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Trope Collaborative
A human-centered design consultancy that collaborates with clients & users to be more focused, adaptive & competitive.

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Charlie Trotter

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Opportunity

Charlie Trotter was one of the most innovative chefs in the world recognized by Relais Chateaux and the James Beard Foundation. Early in his career, he wanted to define a new type of cookbook that would be inspirational and be in living rooms vs. kitchens. He wanted to control all content, design and marketing for his ideas, which is highly unusual for authors as publishers usually control these issues.
Charlie Trotter A self trained chef in the French Method, Charlie became a world famous chef in his mid 30's and his restaurant Charlie Trotter's was a James Beard, Relais Gourmand and Michelin Restaurant for many years. His discipline and craft

Charlie Trotter
A self trained chef in the French Method, Charlie became a world famous chef in his mid 30's and his restaurant Charlie Trotter's was a James Beard, Relais Gourmand and Michelin Restaurant for many years. His discipline and craft was unsurpassed and was a true creative visionary. He produced his cookbooks himself for total control and our collaborations lasted ten years and five cookbooks.

Charlie Trotter Desserts This is a good example of total craft. The cookbook is six over six color with spot varnishes and two book ribbons. The photography was completed by Tim Turner, one of the best cuisine photographers. The cover was create

Charlie Trotter Desserts
This is a good example of total craft. The cookbook is six over six color with spot varnishes and two book ribbons. The photography was completed by Tim Turner, one of the best cuisine photographers. The cover was created with fifty pounds of flour with a raised zinc plate. The first page was with cocoa.

Title Spread for Charlie Trotter Desserts All of his cookbooks were a good example of unity, not uniformity. Every book had different scene photographers and the cuisine photography were different conceptually. Paul Elledge completed all the bla

Title Spread for Charlie Trotter Desserts
All of his cookbooks were a good example of unity, not uniformity. Every book had different scene photographers and the cuisine photography were different conceptually. Paul Elledge completed all the black and white photography.

Table of Contents for Charlie Trotter Desserts This scene of Charlie's kitchen at full speed was taken by Paul Elledge with a 1950's Japanese panoramic camera.

Table of Contents for Charlie Trotter Desserts
This scene of Charlie's kitchen at full speed was taken by Paul Elledge with a 1950's Japanese panoramic camera.

Table of Contents for Charlie Trotter Vegetables Tim Turner also did some of the accent photography and this broccoli plant was grown by inner city children in Chicago for his restaurant. This cookbook was organized by month.

Table of Contents for Charlie Trotter Vegetables
Tim Turner also did some of the accent photography and this broccoli plant was grown by inner city children in Chicago for his restaurant. This cookbook was organized by month.

Recipe Spread for Charlie Trotter Vegetables This is a good example of the drama of Charlie's creations. Plate design and colors were matched with each recipe. Typography was designed by me, but was typeset through one of the best type houses in

Recipe Spread for Charlie Trotter Vegetables
This is a good example of the drama of Charlie's creations. Plate design and colors were matched with each recipe. Typography was designed by me, but was typeset through one of the best type houses in Chicago.

Photo spread from Charlie Trotter Desserts Paul Elledge always liked motion and getting close ups to capture details. We created narratives of kitchen activities between recipes.

Photo spread from Charlie Trotter Desserts
Paul Elledge always liked motion and getting close ups to capture details. We created narratives of kitchen activities between recipes.

Recipe Spread for Charlie Trotter Desserts Tim Turner decided that all recipes would be shot not on plates, but on white grounds were the cuisine is unencumbered by space and total focus is on culinary composition.

Recipe Spread for Charlie Trotter Desserts
Tim Turner decided that all recipes would be shot not on plates, but on white grounds were the cuisine is unencumbered by space and total focus is on culinary composition.

Photo Spread from Charlie Trotter Vegetables Tim Turner went across the United States photographing farms and details. Having great photography made designing books a joy to do.

Photo Spread from Charlie Trotter Vegetables
Tim Turner went across the United States photographing farms and details. Having great photography made designing books a joy to do.

Methods & Practices

We collaborated closely with Charlie and Tim Turner, one of the best food photographers in the United States to explore how his brand would be expressed through images and overall book design. We were given unprecedented access to Charlie, his methods and his kitchen in order to align his thinking and vision in both the design and production value of his books. The photography was top notch and conceptually matched the design. We ended up producing several books for him such as the original book, Vegetables, Seafood, Meat & Game and Desserts. We oversaw all printing in Hong Kong.

Impact & Outcome

Charlie proved to other star chefs and to the publishing community that he could take control and financial responsibility for his cookbooks and set the bar of the first $50 cookbook on the market. These books defined a new cookbook category and were financially lucrative for his overall business and recognized by the Chicago Book Clinic and The James Beard Foundation for their meticulous design, photography and content.