies sold in France, it reveals all the secrets of good, simple French cooking, the foundations of modern cuisine. The book contains more than 1,400 authentic, easy-to-follow recipes, fully updated for modern kitchens by experts in classic French cooking.

At 976 pages, this hefty volume was a pleasure to design, largely due to a great collaboration: Blexbolex is a French comics artist and illustrator. His highly stylized, ligne claire illustration, inspired by the films of Jacques Tati and works of Cassandre, are wonderfully witty and quintessentially French.

Blexbolex says about his inspiration for the illustrations: “I tried to remember the pleasures of cooking, preparing food for other people and some aspects of life in France, mostly from my childhood in the countryside.”

Illustration was vital to this project. It brought the book to life, making it contemporary and fresh. Typography and illustration went hand in hand: heavy, hearty typeface Replica (designed by Norm) was used throughout the book. The book features a French-fold jacket that doubles up as a poster. The uncoated paper made the book feel friendly, light and honest.

The appropriately retro-styled illustrations add life and a hint of whimsy to this update of a massive French cookbook from the ’30s. The food photography looks delicious and appealing yet humble and not overly styled. It’s great to see that they broke from conventional thinking that there must be food on the cover of a cookbook. The jacket unfolding into a poster is a nice surprise.