The Comic Book Aesthetic and Chip Kidd

Chip Kidd

Chip Kidd, a graphic designer, editor, art director and a writer. He designed over one thousand book covers at Alfred A. Knopf that have very notable and clever ideas. What is striking that all of his potential of graphic design and the conceptual methods he uses; came from the influence of his childhood love of comic books that we can see in his works in many ways.

He was famous for "the guy who splits his covers into two equal rectangles” either vertically or horizontally (Vienne, 2003, 16). His book covers are popular for setting off the imagination of the reader in trying to understand the concept behind the design (Ibid). He always tends to make the spectacular challenge himself to find the connection between the text and the image wither it was photographic or illustrated (Ibid). Surprisingly, this tendency of putting pressure on the viewer to participate with the design came from the influence of comic books’ format (Vienne, 2003, 17). When reading comics, the human mind tries to build a relation between what is written and is drawn in the frames, and that’s what Kidd did in designing his covers. We can see that in the cover of The New Testament (fig.01).

Fig.01 The New Testament by Richmond Lattimore

Kidd also uses the “multiple-image” in his designs, which is putting several images next to each other to let the reader try and guess what is the book’s content, like we can see in the cover book of Geoff Ryman WAS (fig.02) which was inspired by the story “The Wizard of Oz” (Kennedy 2005, 78 - 79.). Putting images next to each other is the method that is used in the comic book, which the mind integrate the sequence of images into an idea that gets the reader to understand it better, see (fig.03) (McCloud, 1993, 66).

Fig.03 WAS by Geoff Ryman

Fig.03 Understanding comics by Scott McCloud

Also, we can see the comic based illustrations in lots of his book covers. Kidd used the same he used the photographs in relating the text with the image with the comic illustrations (Eskilson, 2007, 387). The colors, the lines, the flat surfaces and the large doted coloring are all derived from the comic aesthetic. His work for St. Martin’s Press Farther Adventures (fig.04) by Jon Fink is a good example of his comic-based works. Another one is Great Neck (fig. 05) by Jay Cantor and also Pastoralia (fig. 06) by George Saunders. Another example of Chip Kidd’s works with comic illustrations is his design of the album Plastic Fang (fig. 07) for the rock & roll band “Blues Explosion” (Kidd, 2005, 140).

Fig.04 Farther Adventures by Jon Fink

Fig.05 Great Neck by Jay Cantor

Fig.06 Pastoralia by George Saunders

Fig.07 The album Plastic Fang by Blues Explosion

Kidd also edited and designed lots of Books and graphic novels for Pantheon- a part of Knopf Publishing Group-, DC comics, and more, which allowed him to explore his childhood love for comic books. Like (fig.09) Rough Justice: The Sketches of Alex Ross and Peanuts: The Art of Charles M. Schulz (fig.10) for Pantheon ("Chip Kidd," 2010), and Batman Collected (fig.11) for Watson-Guptill (Vienne, 2003, 95), The Complete History of Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman (fig.12) of DC comics (“Chip Kidd, 2010). Watching the Watchmen (fig.13) is a graphic novel he edited for Titan Books (McNicol, n.d.). He also designed covers for Japanese manga Buddha (fig.14) by Osamu Tezuka (Ibid). He also edited Bat-Manga!: The Secret History of Batman in Japan (fig.15) for the Pantheon ("Chip Kidd," 2010).

Fig.09 Rough Justice: The Sketches of Alex Ross

Fig.10 Peanuts: The Art of Charles M. Schulz

Fig. 11 Batman Collected, Left: Soft cover, Right: Hard Cover

Fig.12 The Complete History of Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman, Above: Soft cover, bottom: Hard cover

Fig.13 Watching the Watchmen (graphic novel)

Fig.14 Buddha by Osamu Tezuka

Fig.16 Bat-Manga!: The Secret History of Batman in Japan

Kidd also became a writer in 2008 of his novel The Cheese Monkeys: A Novel in Two Semesters (fig.17) and The Learners: The Book After The Cheese Monkeys (fig.18). He designed his own books in the way he wanted and broke the rules of book designing. The illustrations of his books are also based on the influence of comics.

Fig.17 The Cheese Monkeys: A Novel in Two Semesters by Chip Kidd

Fig.18 The Learners: The Book After The Cheese Monkeys by Chip Kidd

"Today Kidd represents an odd phenomena: an employee who gets more publicity than his employer" (Vienne, 2003, 10). Therefore, I feel that Chip Kidd is an exceptional graphic designer in graphic design history. His amusing talent came mostly from the influence of comic books and that is very surprising! Honestly, I really love the Japanese comics and, who knows, maybe being a comic book addict helps to become a successful graphic designer in the future!

The comic aesthetics Affected graphic design widely, and not only Kidd's work. These are some examples of the influence. We can see the development in the styles:

        

Classic Comic Book Ads: 7up ads (1950s)

America's Best Comics (1998), Logo, by Todd Klein 

Battle Hymn (2004), Comic Book, from Image Comics 

Daredevil Decalogue (2005), Comic Book, Cover of Vol. 2 

Aesthetic Arsenal Gallery(2006), Poster, by William Beachy 

Comic Book Tattoo Tales Inspired by Tori Amos (2008), Cover of the Book, designed by Janson Levesque 

Billy Smoke (2010), Graphic Novel, from Oni Press 

Bibliography:

Eskilson, S. J. (2007). Graphic Design: A New History. North America: Yale University Press.

Vienne, V. (2003). Chip Kidd: Monographics. North America: Yale University Press.

McCloud, S. (1994). Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.

Kennedy, S. (2005, November 22). Kidd Dynamite. The Advocate, 951, 78 - 79.

Chip Kidd. (2010). Retrieved April 26, 2010, From Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chip_Kidd

McNicol, J. (n.d.). Work. Retrieved April 26, 2010, from: http://www.goodisdead.com/index.php?/work/entry/watching_the_watchmen_20081/

Other Books & Articles About Chip Kidd:

Heller, S.(2002). Design A Clef. In Heller, S. (ed). The Education of a Design Entrepreneur. New York: Allworth Press.

Cox, A. M. (1999, May-June). Chip Kidd Cover Boy. Mother Jones Magazine, 24 (3) , 74.

Pashkow, M. (2005). Chip Kidd. In Schell, A. (ed). Inspirability: 40 Top Designers Speak Out About What Inspires. China: How Design Books.

Breen, M. (2005, December). Cover Story. Out, 14 (6), 70.

Other Books about Comic Books:

Jones, G. (2004). Men Of Tomorrow. New York: Basic Books.

Wright, B. W. (2003). Comic Book Nation. Maryland: The Jones Hopkins University Press.

Daniels, L., Kidd, C., Spear, G. (2004). The Golden Age Of DC Comics: 365 Days. New York: Harry N. Abrams Inc.

Raphael, J. , & Spurgeon, T. (2003). Stan Lee and The Rise and Fall of The American Comic Book. Chicago: Chicago Review Press.

Carrier, D. (2000). The Aesthetics of Comics. Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania State University Press

Harvey, R. C.(1996). The Art of The Comic Book: An Aesthetic History. USA: University Press of Mississippi.

Harvey, R. C.(1994). The Art of The Funnies: An Aesthetic History. USA: University Press of Mississippi.

External Links:

Chip Kidd's Official Website

Chip Kidd™

Comic Book Style Tutorial

Todd Klein Comic Book Design Work

A Closer Look at Comic Book Design

Moon Landing Comic Book Art

Tori Amos — Comic Book Tattoo

Vintage Color & Design: Comic Book Ads

Favorite Graphic Novels