May 2, 2008


That Chip Kidd

Jeffrey Zeldman puts yesterday’s Deck announcements into context.

Chip Kidd, my all-time-favorite, hall-of-fame book cover designer. Fabricator of the jackets on at least half the modern novels I’ve bought “on impulse”—that impulse triggered and exquisitely controlled by Kidd, who approaches the problem of book design the way a director approaches montage in film. Not a crude film director, but a sly one. One who attacks at tangents, combining images to create compelling narratives that strangely illuminate but never crassly illustrate each book’s contents.

posted by Deron Bauman in announcements, books, design, observations 

comments

3 Responses to “That Chip Kidd”

  1. John Buaas on May 2nd, 2008 at 3:21 pm

    When I first saw his cover for All the Pretty Horses, I stared and stared. Where did they find that horse? I wondered. Its mane’s coarseness told you that National Velvet, this novel would not be.

  2. Deron Bauman on May 3rd, 2008 at 9:03 am

    there was a beautiful moment in the late eighties / early nineties where almost every book I stumbled upon was edited by Gordon Lish and designed by Chip Kidd.

  3. jonathan on May 5th, 2008 at 9:48 pm

    Where did they find that horse? I wondered.

    Maybe I’m not supposed to just give this away, but it’s not a horse. True story.

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