The Story Behind the Cookbook
Based on an episode with Izabelle Alvares 🇧🇷
Welcome to Latinx in Power, a podcast aiming to help to demystify tech, the way we do that is by interviewing Latinx and Caribbean leaders all over the world to hear their perspective and insights.
We talked with Izabelle Alvares (she/her) is a graphic designer and art director with 15 years of experience blending editorial design, branding, and experiential design. She views design as a catalyst for meaningful social change and thrives on projects that celebrate collective intelligence and diverse perspectives.
For Izabelle, food is more than sustenance — it’s her muse. Whether she’s cooking, creating collages, photographing, or filming recipe videos, food consistently inspires and nourishes not only her body but also her mind and soul.
Fun fact: Izabelle and I (Thaisa) launched a book called Vegan Anniversary in the Bay Area! Explore Brazilian cuisine with a vegan twist, blending recipes with stories that connect tradition and plant-based living.
In this episode, Izabelle Alvares shares insights from her role as creative director on a new cookbook blending recipes with cultural storytelling. We will discuss her career, inspirations, and the power of design to evoke emotions and connect communities. Iza also offers advice for designers meaning to create socially impactful, story-driven projects.
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What does it mean to be a Latina to you?
That’s a very good question because, as a Brazilian, you don’t initially learn that you are Latina. Brazil is such a vast country with so many cultural references of its own that you can spend a lifetime trying to understand what it means to be Brazilian.
When you leave Brazil and move to another country — especially here in California — you encounter a rich cultural presence from the Latino community. California, after all, was part of Mexico until the last century. It was here that I began to realize I am Latina.
I’ve been in California for only three years, and it’s been a journey of self-discovery. I’m still learning what it means to be a Latina woman. The more I observe, the more I see the shared references in food, culture, television, and music. You start connecting the dots — realizing that we are all part of a larger, connected community.
Can you give us an overview of your career?
I started my career as a theater student. Acting was my first bachelor’s degree, but after a year and a half, I realized it wasn’t a sustainable career path for me. Unfortunately, it wasn’t going to pay the bills. So, I decided to switch to graphic design.
From my first semester in graphic design, I started interning and working right away. Over the years, I’ve explored nearly every field within graphic design: branding, editorial design, and exhibition design. Each of these areas gave me valuable expertise that I apply to my work today.
Now, I’m gradually shifting into art direction, focusing more on photography and video. This transition has been exciting and fulfilling — and it’s also how the book project, Vegan Anniversary in the Bay Area, came to life.
During my time as a graphic designer, I spent many years freelancing, which gave me the chance to work with small companies, NGOs, institutes, and collectives in the third sector. While the financial rewards weren’t always great, the experience was incredibly fulfilling. I’m proud of that chapter in my career, especially working with so many passionate people who are driven by purpose.
The shift toward becoming a creative director happened naturally. Early on, I worked at a studio focused on branding, packaging, and editorial projects. I was part of the editorial team, where I learned how to make books, work with typography, and manage print production.
Later, I joined another studio with an even greater focus on editorial and exhibition design. I gained hands-on experience in creating print materials for large events and exhibitions, which is a skill I still carry with me today.
The move to art direction came from my own curiosity. After years in graphic design, I started to feel stagnant. I loved the field, but I wanted new challenges. Shifting toward a more photographic and visual perspective reignited my passion and made me excited about my work again. That’s where I am now — navigating this space between design and art direction, looking for new ways to create and tell stories through visual media.
Could you share the inspiration behind this cookbook and how you envisioned bringing the recipes and stories to life through design?
It’s been an exciting journey! It all started when Thaisa told me she was celebrating 10 years as a vegan and 10 years living in the U.S. I immediately thought, “Let’s create a zine to celebrate!” What began as a small idea quickly grew into a full-fledged book — far bigger than we initially imagined. But that’s the beauty of it — we learned so much along the way.
For a while I experimented with an Instagram account where I shared recipe videos and food photography. I’ve always wanted to work on a recipe book, as I think it’s one of the most fun projects you can undertake. I never expected that our zine would evolve into a book. I’m thrilled it did! We took inspiration from punk zines, which were a big part of both our backgrounds. So, this book is a blend of our shared love for food imagery, punk aesthetics, and a meaningful milestone — 10 years of vegan living. And yes, Thaisa had plenty to share about it. Spoiler alert: She really did!
The book features Brazilian, American, and vegan recipes — all entirely plant-based. The process felt very natural. One thing I prioritized was ensuring the book wouldn’t be just another recipe collection. Thaisa is far from boring, and I wanted readers to get to know her through the pages. I wanted them to feel what I feel when I visit her home — her warmth, generosity, and the incredible food she shares. That welcoming, heartwarming vibe had to be part of the book.
There’s also a political aspect that’s important to both of us. We aimed for approachable imagery to make cooking and baking feel accessible and fun. Baking is more complex than cooking, and we wanted to simplify it for readers.
