This book showcases the food and culture of Sharjah (UAE), hence the sub-title, ‘A celebration of food and culture – recipes for every occasion’. Sharjah was the featured territory of the London Book Fair in March 2020. A fundamental of the brief was to have copies ready to launch it at the Fair. I only started work on it at the very end of January, so began the production management of this project before any of us in the UK became very mindful of Covid-19.
I worked in a team of fellow freelancers including specialists in authoring, editorial, art direction, photography and design. In turn I connected with trusted suppliers in prepress and print, turning the text, design and Stuart Ovenden‘s food photography into finished form.
There were numerous challenges arising from the immovable deadline. Finding a printer who could complete the manufacturing at the speed we needed was a significant one. Making room for preparation of the image files, converting them to CMYK and otherwise tuning them, also too some agile processes. I managed that in parallel with the editorial and design working, enabling the book to come together for press in the time available and to the highest standards.
Books delivered as planned although the publication date was scuppered by the late cancellation of the Fair. A Taste of Eid was later published to coincide with the festival of eid itself.
There was huge satisfaction from having delivered, exactly on time, a project completed so much quicker than normal. It was a test of my contacts and experience to achieve that goal. As the implications of the pandemic closed in however, the delivery of the book brought decidely mixed emotions.
ISBN 9781916329102
192pp
252 x 200mm
Published 30th April 2020
The book can be purchased here or here (affiliate links)
Portfolio