A Peek Inside Chronicle’s “Black Box”
A few months back, STEP magazine ran an interview with Michael Carabetta, creative director at Chronicle Books, that’s just now popping up on the web. Carabetta, who’s been described as the San Francisco=based publishing company’s “secret weapon,” describes how his mission has grown to encompass so much more than the books:
“The boss stopped me in the stairwell one day and asked if I could do something about our identity. Sure thing. Not long after that, ‘By the way, can we redesign our tradeshow booth?’ Natch. Next, ‘Shouldn’t we have someone to design our ads, catalogs and whatnot in-house?’ Check. ‘Website?’ Roger…
I’ve added other functions to my black box: in-store retail displays, four generations of tradeshow environments, our own retail shop in San Francisco and managing our new office design project. Those are the tasks. The goal was, and remains, to maintain a high level of design in all that we do, from the business card to building architecture to all the books and products in between. It’s all design, and it’s all Chronicle.”
Carabetta also reflects on how the company’s growth was spurred by hits like Griffin and Sabine and The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook (“the yellow book that came out of the blue”), and how the success of The Beatles led the company to attempt a follow-up that didn’t live up to expectations: “Hypothesis: Stones fans don’t buy books.”
Launch a social media campaign that will build your brand and deliver results in our online 
GalleyCat Twitter feed loading...
