Book #8: 'Book One: 1986-2006' by Chip Kidd
What I know about the intricacies of graphic design would fit on the back of an index card. What I know about the details of graphic design specific to book covers would fit on the back of a matchbook. On the other end of the spectrum is Chip Kidd, who is by general acclamation the greatest designer of book covers living and possibly dead. He's won every relevant award, cranked out well in excess of 1500 book covers, done art design for all sorts of major magazines plus the New York Times. There are authors who are under contract with his employer, Alfred A. Knopf, whose contacts specifically have clauses guaranteeing the Kidd will design the covers of their books. As a result of his skills, he now has his very own his collection, Book One: 1986-2006, which showcases the best of his work, as well as ideas that didn't work, ideas that tanked horribly, and an assortment of testimonials from the authors he's worked with. xhollydayx snagged it at the library a few weeks back and it is a compelling read.
One thing that should be made clear is that this book is not an instruction manual to graphic design. Oh, you'll learn about many cool tricks that Kidd has used, and you'll get to see works in progress, and you'll hear a lot about how the graphic design industry changed when computers became de rigueur, and you may gain some bizarre insight into how Kidd thinks, but it's not a how-to guide. Nor is there a narrative. Although the book covers some of Kidd's basic biographical details, and has a basic theme pulling it together, each page is largely independent from the others. You could read it backwards and it wouldn't be greatly harmed. So what is it?
Well, my mother has two big scrapbooks somewhere at her house which contains all sorts of awards and certificates that I racked up in grades K-12. She's got one she put together for my sister as well. It's the kind of thing that would be really boring to look at for anyone who didn't know me in grades K-12. Well, imagine if Chip Kidd had put together a similar scrapbook containing all his best book covers from 1986 to 2006, complete with little notes telling the stories behind certain covers (so to speak), except that instead of only his family caring about it, any person who has ever walked into a bookstore with lust in his heart was interested in it. Throw in author testimonials, covers that he designed but were rejected, and ideas that he finds embarrassing in retrospect, plus a scattering of random weird things he's done outside the book world, and that pretty much covers the bases.
It's fascinating. Kidd has designed covers for Michael Crichton (including the famous Jurassic Park logo), Haruki Murakami, John Updike, Cormac McCarthy, Frank Miller, James Ellroy, Alex Ross, Charles Schulz and a host of other names across the spectrum of fame. The covers are memorable, the stories are hilarious, and I need to add another 25 books to my reading list just because they looked interesting in here. The author testimonials are, as you might expect, exceedingly literate and often very weird. You get the strong impression that not only is Chip Kidd brilliant, but he'd be a great guy to hang out with at a party, if for no other reason than Kidd claims to have read every one of the books for which he's done cover art. At 75+ books a year, you wonder when he's had time to sleep. Just to rub it in, he's living with one of the very few living American poets I'd actually heard of, AND he's done album covers for David Byrne.
Those in my audience who feel compelled to read ridiculous amounts of books will find this to be an interesting and rewarding read. At the very least they'll find some books that they really want to read. My only complaint is exceedingly minor, and that is that Kidd has adopted an 'aw-shucks, I don't know why everyone is so impressed' demeanor that occasionally grows tiresome, especially because you SEE why everyone is impressed. Dude, brag a little. A little ego is perfectly fine.
I'll close with my favorite anecdote from the book, which is told by an author whose name I can't recall who recounts the tale of what happened to him on a book signing tour. "So a young man comes up to me, and tells me that he owns my last four books. I thank him graciously and tell him that I hope he enjoyed them. 'Oh no', says he. 'I haven't read a single one of them. I'm into graphic design and I collect Chip Kidd covers.' Fortunately, perhaps, I'm not too proud to take a sale any way I can get one."
One thing that should be made clear is that this book is not an instruction manual to graphic design. Oh, you'll learn about many cool tricks that Kidd has used, and you'll get to see works in progress, and you'll hear a lot about how the graphic design industry changed when computers became de rigueur, and you may gain some bizarre insight into how Kidd thinks, but it's not a how-to guide. Nor is there a narrative. Although the book covers some of Kidd's basic biographical details, and has a basic theme pulling it together, each page is largely independent from the others. You could read it backwards and it wouldn't be greatly harmed. So what is it?
Well, my mother has two big scrapbooks somewhere at her house which contains all sorts of awards and certificates that I racked up in grades K-12. She's got one she put together for my sister as well. It's the kind of thing that would be really boring to look at for anyone who didn't know me in grades K-12. Well, imagine if Chip Kidd had put together a similar scrapbook containing all his best book covers from 1986 to 2006, complete with little notes telling the stories behind certain covers (so to speak), except that instead of only his family caring about it, any person who has ever walked into a bookstore with lust in his heart was interested in it. Throw in author testimonials, covers that he designed but were rejected, and ideas that he finds embarrassing in retrospect, plus a scattering of random weird things he's done outside the book world, and that pretty much covers the bases.
It's fascinating. Kidd has designed covers for Michael Crichton (including the famous Jurassic Park logo), Haruki Murakami, John Updike, Cormac McCarthy, Frank Miller, James Ellroy, Alex Ross, Charles Schulz and a host of other names across the spectrum of fame. The covers are memorable, the stories are hilarious, and I need to add another 25 books to my reading list just because they looked interesting in here. The author testimonials are, as you might expect, exceedingly literate and often very weird. You get the strong impression that not only is Chip Kidd brilliant, but he'd be a great guy to hang out with at a party, if for no other reason than Kidd claims to have read every one of the books for which he's done cover art. At 75+ books a year, you wonder when he's had time to sleep. Just to rub it in, he's living with one of the very few living American poets I'd actually heard of, AND he's done album covers for David Byrne.
Those in my audience who feel compelled to read ridiculous amounts of books will find this to be an interesting and rewarding read. At the very least they'll find some books that they really want to read. My only complaint is exceedingly minor, and that is that Kidd has adopted an 'aw-shucks, I don't know why everyone is so impressed' demeanor that occasionally grows tiresome, especially because you SEE why everyone is impressed. Dude, brag a little. A little ego is perfectly fine.
I'll close with my favorite anecdote from the book, which is told by an author whose name I can't recall who recounts the tale of what happened to him on a book signing tour. "So a young man comes up to me, and tells me that he owns my last four books. I thank him graciously and tell him that I hope he enjoyed them. 'Oh no', says he. 'I haven't read a single one of them. I'm into graphic design and I collect Chip Kidd covers.' Fortunately, perhaps, I'm not too proud to take a sale any way I can get one."