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IF THERE WERE one directive for all designers, this might be it: Make something and share it. This applies to all kinds of projects, from posters to T-shirts, from videos to websites. Also, perhaps, dinner. What do designers make in the kitchen, and do they draw any parallels between cooking and designing? We asked a few leading designers to share their signature dishes with us, and then we photographed the cooks and their finished meals in their homes. (Our photographers have never eaten so well on a Print shoot.) As they cooked for us, we learned that a few of them—like Alan Dye and Khoi Vinh—approach food preparation and their design process in similar ways. For others, the connection is less apparent. Matteo Bologna claims he can’t cook, and Julie Hirschfeld only took to the kitchen recently. One thing they all seem to believe: that with food, tasty beats pretty. Nevertheless, in the following pages, you’ll see both. Pull up a chair, won’t you? There’s plenty to go around. CAITLIN DOVER