#DesignerSpotlight – The Inside Out of Book Cover Design From Chip Kidd
Do you know who this is?
He is Chip Kidd.
If you’re interested in book cover design then he’s a great source of inspiration to learn from, and interact with. Trust me, if you hear him talk on Ted Talks you wouldn’t be bored. He is smart and the best thing is that he is funny. And humor matters when it fits well with the situation.
Catch him on twitter @chipkidd
Kidd is an American graphic designer known for his unconventional book cover designs that perfectly describe the text within. Some of his works are as follows:
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But he is more than just a designer. Kidd is a musician, editor and author. In fact, he has written an academic satire The Cheese Monkeys, and The Learners.
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Before we go into the nitty-gritty of book designing, let’s get to know him a bit.
About The Designer
Kid 1964 andd was born in grew up in Shillington before settling in New York later in his life. In his childhood he was greatly inspired and fascinated by the American Popular culture. Kidd’s gateway to the study and practice of graphic design was comic books, especially of the two most iconic superheroes Batman and Superman.
I loved Archie Comics (during teenage years) but it didn’t lead me towards anything I’d be passionate about today. Did you like something that led you somewhere? While you figure that out, let us steer our focus back to Kidd.
After graduating from Penn State University, he worked as an assistant to the Art Director at Knopf in 1986 where his job was to ask “What do stories look like?” To know the answer to this, watch our video packed with amazing and useful tips from Kidd.
Other than this he has worked freelance with Columbia University Press, Penguin, Scribner and Amazon etc. In over two decades of his graphic design career, he has made cover designs for books written by Haruki Murakami, Cormac McCarthy, Mark Beyer, Frank Miller, Alex Ross, David Sedaris, Charles Schulz and for many more.
An Iconic Imagery
If you don’t know this, then that’s just weird. When Jurassic Park released in 1993, the young generation was as excited to watch the movie as people were for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The flick was outstanding but its logo became more iconic.
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The dinosaur skeleton is by Chip Kidd. He made this imagery for one of his book jacket designs – the novel Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton.
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So now you know how popular the book cover image became, that it was used to market and brand the movie adaptation.
Let’s learn visual storytelling from the expert of book cover design.
