Simply British Sybil Kapoor

Simply British Sybil Kapoor

Published by Michael Joseph, 1998 (Hardback)

Designed by uncredited

Illustrations by John Spencer

Jacket photograph by Fleur Olby

Simply British is Sybil Kapoor’s second book, the design of the book presents Sybil Kapoor as a serious and authoritative writer. It is designed using the typographic conventions usually found in a novel - this is a book to be read not looked at. There are no photographs in the book apart from the one on the cover: from the start, this book with its simple, clean design, elegant layout and sophisticated typography helps signify the idea that Sybil Kapoor is an important writer whose views carry authority. Simply British is a book that is designed to be readable but that also suggests that the author is worth reading; its design which is rooted in tradition, helps create a notion of value to Sybil Kapoor’s writing and, in a very subtle way, connects her work to a lineage of English food writers including Elizabeth David.

Front Cover

The cover shows a photograph, by Fleur Olby, of a single stem of rhubarb in sharp focus, against a white background. The stem of the rhubarb is the dominant element on the cover; it is a deep claret red while the leaf is a verdant green, the stem bleeds off of the cover at the bottom left-hand corner while the leaf ends at approximately one third of the way up the page. The title of the book is the dominant element on the page after the rhubarb, it is printed in green ink that is almost black and set in uppercase Sabon, loosely letterspaced and centred on the page; the word ‘Simply’ is set about a third smaller, above the word ‘British’. The author’s name in title case, loosely letterspaced and printed in claret ink that picks up the claret on the stalk of the rhubarb is set in Sabon italic and is centred, above the title of the book.

A strapline of a quotation from Nigel Slater appears at the foot of the cover, on four lines, centred, set in sentence case Sabon and printed in the same dark green as the title of the book, Nigel Slater’s name, set in small caps, is printed in the same claret as Sybil Kapoor’s name.

This is a clean and elegant cover that uses white space and a minimal palette of colours to suggest simplicity. The typography references neo-Classicism, and utilises a traditional and elegant font in a traditional and elegant manner to further emphasise simplicity, order and to some extent, authority.

Inside Pages

The book is 15 cm by 23 cm and is printed black on cream uncoated paper and is set in Sabon. The book is divided into chapters, each dealing with different kinds of food: fish, meat, vegetables etc. Each chapter has an opening section that uses Sabon demi-bold, set at a smaller point size than in the rest of the book, justified in a centrally placed narrow column. Chapter headings are set in larger uppercase Sabon. A black and white wood engraving of the ingredient discussed in each section is placed below the text; these illustrations could be seen as a homage to the engravings of John Minton that appeared in Elizabeth David’s cookery books. Following the opening section are the commentary and recipes - these are also set in Sabon, justified to a single column grid. Recipes, one to a page, are announced with the title set in centred titlecase sans-serif, possibly a variation of Akzidenz Grotesk light. The lists of ingredients are set in Sabon at a smaller point size than the body text and arranged in a two column grid that is centred on the main column, indented at either side with a vertical rule dividing the equally balanced columns. The ingredients are emphasised not by size or weight of typeface but by isolation from the main body of text, an elegant solution. Running heads and pagination appear to the outside of each page, aligned to the outer margin. Non-aligning numerals are used for the pagination and in the body text to add another layer of elegance to the design.