Larissa Paseta
Second Place Mellon Award
BA, Visual Communication
BA, Global & International Studies
Minor, Marketing
Statement
Baba! A Collection of Family Recipes is a cookbook devoted to exploring my family's culinary heritage. Inspired by my grandmother's recipe archives, I named my cookbook Baba, meaning "grandmother" in Serbian, and a word that also refers to "cake" in a few other languages.
From an early age, I admired my grandmother's ability to entertain and care for our family around the kitchen table. However, it was not until recently, that I became interested in the recipes themselves. Paging through stacks of recipes Baba had organized a decade ago, I began to look at the margins where stories were scribbled down, and the names of the recipes which included family members I couldn't recall. With this in mind, I was driven to uncover the hidden stories behind the meals that my family often enjoys.
Baba! is organized into three different chapters. The first, "My Way Home," follows my journey into learning the basics. After becoming comfortable preparing these dishes, I progressed my exploration into the recipes only made for special occasions in the "Best Served" chapter. The final chapter, "Next Steps," focuses on the recipes that have been introduced into my family's collection through recent relationships, like the merging of family traditions. The recipes in all three of the chapters are interspersed with personal stories and photographs that reflect the making of or the remnants of a much-enjoyed meal.
Bio
Larissa Paseta is a graphic designer with an undeniable affinity for traveling, athleisure, and all-day brunch. Originally, from Peru, Larissa spent her childhood living in Canada and the United States before deciding to study Visual Communications and International Studies at Loyola University Chicago. Larissa has a blossoming interest in social advocacy and editorial design highlighting her intersecting passions for visual and literary storytelling. She was the design editor for Loyola's student-run newspaper The Phoenix, where she designed the layouts and illustrations for print and digital viewing. She also collaborated with the newspaper's multimedia division to create social media content and infographics to support the weekly issues. Larissa has worked for a variety of organizations in the Chicago area as a creative design intern, including Greenheart International and Loyola's Graduate Enrollment Marketing Department. She has also participated in AIGA's Chicago Fall Mentorship Program in 2018, where she illustrated a beer label and set of coasters as a part of the print focused group. Her passion for collaboration extended that very same year with her attending Epsilon Agency's Creative Advertising Camp where she worked with a team of creatives in the process of brainstorming and conceptualizing a health and wellness campaign. In 2019, Larissa spent a semester abroad at Loyola's Vietnam Center in Ho Chi Minh City where she interned at a local marketing agency, Doodle Brands. There, she had the opportunity to design for a wide variety of clients in an entirely unfamiliar culture. She was closely involved with designing the logo and website for Sonatus, a co-working office building, and continued her work from Chicago as a contracted remote designer.