Cuisine of Texas: Designing for Local Flavor at Scale
CLIENT
Cuisine of Texas
DATE
2010-2018
INDUSTRY
Publishing / Hospitality / Food & Beverage
SCOPE
Magazine design and layout
Project Overview
Cuisine of Texas produces city-specific dining guides distributed in-room at major hotels and sold at local retailers like BookPeople, Central Market, Whole Foods, and Sprouts. I served as the lead designer for eight years, helping elevate the publication with a clean, cohesive visual identity that could scale across multiple cities and issues.
Objectives
Design and layout recurring multi-page publications on a quarterly basis
Establish a consistent visual identity across regional editions (Austin, San Antonio, Dallas)
Balance promotional content, restaurant menus, area maps, and editorial sections
Each city edition had its own branding nuance, but I kept the overall architecture consistent to preserve the magazine’s identity and reader familiarity. Elements I designed and managed:
Cover Designs: Created eye-catching covers using high-quality food photography, styled to reflect each city’s vibe
Advertisements: Designed in-house ads for featured restaurants when they didn’t have creative ready
Maps: Built clean, legible area maps with custom icons and restaurant locations
Menu & Recipe Pages: Developed flexible grid systems that accommodated wildly different content lengths
Editorial Layouts: Created engaging gallery pages and welcome spreads to open each issue with visual impact
This project required juggling long-term visual consistency with short-term agility. Each issue had 60–100+ pages and a fast-paced approval cycle with restaurant clients, publishers, and print vendors.
Tools & Workflow
Design: Adobe InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop
Production: Managed file prep for offset printing, including preflight, proofing, and press-ready exports
Collaboration: Worked directly with the publisher and restaurant clients to finalize content and design assets. Mixture of in-person and phone, with email.
Results & Impact
Eight years of successful publications across three major Texas markets
Maintained visual quality and reader usability through constant content turnover and ad hoc updates
Reliable systems in place for producing large volumes of recurring content
Supported the publisher’s goal of creating a trusted, upscale in-room publication for travelers and locals alike
Positive client relationship with frequent repeat projects
Why This Project Matters
This body of work showcases my ability to juggle complex editorial projects with many moving parts—while still keeping the final product clear, visually engaging, and on-brand. It’s a strong example of how I bring consistency, polish, and process to long-term, high-volume design work—especially when food is involved.
Testimonial
“I love working with Amanda because she goes above and beyond to take care of all the little details involved with a large project. I don’t have to ask or worry about it – it’s just done, and done well.”
