The KOA Campers’ Cookbook | 2024
A bit about my background first:
When studying design in college, I worked my summers at Kampgrounds of America (KOA)’s home office in Billings, Montana as a Camper Services Representative (since renamed Customer Experience Representative). At the time, I daydreamed of becoming an in-house graphic designer for KOA.
After graduating from school, I began working as a travel agent in Montana until a full-time position opened at KOA. I jumped at that opportunity and began my journey full-time working as a Weekend Customer and Social Media Support Specialist for KOA’s customer service team.
A couple years later, after the dust from COVID-19 settled and the world *somewhat* returned to normal, KOA did some rearranging and my title became more customer based as a Team Lead. Though this was exciting in its own way, I was a bit disappointed to miss out on the design element my position previously held.
Thus inspired my dream to create a KOA Cookbook! It’s about time to revamp my skills in InDesign and Illustrator. What a perfect opportunity to really showcase the growth opportunities a collaborative, community-based KOA Cookbook can provide to KOA and their campers!
Click here to view the cookbook's first draft - PRINT PDF Click here to view the cookbook's first draft - INTERACTIVE PDF
PROCESS
This project, like any other, began with sketches and a bit of research. After working on KOA’s Customer Experience team, I felt confident in knowing my target audience. I knew that this product needed to be easy to navigate, use and store for on-the-go travel.
My biggest frustration as a cookbook user is having to flip pages back and forth, so I knew this cookbook would have to be spiral bound and each recipe had to fit on one page.
Along the way, I realized a QR code linking back to KOA’s Recipe webpage was a must for two reasons: again, quick, easy access to each recipe and the ability to save and share the recipe with co-travelers and neighboring guests. Ultimately this especially lends to KOA’s mission “to connect people to the outdoors and each other.”
I drew inspiration from a couple specific booklets — including The Happy Camper Cookbook and KOA’s own, The Kid’s Guide to Camping.
