Cornwall Food & Drink

Book design: The Great Cornish Fish Book

A dream job for us. Combining design, illustration and photography with some of the most beautiful locations, talented chefs and incredible food Cornwall has to offer.

Working with Cornwall Food & Drink on this project took us on a very fishy trip around Cornwall. It was a truly lovely experience to meet and work with some of Cornwall's best chefs and producers, learning along the way about Cornwall's fishing heritage and its importance today.

We worked with Ruth Huxley and her team at Cornwall Food & Drink, producing the design, photography, and illustration for the 168 page book. With some lovely hand-drawn illustrations from Heather Allen and additional photography from Sean Gee and Kate Whitaker we pieced the book together, using a lot of our own original photography from around the Cornish coast.

The photoshoots for this book took us traveling the length and breadth of Cornwall. Taking in the Michelin starred Restaurant Nathan Outlaw (now Outlaw’s New Road) in Port Isaac, Prawn on the Lawn in Padstow, Jack Stein at The Seafood Restaurant, oysters on the Helford, smoked fish at Philleigh Way, gill netting off Newlyn, and a punnet of chips in St Agnes. It was a rewarding experience working with these chefs and fishermen and shooting the incredible seafood being served up throughout Cornwall.

Purchase here: www.greatcornishfood.co.uk

View of the Great Cornish Fish Book, opened out and closed for a view of the cover.

A couple of copies of The Great Cornish Fish Book on a teal coloured background.

Producing a book is like having a baby. However much you nurture it along the way, you never know how it’s going to turn out until it arrives. But choosing the right partner makes all the difference! The Great Cornish Fish Book is our second baby, and we wanted it to be at least as good as our award-winning first, obviously part of the same family, but different enough to have its own personality. A tall order, and one that caused me more angst than anyone will ever know.

Emma and Sal at Ayr ‘got’ that from the start and absolutely nailed the brief we gave them. By the end of the project we had developed a really productive partnership, working to each other’s strengths almost intuitively. Being calm, methodical and patient as well as creative is a rare skill, which these two lovely ladies possess - in spades. We’ve loved working with them and are very proud of our new baby.

illustration of an orange fishing boat floating upon a sea of illustrated fish.

photo shows a plate of ceviche of sea bass, apple and verbena, prepared by chef Jack Stein

black and white photo of Jack Stein at work preparing ceviche of sea bass

black and white photo of chef Robert Bunny at The Ferryboat Inn on the Helford river

Large turquoise plate with smoked oysters with pickled beetroot and creme fraiche

Fisherman Johnny Murt and chef Rick Toogood share a laugh over a lobster on a fishing boat in Padstow

View of the lighthouse shining at Mevagissey harbour on a misty dark evening.

portrait of chef Nathan Outlaw at his restaurant at Port Isaac

View of a fishing boat on the horizon on a bright sunny summers day at Towan beach on the Roseland Peninsula, Cornwall

Overhead view of Lobster carpaccio at prepared by chef Rick Toogood

Black and white portrait of chef Rick Toogood preparing lobster carpaccio

Photo of a plate of mullet with samphire on the top and a glass of chilled white wine in the background at the Queens Hotel in St Ives.

View of the fish counter with mackerel, John Dory and gurnard on the ice.

Portrait of fisherman Ben George by his boat at Sennen in Cornwall.

Portrait of Sennen harbourmaster and lifeboatman, Terry George with his dog