Chip Kidd: Book One: Work: 1986-2006

by Chip Kidd

Book Overview

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... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0847827852
• ISBN13: 9780847827855
• Release Date: November 2005
• Publisher: Rizzoli International Publications
• Length: 400 Pages
• Weight: 2.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 12.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Great Book

This is a great, great book. If you're a fan of Kidd's work, by all means buy this book. If you are at all interested in truly inspirational graphic design, this book is a must-have. PROS: having so many of Kidd's designs in one place is worth the price of admission, inclusion of the development and back story of each cover is interesting and elucidating, stories of his adventures in the trade are well-written and fun to learn about. CONS: the cover is awkward, the shape of the book makes it hard to hold while reading - you really have to put it on something flat - it's sometimes difficult to decipher exactly which pictures the captions are referencing. There is a definite form-over-function issue with the book, but the content is what counts - and that gets 5 stars from me without a quibble.

Chip Kidd's Jacket designs

I HAD to buy this book after having read about it in another forum. Kidd's artworks are superb!

Excellent book on the process of graphic design.

I highly recommend this book to any graphic designer. He details nearly every cover design, and its great to hear the back story, and see preliminary designs and alternate final designs. Ironically, my only complaint about the book is its cover. I have the paperback edition, the cover only covers half of the book, and this makes flipping through the pages kind of unwieldy. The cuteness of this cover design wears off quickly. It will be interesting to see how he rates this cover in the sequel to this book in 20 years.

Inspirational

Chip Kidd is one of those people who makes me think about the work that I do, and inspires me to try to be more creative. Some design lends itself to stealing and there is a tendency to try to emulate styles, but you can't do that with Kidd's work because it is the idea itself which is so fantastic. He manages to find a perfect way to complement the work of the author and create an ideal package. While his work doesn't conform to any particular style, I find that I can easily spot Kidd's covers on a crowded bookstore shelf. (Sometimes his colleague Carol Devine Carson can fake me out with a well designed spine, but I can pretty reliably pick out a "Kidd" 90% of the time. I find that I sometimes buy books on the strengths of his covers alone.) Kidd makes me try to expand the way I think about what I'm trying to say, and for that reason, this book will be a frequent reference.

Stunning

Wow. This book - much like Chip Kidd's design work - is simply stunning. Every page is engaging. Fortunately, Chip Kidd happens to be a very good writer. There is no ego here, Kidd keeps a sense of humor throughout. This is a beautiful book for every designer to add to their library. My one suggestion would be to spend a few extra bucks for the hardcover edition...