PHOTOGRAPHY & DESIGN

Photography

It is our desire to feature full color photography by photographer Ransom Ashley in Valenti’s historic craftsman home in Austin, Texas where her custom kitchen was featured in Architectural Digest and Better Homes & Gardens.

Ransom Ashley is a photographer, multidisciplinary creative, and the creative director of Son of Rand a design studio/shop which he founded in 2018. He has shown work internationally (in New York, London, Brighton and Budapest) and been included in shows at the New Britain Museum of American Art, Fort Wayne Museum of Art, and Masur Museum of Art, among others. He has also been featured in select publications such as Teen Vogue, Deadline, Wonderland Magazine, Metal Magazine, and Dazed and Confused Magazine.

Ashley’s most recent publication project was sold worldwide, carried by the Louvre in Paris, and debuted at Les Rencontres d’Arles alongside the work of industry greats like Stanley Kubrick, William Klein, Joel Meyeroritz, and Martin Parr.

In addition to Ashley’s many qualifications, he also happens to be Valenti’s neighbor (and they share a birthday!). More times than not, whenever Valenti is making a meal to share with friends, he is at the table. In fact, the photos featured above were shot by Ashley at one of Valenti’s recent dinner parties.

If we are able to work with Ashley on this project, it would give the book such a dynamic quality, especially compared to most cookbooks on the market which are shot over the course of a weekend in a rented studio, because we’ll be able to capture more seasonal, organic content through his unique vantage point.

Design

We are committed to making Bento Picnic deliciously digestible through smart design choices, typography, and visuals. 

Bento Picnic takes a deep dive into the Japanese food philosophy with plenty of context, interesting asides, and easter eggs. The design and layout will be critical to engaging audiences as we endeavor to offer readers the most complete coverage of foundational aspects of Washoku that has ever been made available to English-speaking audiences.

We would like to collaborate with Ransom Ashley and his team at Son of Rand for the design for this project because they share our vision for what will make Bento Picnic unique. Since we already have an established working relationship with Ashley, and we admire Son of Rand’s ability to present material in an elevated manner that sparks curiosity and joy, we would like to pursue having Ashley oversee both the design and photography for this cookbook.

We believe Ashley’s involvement could also help to expand the demographics our readership by making Bento Picnic available in Son of Rand’s online shop — alongside their treasure trove of beautifully-designed gifts, books, and artifacts — and by promoting the book on their social platforms which are followed by 68.3k individuals.

Bento Picnic’s Design Artifacts

For the Bento Picnic cookbook, we will endeavor to portray Washoku and its many benefits in the most visually engaging manner by drawing upon the most successful aspects of Valenti’s previous iterations, some of which are featured below.

While Valenti was in culinary school, she got extra credit for designing and developing the above resource entitled “Tastes of Central Texas” to share with her class. 🤓 And for the past decade, she’s not only been showcasing Washoku in her restaurant and catering menus; She’s also developed a variety of visual aids to help educate her customers about Washoku and has led workshops on the topic.

In 2013, when Valenti had a leadership role with TEDxAustin, she recruited Elizabeth Andoh to give a TED Talk about why Washoku is “an idea worth sharing.” Then she organized a large-scale bento lunch where each of the 500 attendees got to enjoy a Washoku-inspired meal made by one of five local chefs. To spark conversation and awareness for Washoku, Leanne worked with designers to create these labels for each of the boxes.