Chip Kidd: Book One: Work: 1986-2006

Described as "the closest thing to a rock star" in graphic design today (USA Today), Chip Kidd is universally recognized as an American master of contemporary book design. At the forefront of a revolution in publishing, Kidd's iconic covers, with their inventive marriage of type and found images, have influenced an entire generation of design practitioners in many fields.

Chip Kidd: Book One collects all of his book covers and designs for the first time, as well as hundreds of developmental sketches and concepts — annotated by Kidd and by many of the best-selling authors he's worked with over the years. The result is an important contribution to the design canon today as well as a visually dazzling (and often hilarious) insider's look at the design and publishing process. The book also showcases Kidd's work with comics and graphic novels, including his collaborations with leading artists and writers in the field. Featured are projects for DC Comics, including Batman and Superman, as well as Kidd's award-winning exploration of the art of Charles M. Schulz.

Chip Kidd: Book One is sure to enthrall design aficionados, book lovers, pop-culture fanatics, comics fans, and design students.

"Stylishly designed and richly produced, this witty volume works both as a retrospective of Kidd's renowned book covers and as a memoir of his career in publishing. 'I did not grow up yearning to become a book designer,' Kidd declares in his prologue. 'What I wanted to be was Chris Partridge on The Partridge Family.' Thank heavens that plan didn't work out; ever since Sara Eisenman hired Kidd at Knopf, he's been churning out creepy, striking, sly, smart, unpredictable covers that make readers appreciate books as objects of art as well as literature. His accounts of the development of such famous covers as the clear acetate jacket for Donna Tartt's The Secret History and the high-gloss spot-laminate design for Haruki Murakami's The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle are fascinating. And his irresistible, tongue-in-cheek remarks keep the text from getting gushy or self-aggrandizing. Example: 'One of the great advantages to designing book covers is that you don't ever have to have an idea, much less a thought, ever, in your head. That is the author's job.' Publishing insiders will relish the behind-the-scenes stories. Kidd's descriptions of his design process and training make the book equally rewarding for graphic artists. This is a gorgeous gift for serious lovers of books and design." Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

"For lovers of books and/or good design and for anyone who appreciates or would like to learn more about the power of graphic communication." Library Journal

Affiliated with Alfred A. Knopf Publishers for two decades, book designer/novelist Chip Kidd has created covers for many hundreds of books. This collection offers a generous sampling of his work in approximately 900 color and b&w illustrations, along with Kidd's anecdotal and exuberant commentary about how the designs came together. Also included are an introduction by John Updike, quotes and comments from 40 writers, and an introductory section devoted to biographical info and pictures of Kidd's family. The book's binding is unusual (and cumbersome for readers): only half of the 12-inch width is supported with a hard cover.
Annotation ©2005 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Chip Kidd is associate art director at Alfred A. Knopf. His first novel, The Cheese Monkeys, was a national bestseller and a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. He is the editor-at-large for Pantheon and the author of Peanuts: The Art of Charles M. Schulz, Batman Collected, and others. He is presently at work on a second novel, The Learners. He lives in New York City and Stonington, Connecticut.