Didion Culinary Collection — Recipe Card Design
Design decisions and layout specifications for the Didion Culinary Collection recipe card, finalized during a working session with Diana Henry (Didion) and Melissa Cusumano (Asymmetric).
See also: [1] | [2] | [3]
Ingredient Order
Ingredients were reordered by importance — required first, optional last — to reflect how a home cook would actually approach the recipe:
| Position | Ingredient |
|---|---|
| 1 | Didion corn masa flour |
| 2 | Water |
| 3 | Kosher salt |
| 4 | Vegetable oil |
Rationale: Flour and water are non-negotiable. Salt is nearly universal but technically optional (Diana noted a colleague skips it). Oil is the most optional — many cooks don't grease the pan at all. The layout reads left-to-right, top-to-bottom, so position 1 is top-left and position 4 is bottom-right.
"Most important to least important." — Diana Henry
Text Edits
- Removed the phrase "in the masa" from ingredient descriptions — redundant given context, cluttered the layout
- Oil noted as optional in instructions where space allows
- Language kept minimal throughout; clarity over completeness
Color Treatment
- Changed all text to a single color (blue) — previously used a two-color treatment with gold accents
- Gold was flagged as hard to read at small sizes
- Single-color treatment improves consistency and legibility, especially at print scale
"I do like the two color, but it's very valid about the gold is hard to read." — Melissa Cusumano
Spacing & Layout
- Added spacing between ingredient and instruction elements for visual breathing room
- Two-column ingredient layout retained; spacing between columns adjusted for clarity
- Reviewed line-by-line to avoid awkward wraps or orphaned words
Print Specifications
Consistent with all other Didion Culinary Collection materials:
- Bleed: 0.125" per side
- Total trim: 0.25" all the way around
- Output: PDF with crop marks and bleeds
See [3] for full spec reference.
File Delivery
- Final print-ready PDF saved to the shared Google Drive recipe folder
- File naming convention:
Didion Recipe [version].pdf - Diana to submit directly to FedEx for printing; text notification preferred over email given email reliability issues at time of session
Open Items (as of session date)
- [ ] Confirm whether "oil optional" language fits within instruction copy
- [ ] Verify Diana received the correct PDF version from the recipe folder