By Gray Chapman
Renowned graphic designer Chip Kidd came to SCAD-Atlanta on April 17 to give a lecture as part of the SCAD-Atlanta Writers’ Series. Students, faculty, staff and guests filled the event space on the fourth floor of the C Building for Kidd’s lecture. As associate art director at the Alfred Knopf publishing house, Kidd has made a name for himself by designing book jackets. According to his biography, he has designed over 1,500 jackets to date.
Chip Kidd has been called “the closest thing to a rock star” in graphic design by USA Today, and Time magazine included him in their “Top 100 Most Influential People” poll of 2008. In addition to being a noted book jacket designer, Kidd is also a novelist. According to his Web site, his first novel was The Cheese Monkeys, a national bestseller based on his experiences as an art student at a state school. He has also recently released a new book called “The Learners.”
Kidd regaled the audience with his witty yet honest take on the design process. In his lecture, he described the design process for some of his most well-known jackets, including those for bestselling authors like Augusten Burroughs, David Sedaris, Cormac McCarthy, and more. As he detailed the process of designing individual covers, he emphasized the ups and downs of working within a large team. Kidd spoke about having to design a cover that would appeal to the author, agent, editors, marketing team, and the buyers.
In his lecture, Kidd talked about the importance of language within graphic design. He said that knowing how to manipulate words would help any aspiring graphic designer solve design problems and come up with different solutions. He used crossword puzzles to illustrate this point, saying that being able to
approach words from an analytical angle would help any graphic designer.
In describing his creative process for some of his more well-known book jackets, Kidd emphasized some of his unconventional creative solutions. He spoke about Augusten Burrough’s memoir, “Dry,” which dealt with Burrough’s experience as an alcoholic. Kidd’s solution, he explained, was to print out the cover text in water-soluble ink, tape it to a wall, and splash it with water. He said that his success was due in part to these types of “alternative” creative methods.
In addition to presenting his work and describing the process of designing covers, Kidd offered some advice to the audience. When asked “How do you know when to stop?” by a student, Kidd first answered, “When you get fired!” He then went on to describe that it is an intuitive process, and with experience comes greater intuition. “You know it’s done when you can’t make it any better,” he said.
Students formed a lengthy line to meet Kidd at the book-signing table. Kidd spent a few minutes with each student as he signed their books. Many students expressed excitement and appreciation for his presence at the school.
“Even though I don’t study graphic design, I felt his lecture was very informative and helpful,” said Demitrius Pennebaker, a fourth-year interactive design student. Some students were thrilled with the excitement of seeing Kidd.
First year graphic design student Brett Miotti expressed his enthusiasm for being able to meet Kidd, whom he said “was very approachable and fun to talk to after the lecture.” Miotti spoke of how inspirational he found the lecture to be: “It was encouraging to know that even a rock star graphic designer like Chip Kidd has to deal with revisions and rejections on a constant basis. That he spoke about and showed examples of rejected work was as valuable as learning from all of his amazing published work.”
“This was definitely the best lecture I’ve ever attended at SCAD,” said first year fashion student Sarah Johns.
For more information about Chip Kidd, including his work and novels, visit his Web site at www.goodisdead.com.
Photo Credit: Brian Steel