Lastly, we added little quirks and Easter eggs throughout the book. Every image has a detail or reference that adds a playful twist. We made sure it wouldn’t be just a typical recipe book but something unique and personal.
What messages or emotions do you hope readers experience through both the content and design of the book?
I think I really wanted people to feel like they were in Thaisa’s space, having a good time with her — just listening to her stories. The book’s stories are personal and special, and I hope people have fun cooking along with them. Those are the main emotions I want to evoke.
I also want people to look at the book and think, “Wow, this is beautiful.” There’s so many of us in this project. For example, Thaisa’s work as a program manager brought essential management skills to the process. And I contributed a lot of organizational skills — things that aren’t necessarily creative but were crucial because it was just the two of us. We didn’t have anyone else to check things, so we made sure everything ran smoothly with those skills that go beyond creativity and cooking.
It was really cool to build the photo concepts based on the book’s stories. Taking small details and turning it into the core of a photo concept — that was so much fun.
Did working on this project spark new ideas or directions you want to explore in future design projects?
I learned so much throughout the process, even technically about photography, because I am not a photographer. It was the DIY spirit that drove me to create all the imagery because we couldn’t hire a photographer. We were so excited to do it, and I thought, “Yeah, let’s do this! I can handle it!” And I did. I learned a lot.
Even with the Figma files, having a sketch of everything organized helped us avoid wasting time on the day itself. We spent nearly a year working on this project over our weekends — cooking, eating (I ate a lot, and it was amazing!), and photographing. We dedicated entire days to this project, which required a lot of compromise and responsibility, and I am proud of what we achieved. It was a great experience.
I’m also super excited to keep exploring this. I want to create my own recipe zine, to see how the zine format would look with different printing techniques. I was inspired because I’m the kind of person who cooks intuitively, without following recipes. But it’s so important to have a recipe, especially now that I’m expecting a little boy. It’s very important to me that he learns how to be a functional teenager, a functional child, and a functional adult. I believe that having recipes is a crucial step in teaching that anyone can cook — you just have to follow the steps. The “I do it by eye” approach doesn’t help, as it gives the impression that only some people can cook. That’s not what we want for anyone. We want people to feel empowered to cook and do whatever they set their minds to.
That was a huge inspiration for me — seeing everything come together and witnessing how hard Thaisa worked to perfect the recipes. Some of them were nearly ready, but many still needed a lot of testing. It wasn’t just about cooking the final product; it was about a lot of testing. Sometimes we would shoot something on the weekend, and Thaisa would spend the whole week perfecting the same recipe.
I also think the feedback part was super important because we had to work through the discomfort of receiving honest criticism. No one likes to make others feel uncomfortable, but it’s a part of the process if we want to create really great recipes. That connection brought us closer together, and it was one of the highlights of the whole process.
What advice would you give to designers who’d like to work on books or projects that
I would say, just do it — and stick to a schedule. That was really important for us, and something we kept reminding each other: we have to keep going. When you’re working on a project for months, fatigue sets in, and it’s easy to think, “Maybe we can skip this weekend.” But we always made sure to say, “Okay, we can skip this once, but we have to meet our deadline and make it work.” There was no one else setting a due date for us, so we had to hold ourselves accountable. And I think that worked really well between the two of us.
Another important thing is to pull a variety of references. One approach I took was to avoid looking at references that I thought were perfect because I didn’t want to be overly influenced. Instead, I collected different references from everywhere — not just from one source — to train my eye to spot inspiration in unexpected places.
Keeping your files organized is also essential. Make sure your imagery is properly sorted, with retouched files in separate folders. It sounds basic, but when you’re working solo, it’s easy to think, “I’ll organize it later.” That can quickly spiral into a massive, unmanageable task.
So, my advice is to stay organized, believe in yourself, and just get started. It may not look perfect at first, but that’s okay. It will get better with time, and that’s how you evolve.
Which resource helped you in your journey?
I’ve been loving living in Substack. I’m really enjoying the comeback of newsletters, the blog post format, and smaller communities. I’ve been spending a lot of time there and collecting a lot of references. Of course, Pinterest too, but Pinterest has turned into a place where people often draw from the same sources, so I try to avoid it a bit.
I also always have Bon Appétit magazines at my place — I subscribe to them. I love them; I love their imagery. I think it’s a great reference as well. And then, of course, movies — anything movies. Punk scenes, records, and books. Sometimes you’re reading a book, and it describes a feast, a dinner, or something like that, and you can take inspiration from that. I don’t know, just anywhere.
I hope you enjoyed the podcast. We will have more interviews with amazing Latinx and Caribbean leaders the first Tuesday of every month. Check out our website Latinx In Power to hear more. Don’t forget to share comments and feedback, always with kindness. See you soon.
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Additional Reading Mentioned in the Interview
https://www.linkedin.com/in/izabelle/
https://www.instagram.com/visualfoodjournal_/
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