Playful experimentation and a laboratory: Zuzana Lednicka on the La Degustation Bohême Bourgeoise book
A book on La Degustation Bohême Bourgeoise
The visual appearance of books occupies a prominent place in your work. How did you react to the offer to write a book about La Degustation?
It's been quite a long time since I last did a cookbook - although this book is far from a classic cookbook. That's why I was also interested. Plus, I see La Degustation as my project - a couple of years ago, I redesigned the logo and, over time, the visual style. It brought together two areas that I'm very much involved in.
You were starting from an already set visual style. Was it challenging to get to grips with it?
On the contrary, I took that as an advantage. It always takes me some time to look at a theme to work on, but since I've been working with La Degustation for a while, I knew where I wanted to take the form of the book.
Were you given an assignment or did you have free rein?
The team from Ambiente and I started meeting quite a long time before I started working on the book, actually when the content was still being written. We shared our first ideas of what the book should and shouldn't be. And precisely because it's not a cookbook, but a story about La Degustation, it's quite intricately structured. So it was important to understand that structure, and to convey it in a way that was clear so that the reader can navigate the book.
How did you work with the elements that La Degustation uses in its visual identity? To what extent did you draw on them?
For example, we only used the font that La Degu uses in the headlines in larger sizes. I wanted to place prominence on the rigorous, "laboratory" approach in the kitchen and the playful experimentation, which I see as the two basic levels of the restaurant. Luxury is represented here by simplicity and clarity. Another aspect was the food, the local ingredients... Balancing all this was probably the hardest part of the job.
Did you read all this in the texts or did someone tell you?
I went from the texts. I was surprised myself how dramatic the story was. There were several times when it looked like the restaurant was going to close, but it was only through the faith and perseverance of everyone involved that it didn't happen.
Was it difficult to get the concept right?
It took me quite a long time to get clear on all the aspects of the book mentioned and to start translating them into the actual design. I know from experience that this phase is the most important because once the concept of the book is well established, everything gradually falls into place. After that it went relatively quickly.
How did the collaboration with the author Blanka Datinska and photographer Honza Zima go?
We solved the selection of photos, the concept, the final number of pages... I suggested that it would be great if the book the photographs of the food and the ingredients would shine the brightest and the rest would be a bit in the dark, like when you go to dinner. That's why Honza Zima and I agreed that the documentary photos would be black and white with a soft warm tone. A colour scheme that is typical of the restaurant.
What about the binding, the paper... Who chose them?
The restaurant is very much associated with the old cook Marie B. Svobodová, which is the basis for the team's cooking. And the format of La Degustation is based on that cookbook, but it's bigger, which symbolises the fact that the restaurant actually grew out of it. The book is printed entirely on uncoated Munken paper, which is velvety to the touch.
As for the cover, I was inspired by the colours of La Degu - I used a black canvas, which is quite rough, and combined it with a blind-print. Again, a combination of perfection and rawness. These two positions are constantly alternating and repeating in the book. I also suggested that we put the La Degustation logo on the spine, while leaving the cover unmarked - a rather radical solution, but one we could afford, since the book is not sold in regular bookstores.
Did you encounter any problems during the process? Did you struggle with anything?
There were no major hiccups thanks to the team and I agreeing on everything. Blanka Datinská is also very thorough and always goes into depth in the content, including details. Probably the hardest part was setting up a system of levels of content and information. Based on this, Blanka and I simplified the structure a bit so that everything would be understandable for the reader.
Is there an element that you always try to incorporate into the design of your books?
I always try to approach the subject with the utmost humility and base it on the content. I emphasise the materials so that the book opens well, I like to work with canvas or some non-standard material or paper, and sometimes I experiment with spot colours to replace the classic ink.
Did you take anything new away from this project?
We are trying one detail. On the cover, the texture of the tiles typical of the interior of La Degu is stamped. But the stamping is limited by space and is usually applied to only part of the book. But we've decided to use it over the entire cover, including the spine, so that the structure is not interrupted. It's technologically challenging, but it worked.
What do you do when the book comes from the printer? Do you look at it?
It's not right away. I usually just skim through it quickly, and even if I'm happy, I need to put the book down, and then after a while I open it up and look at it thoroughly. I don't usually re-read the text, that's what I do when I'm breaking it down. And then when I pick up the book after a certain time lapse, I'm often surprised by some connections I've forgotten - like the interplay between the graphics and the content.
