The brief was simply to explain the Middle East in the best way possible.
After much research, the main gist of the Middle East that I got was that it is often misunderstood and misrepresented, which was due largely to the sheer number of factors that are linked to one another. Its history and culture play a very important role in forming the Middle East of today, and I wanted to focus on this aspect because its present state cannot be understood without first understanding its context. I did not want to focus on the wars of recent years, because it also cannot be fully comprehended unless you understood its original context.
I chose food to explain the Middle East because many of its dishes reflected the social, economic and cultural environments of the different countries. It is also something that is universally appreciated and therefore a neutral ground to start with. The main colours used are based on Middle Eastern cuisine too. Although the book is as objective as I could get, my personal objective for it is to break the negative stereotypes that are commonly associated with the Middle East. This is why I chose a more casual & modern look and feel for it, although I still made reference to the area by using an arabesque pattern which was also used as a grid throughout the book.
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School Project, 2013
The cover is intentionally left blank, so that the reader is made to question their preconceived notions before they open the book. Opening the cover, the reader is faced with a bright burst of colour & pattern, symbolic of what one would find in the Middle East if one looks beneath its surface. The book is bound in Coptic stitch, a bookbinding method invented by the Egyptian Copts, who are also mentioned in the book.
A Middle Eastern dish is introduced before each section, explaining its significance to the country mentioned in the section and how it embodies its culture and history. A tearable recipe card also allows the reader to try their hand at making it.
