Cooking with My Dad, the Chef
What happens when a professional chef and his daughter bring their shared love of food into the kitchen?
Cooking with My Dad, the Chef is a family-focused cookbook by James Beard Award-winning chef Ken Oringer and his daughter, Verveine. Featuring more than 70 kid-tested, gluten-free recipes, the book combines accessible cooking instruction with personal storytelling and comic-style illustrations.
The creative approach brings together the clarity of a traditional cookbook and the expressive energy of a graphic novel, making the experience as engaging to read as it is to cook from.
ROLE
Illustrator
COMPANY
America’s Test Kitchen
AUTHORS
Ken Oringer and
Verveine Oringer
Narrative by Chad Chenail
THE ASKMake a cookbook feel like an adventure
The challenge was to create a visual experience that would appeal to young, curious cooks while maintaining the clarity and credibility expected of America's Test Kitchen.
The book needed to balance detailed recipes, instructional photography, and practical information with the warmth and personality of a father-daughter story.
Rather than treating illustration as decoration, the opportunity was to make it an integral part of the storytelling—giving readers a connection to the authors and adding humor, movement, and personality throughout the book.
A visual language between the kitchen and comic pages
THE approachThe creative direction pairs expressive character illustration and sequential storytelling with approachable editorial design. By integrating illustrated headshots of Ken and Verveine throughout the recipes, comic-scenes remain present in the overall design direction, even outside of the story pages.
Illustration provides a playful contrast to the food photography, while consistent typography and structured layouts make the instructional content easy to navigate.
the workComic storytelling
Illustrated sequences offeedr a glimpse into the personalities of Ken and Verveine, as well as experiences behind the food.
Through expressive characters, conversational dialogue, and dynamic compositions, the comics introduce a different rhythm to the publication, creating opportunities for storytelling between instructional sections.
The contrast between comics and photography adds variety and gives the book a distinct editorial identity.
Style exploration
ILLUSTRATION PROCESSBefore developing the final illustrations, I explored a range of visual styles to determine how best to bring Verveine and Ken's story to life.
The illustrations needed to capture the warmth and humor of their father-daughter relationship while working alongside food photography and supporting the book's graphic-novel-inspired narrative.
I experimented with different approaches to character proportions, linework, and expression, considering how each would translate across chapter openers, comic sequences, and smaller spot illustrations.
The exploration helped establish a visual direction that balanced expressive storytelling with consistency and readability throughout the book.
Comic development
Once the illustration style was established, I brought the characters and stories to life through an iterative process of sketching, refining, and adding color.
ILLUSTRATION PROCESS-
Sketch
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Clean lineart
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Color
Social posts
To extend the visual identity of Cooking with My Dad, the Chef beyond the book, I created illustrations for social media that continued its playful style, creating a cohesive connection between the printed book and its digital promotion.
branding extension
