Chronicle Books
Chronicle Books is a publisher in San Francisco, California, that creates popular and well-designed books and gifts for children and adults. Their objective is to produce instantly-recognizable publishing that is prized for its aesthetic and editorial value and accessibility.
Extreme Barbecue
“Extreme Barbecue” is a book that highlights homemade barbecue cookers of all shapes and sizes, the characters who created them, and some of the recipes, secret ingredients, tools, and techniques they use. Organized by region of the country, the book weighs in at 300 pages.
Chronicle Books approached Fifth Letter to design the entire book from cover to cover. We decided to use a rustic letterpress approach coupled with some more modern design elements. The overall result is a book that educates, entertains, and makes stomachs rumble, all while feeding the reader’s wanderlust to travel the country.
Front Cover
The cover of “Extreme Barbecue” was created to stand out on retail shelves while staying true to the content of the book. The color palette and textures echo the heritage of barbecued foods and the style of packaging that meats, sauces, and other materials are often found in.
Title Page
Even though the book was full-color throughout, we felt that to stay true to the low-fi aesthetic of homemade barbecue and simple recipes, it made sense to stick with a two-color look and let the full-color photography do most of the work. This spread is the title page for the book.
Chapter Opener
Even though the book was full-color throughout, we felt that to stay true to the low-fi aesthetic of homemade barbecue and simple recipes, it made sense to stick with a two-color look and let the full-color photography do most of the work. This spread is one of the chapter openers for the book.
Recipe Spread
Even though the book was full-color throughout, we felt that to stay true to the low-fi aesthetic of homemade barbecue and simple recipes, it made sense to stick with a two-color look and let the full-color photography do most of the work. This spread showcases a delicious recipe for pocket pita bread.