The Wild Mushroom Cookbook

Sofia Pusa designed The Wild Mushroom Cookbook. The task was to create book design and 15 mushroom illustrations for Villisienikeittokirja (The Wild Mushroom Cookbook) by Sami Tallberg. Sami Tallberg is a Finnish chef and food writer known especially for his foraging and wild food-focused books, catering and courses.

The brief was to design a book that would be “psychedelic, magical and elegant”. The energetic book design including vibrant illustrations and a bright colour scheme was created to reflect the sparkling character of the author Sami Tallberg.

The aim was to choose bold colors that would look delicious and work well together with the colors found in mushroom and recipe photos such as pale pink and forest green. The book is not limited to a set palette but each chapter has it’s own color combination. This way the colors also structure the book and guide the reader and the abundance of vibrant colors ties everything together.

In contrast to the psychedelia of the illustrations the photographs focus on making the food look delicious. The dark photographs shot by Olga Poppius add dignity to the layout and bring attention to the recipes. Also the colors of the layout are used in a way that highlights the food in the photographs.