Chip Kidd

Graphic Designer
Editor
Author
Band Member
Born in Pennsylvania 1964
Grew up immersed in American Popular Culture
Studied Graphic Design
Knopf Publishing House
Started to design book covers
By 2002 he had designed over 1200 covers
Doing Freelance work
Designed for authors on the New York Times Best
Sellers list,
gaining a lot of clients.
Batman Collected
1996
Peanuts: The Art of Charles M.
Schulz, 2001
Mythology:The D.C
Art of Alex Ross, 2003
Alvin Lustig

Peter Saville

Carol Carson
"His method was to read a text and get the feel of the
author's creative drive, then to restate it in his own graphic
terms. Laughlin, 1956
Alvin Lustig Chip Kidd
"brilliantly nuanced balancing act between form and content,
in which one is so totally at odds with the other that they
ultimately complement each other with unique juxtaposition.
Mediabistro.com, 2011
Peter Saville
Chip Kidd
"Kidd has learned a lot from her, and has integrated into his visual
vocabulary one critical aspect of her work: her private passion for
photography which defines her approach to book design." Vienne.
V, 2003, p.13)
Carol Carson Chip Kidd
"stretches the visual boundaries
between words and visuals by
choosing pictures that at first glance
appear to be non sequiturs."
(Vienne, 2003, p.14)
"just enough of a sinister overtone
to turn an innocent picture into an
ill-boding icon." (Vienne, 2003,
p.16)
http://www.tubechop.com/watch/2885103
Pure Form Pure Content
Kidd, C, 2012
"When you design book covers, you often have to learn a lot about the subject of
the book. If it's a work of fiction, you need to read the book to figure out what
themes you could use to best illustrate the story. When it's a work of non-fiction,
you have to become familiar with the writer's work. Kidd, C, 2013, p.29
Cropped image on front cover
When opened fully, the whole image becomes clear
"typography in denial
(Kidd, C, 2012)
"took the typography and made it
look as though it was lying. (Kidd,
C, 2012)
Trompe l'oeil.
and
Big
SMALL.
"One of them featured just a
disembodied head, brightly lit, while the
rest of the stage was stark and black.
(Kidd, C, 2013, p.29)
"the viewer not only look at it differently, but pay more attention to it. (Kidd, C, 2013, p.35)
Juxtaposition
"This is a visual comparison
of one thing to another,
often two very different
things that make a new idea
when combined." (Kidd, C,
2013, p.41)
"For the cover of the American
edition of Geoff Ryman's Was
(1992), Kidd effectively
juxtaposed a placid blue sky
with diverse representations of
characters from Frank L Baum's
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
(1900). (Sf-encyclopedia.com,
2014)
"For designers, form is the elements that make up our designs, our pages.
Function is the objective of the design whether it is a sign giving directions or
a book that entertains with a story. (Bear, J, 2014)
"The history of book design can be split into two eras:
before graphic designer Chip Kidd and after."
(Pabook.libraries.psu.edu, 2010)

"Chip Kidd has a reputation for designing covers that engage the readers'
intelligence and imagination." (Vienne, 2003, p.10)

Anna Dorfman
Keith Heyes
Christopher Brand
Jim Tierney
Rodrigo Corral
"Books are very Each book is in its own way unique. It has its own set of problems,
own set of circumstances, and that doesnt seem to change. So, there will always be
an idiosyncratic nature to the work." (Kidd, C, 2012)













"All of these solutions derive their origins from the text of the book, but once the
book designer has read the text then he has to be an interpreter and translator."
(Kidd, C, 2012)

References

Bear, J. (2014). Form Follows Function in Graphic Design and Desktop Publishing. [online] About.com
Desktop Publishing. Available at: http://desktoppub.about.com/od/graphicdesign/a/formfunction.htm
[Accessed 12 May. 2014].

Kidd, C. (2012). Designing books is no laughing matter. OK, it is.. [online] Ted.com. Available at:
http://www.ted.com/talks/chip_kidd_designing_books_is_no_laughing_matter_ok_it_is [Accessed 05
May. 2014].

Kidd, C. (2013). Go. 1st ed. pp.29, 35, 41.

Laughlin, J. (1956). The Book Jackets of Alvin Lustig. 10th ed. p.5.

Mediabistro.com, (2011). Quote of Note | Chip Kidd - UnBeige. [online] Available at:
http://www.mediabistro.com/unbeige/quote-of-note-chip-kidd_b16869 [Accessed 4 May. 2014].

Pabook.libraries.psu.edu, (2010). Chip Kidd. [online] Available at:
http://pabook.libraries.psu.edu/palitmap/bios/Kidd__Chip.html [Accessed 10 May. 2014].

Sf-encyclopedia.com, (2014). Authors : Kidd, Chip : SFE : Science Fiction Encyclopedia. [online]
Available at: http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/kidd_chip [Accessed 10 May. 2014].

Vienne, V. and Kidd, C. (2003). Chip Kidd. 1st ed. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, pp.10, 13, 14,
16.