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PowellsBooks.Blog
Authors, readers, critics, media − and booksellers.

Q&As

Powell's Q&A: Chip Kidd

by Chip Kidd, June 5, 2015 10:00 AM

Describe your latest book.

Judge This is a book that evolved out of discussions with the TED Books team, chiefly my editor Michelle Quint. It is a meditation on first impressions in design and life, and when design should be clear and when it should be mysterious. And then what can happen when the two get mixed up. All using visual examples of things I encounter in my daily life and how I apply them to my work. Confused yet? You won't be after you see my new accompanying TED Talk, set to go live later this summer.

If someone were to write your biography, what would be the title and subtitle?

"How to Satisfy Your Lover Every Time: The Abraham Lincoln Way"

What's the strangest or most interesting job you've ever had?

Selling hoagies door to door in Lincoln Park, Pennsylvania.

If you were trapped in an elevator, what fictional character would you want with you?

The Escapist.

How did the last good book you read end up in your hands, and why did you read it?

My job puts great books into my hands regularly, definitely a perk.

What scares you the most as a writer?

My lack of skill.

Offer a favorite sentence or passage from another writer.

"Talent? You wouldn't know talent if it sat in your lap and painted the Sistine Chapel ceiling on the roof of your mouth." — David Sedaris

What's your biggest grammatical pet peeve?

"Like" instead of "as."

Dogs, cats, budgies, or turtles?

That sounds fine — medium rare, please.

Introduce one other author you think people should read, and suggest a good book with which to start.

David Mazzucchelli's Asterios Polyp.

What is your idea of absolute happiness?

Shame on you. Children might be reading this.

How do you relax?

See above answer.

Aside from other writers, name some artists from whom you draw inspiration.

Peter Saville, Alexander Rodchenko, the Stenberg brothers, El Lissitzky, Alvin Lustig.

What fictional world would you want to visit?

Heaven.

Do you have a favorite font? Does it change depending on the project?

It definitely depends on the project. That question is like asking an architect what his favorite color is to make a building.

Write a question of your own, then answer it.

"Gee, what should it be?" "Golly, I don't know."

Five books about books:

1. At Random by Bennett Cerf

2. Capote by Gerald Clarke

3. Alfred A. Knopf: Portrait of a Publisher, 1915-1965

4. The Book on the Bookshelf by Henry Petroski

5. Book One: Work, 1986-2006 by Chip Kidd




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