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Case Study

Uncle Zee’s A1 Curries Cookbook

Cover, chef character and full interior layout for Uncle Zee's A1 Curries, a 65-page cookbook of 30 essential curries where South Asian home cooking meets the British curry house. Delivered print-ready and as a digital PDF.

Uncle Zee's A1 Curries cookbook mockup on a kitchen table

01.

The Challenge

Uncle Zee had 30 tried-and-tested curry recipes and a full set of food photos, and wanted to turn them into a real cookbook. He needed a designer who could handle long-form layout and typography, make every recipe easy to follow in a busy kitchen, and give the book a personality as warm and funny as his own writing.

02.

The Solution

We started with the face of the brand: a friendly chef character of Uncle Zee, arms crossed with a wooden spoon, which leads the cover and the book. The cover uses warm saffron orange, hand-drawn paisley ornaments and a Mughal-style arch to say South Asian food at a glance. Inside, we built one clear recipe system in Adobe InDesign: the dish name and a short story at the top, servings and cooking time, ingredients grouped by step on the left, numbered method on the right, and a full-page photo opposite every recipe. A table of contents, an introduction and a ‘how to use this book’ page guide new cooks before they start.

03.

The Result

Uncle Zee received a finished 65-page cookbook with all 30 recipes laid out consistently, delivered as a print-ready PDF, a digital-use PDF and editable InDesign and IDML files, so the book can be printed, sold as an ebook and updated later. The client described the team as very knowledgeable in Adobe products and detail-oriented.

ClientUncle Zee’s (Zubair Ehsan)
Book65 pages · 30 curry recipes
DeliveredPrint PDF, digital PDF, InDesign & IDML
PlatformUpwork · Feb–Apr 2026
Cover & character

A cover with a face and a smile

A friendly chef character of Uncle Zee, arms crossed with a wooden spoon, sits inside a Mughal-style arch on warm saffron orange with hand-drawn paisley ornaments, so the book says South Asian home cooking at a glance.

Uncle Zee's A1 Curries cookbook front cover
Uncle Zee's A1 Curries hardcover mockup
Uncle Zee chef character illustration
Uncle Zee's A1 Curries cookbook mockup on a kitchen table
Getting started

Contents and introduction that welcome new cooks

A clear table of contents, a personal introduction and a ‘how to use this book’ page help readers find their way before they start cooking.

Cookbook table of contents and introduction spread
Recipe system

Every recipe laid out the same, easy to cook from

Dish name and a short story at the top, servings and cooking time, ingredients grouped by step on the left, numbered method on the right, and a full-page photo opposite. Built with paragraph styles and master pages in Adobe InDesign so all 30 recipes stay consistent.

Cookbook butter chicken recipe spread
Cookbook chicken korma recipe spread
Cookbook curry recipe spread
Cookbook paneer recipe spread
★★★★★
Client review
“I had a very good experience working with Graphisco. The team is very knowledgeable in using Adobe products and detail-oriented to ensure the final product meets the expected quality.”
Zubair Ehsan · CEO, Uncle Zee’s

30

Curry recipes, each with its own photo spread.

65

Pages designed, from cover to final recipe.

4

File formats: print PDF, digital PDF, InDesign and IDML.

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