Don’t you just love it when designers come-out and reinvent the wheel.
Yes, you read it right, in a stunning act of brand communication Swedish furniture and homewares giant IKEA have released a cookbook called ‘Hembakat Ar Bast’ — which translates into ‘Homemade is Best’. Designed as a collaboration between creative agency Forsman & Bodenfors, stylist Evelina Bratell and photographer Carl Kleiner, Homemade is Best breaks with the standard paradigm of heavily styled food shots in country kitchens to take a rather more designer approach, featuring stunning, minimalist photography where the ingredients and finished products become beautifully visual, design pieces in themselves.
Brand Design Goodness
The book contains 30 Swedish recipes for cakes and biscuits, but the masterstroke is not the recipes themselves, but that IKEA have created such a bold and evocative brand gesture. IKEA have re-defined the humble cookbook, casting it as a piece of Swedish design in exactly the same way they re-defined low-cost furniture and homewares. In a very smart piece of brand storytelling, IKEA have extended their unique visual language of brand design from furniture to food.
As the creative folk at Forsman & Bodenfors said: ‘We wanted to ensure a connection between IKEA’s kitchen appliances and one of the best things you can do in a kitchen, some great baking. 90% of all the photographs taken in baking books look extremely alike. We wanted to try something different and present the recipes in a totally new fashion. We let ourselves be inspired by high fashion and japanese minimalism. The idea of the book became to tone down the actual cake and put the ingredients in focus.’
With lashings of Swedish style the partnership of Forsman & Bodenfors, Evelina Bratell and photographer Carl Kleiner have created with Homemade is Best a coffee table book that is the perfect accompaniment for one of their coffee tables.
Dave Ansett, Brandamentalist
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Brand designer and lover of good looking food
Tags: book design, Brand Agency, Brand Communication, Brand Design, brand designer, brand designer Melbourne, brand designers, Brand Experience, brand-designers-Melbourne, brand-gesture, Brand-Storytelling, brandamentalist, Carl Kleiner, Creative Ideas, Dave Ansett, David Ansett, Evelina Bratell, Forsman & Bodenfors, Graphic Design Melbourne, Hembakat Ar Bast, Homemade is Best, IKEA, Visual Language
It’s great to something we have seen a million times before in a new light. The visuals are stunning, works of art in their own right.
That’s great. So simple but so stunningly different. It brings the Ikea brand essence to life. Cooking with a flat pack method. It’s amazing the difference a simple promotional piece can take when fuelled with some great strategic thinking
and not an Allen-key in sight.
I agree Ron, the re-take with classic Swedish design style is a great brand gesture and piece of brand design for IKEA.
Right-on Derek — creative brand design with vision and brand strategy baked-in.
What a beautiful and stunning piece of brand storytelling! The visual representation of the ingredients is pure genius and the patience that must have gone into the styling is baffling!
Domma, you’re right — this is visual brand storytelling taken to the next level.
How refreshing to see such a clever and new way of presenting a cookbook. Food styling and photography that is beautiful and minimalist. A true act of brand communication in Ikea and Swedish style.
I’m intrigued to know how long i need to bake in the oven any one of these recipes? What order do I add the ingredients?
Looks good, but does it (will it) work with no words.
Thanks for your comment Rachel, I couldn’t agree more. A beautiful, all-round piece of brand design.
Hi Donny, Being a visual person and obsessive brand designer, I’ve only shown the photographic pages of the cook book. It comes with all the usual ingredients lists and method instructions rest assured.