Project Book Cover: Cookies for Private Reception honoring author Tayari Jones
The Ask
When a client reached out asking for cookies that looked like the book cover for the novel KIN, I knew I wanted to accept the challenge. But when I saw the book cover? It was a done deal.
Hand-painted shortbread cookies to honor author Tayari Jones at a private reception in Chicago. And the book cover features a honeysuckle flower, putting it right in my wheelhouse.
I was excited to dive in to create a new design and get more time doing hand lettering.
Behind the Scenes
When I started this project, I wondered to myself, “How can I honor the design of the book cover while reimagining it into something unique that works on a cookie?”
I started refining a few honeysuckle designs on watercolor paper while getting feedback from friends and family. Then, I did some color-matching with food dyes to get colors reminiscent of the book, and practiced the lettering that said “KIN”.
Honeysuckle practice painting on paper
It took some time to get the lettering right and ready to be painted on 50 cookies.
Painted Cookies getting ready to be packaged
Up to this point in my cookie career, I had steered clear of lettering on cookies because it is so time consuming.
But this book title was concise and the font was simple. So I accepted the client’s request.
Ultimately, I decided on a deep violet shade with edible gold accents for the lettering to really make it pop.
After a long day of baking and icing cookies to meet the client’s tight 48-hour timeline, came the fun part—painting.
Painting this set of cookies happened in 2 stages: the honeysuckle and then the lettering. There’s something so beautiful about getting to honor and celebrate an author by hand-lettering their book title on cookies.
Painting Honeysuckle Cookies to celebrate the book KIN
The Delivery
After 2 days of baking and painting, I packed up all 50 cookies for the client to pick up on her way to the author’s reception.
The Results
The best part? Getting a quick shoutout from Tayari Jones herself on social media a week later! It was truly the most delightful surprise!
Congrats to Tayari on her new book! I can’t wait to finish reading it.
“...look at these cookies - they say KIN! And I want you to know they actually taste good! This is not a strictly ornamental situation...”
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