In an ongoing interview process Dan Greenfield, the Editor of the 13th DIMENSION website, has been talking with Book Designer Chip Kidd about many different aspects of the Batman character.
There have been articles about Chip Kidd’s personal Batman Toy Collection, their love of the Batman Treasury Comics, the Art of Marshall Rogers, and now… Frank Miller’s THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS and the Perfection of BATMAN: YEAR ONE.
Here’s some exciting book publishing news! NPR BOOKS Reporter, John Powers, recently wrote a new book review all about a brand-new graphic novel that he describes as an astonishing work of imagination. It was created by the Singaporean writer and illustrator, Sonny Liew.
The book is called, “The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye”, and it was just recently published by Pantheon.
Please be sure to listen to the review in this embedded podcast, down below. Or, you can read the online version by clicking RIGHT HERE! (Thanks NPR!!)
Anyone with an interest in Graphic Design knows all about the PANTONE™ Coloring System. They are the industry standard for COLOR relating to print. For those unfamiliar with Pantone we have included a video at the very bottom of this post that gives a brief history.
But, back to the main issue. This year the Pantone company made a major announcement that they will be adding 112 new colors to their color palette. To introduce these new colors they created three promo videos which feature stories on some well known Graphic Designers who all explain what “color means to them”. Chip Kidd was among the list:
That was a fun video, right? Now check this out. Pantone sells their product in 3 new formats:
The first one is what they call COLOR CHIPS. This is a book with small color chips they can be torn-out to add along to your design work. They help Printers make sure every color is exact.
The next format is their standard FORMULA GUIDE. This is a fan-like color palette which expands to show different color chips. It’s a solid unit.
Then, there’s a thing that’s kinda new called COLOR BRIDGE. This is the standard Formula Guide with another guide that shows what these colors will look like when displayed on the web. This is a very important resource for Web Designers.
For more information on all the amazing new colors, and PANTONE Products in general, please be sure to visit their official WEBSITE.
WOW! We’re pretty excited to report that Sonny Liew’s THE ART OF CHARLIE CHAN HOCK CHYE came out today (March 1, 2016 Pantheon) and it has already hit Amazon’s #1 spot in the “New Release” section of the “Art of Comics & Manga” category!
This book is the much awaited graphic novel about the life and times of the pioneering, but almost forgotten, comics artist named Charlie Chan Hock Chye.
His art career spanned six decades, from Singapore’s struggle for independence and all the way through to its modern incarnation as a cosmopolitan city-state. This book celebrates both the artwork, and there’s a ton of it, and the Artist as well.
To better explain this we have embedded this new BOOK TRAILER Video down below:
We are also sharing this impromptu interview (in 2 parts) with the Author, Sonny Liew, that happened at the book launch in Kinokuniya Ngee Ann City on May 30th, 2015. Enjoy!
Akshita Nanda, the Lifestyle Arts Correspondent for THE STRAITS TIMES (A popular newspaper in Singapore), recently interviewed Chip Kidd about the process of book cover design, what it’s like to work with Haruki Murakami, and he also shares how he came up with the iconic Jurassic Park dinosaur silhouette for the best-selling Michael Crichton book.
Long time fans of both Charles M. Schulz and the PEANUTS Comic Strip should be pretty excited about this news. In Japan they have plans to dedicate an entire building to the art of “Sparky”! This, of course, is the special nickname of the Cartoonist, Charles M. Schulz. This special place will be known as the SNOOPY MUSEUM TOKYO and it is opening on April 23, 2016 (architect’s rendering above).
This new museum came about because of an exhibition of original Peanuts strips and other artifacts from the Charles M Schulz museum which opened in the Mori Gallery on October of 2013 (Photos from that event are posted down below, check out the Replica of Sparky’s real-life Art Studio) and ran through the holidays, closing in January. In those three months the exhibition drew 280,000 fans, demonstrating to the curators of the exhibition that there was a hunger for a world class exhibition of Peanuts art. In other words, Charlie Brown and his friends are loved on a global scale and this facilitated a new location in Japan!
As a Special Side Note:
We are both extremely happy and honored to mention that Chip Kidd will be designing the special catalog for the very 1st exhibition that will be curated by Sparky’s wife, Jean Schulz. The name of the show will be titled, “MY FAVORITE PEANUTS”. This is just 2 months away so please stay tuned to CHIPKIDD.COM for more info!
Another Side Note - Here is Chip Kidd’s Recent ART OF PEANUTS Book:
Here’s a quick post to share some really great book publishing news! Chip Kidd’s JUDGE THIS / TED Talks Book has been translated into Italian for the book market in Italy! The “new” title is, “Così è se vi sembra”!
If you would like a copy of this rare book then please visit this RIZZOLI website where they have links to Amazon.It, among others.
Oh yeah, here’s an Amazon Link for the ENGLISH Version:
“You’re never too old, too wacky, too wild, to pick up a book and read with a child.”
The National Education Association is building a nation of readers through its signature program, NEA’s READ ACROSS AMERICA! Now in its 19th year, this year-round program focuses on motivating children and teens to read and learn the joy of reading books through special events, partnerships, and reading resources. This special event is celebrated every year on March 2nd, the birth date of Dr. Seuss!
Schedules, planning tips, artwork, and more are now being posted on their official website, READ ACROSS AMERICA, so you can make the most of your reading celebrations!
Also, please be sure to share your celebration on social media by tagging photos and updates with the hashtag#readacrossamerica. Happy reading!
If you have never heard of a website named DESIGNGATHA then you should really check it out. They cover many related topics around the ideas of Art, Design, Handicraft, Architecture, Fashion, and Graphic Design.
Seriously, it’s a cool blog! Anyways, we wanna thank them for posting an interview they recently conducted with the Designer Chip Kidd. They asked some really good questions and even posted a bunch of his famous book cover designs…. sweet!
OK, here’s some unusual “Chip Kidd” News that we’re actually quite proud of. Hey, on your next visit to your friendly neighborhood grocery store please be sure to check out Little Debbie’s Snack Cakes because the back of that box should have a promotional campaign for THE PEANUTS MOVIE, which offers Chip Kidd’s latest book, Only What’s Necessary: Charles M. Schulz and the Art of Peanuts (Abrams).
Yes! WOW! This is like national coverage and it’s so cool!! Thank you Little Debbie ;)
Oh yeah, we also want to mention that they are having a major PEANUTS SWEEPSTAKES where you can win a ton of cool prizes! So, please be sure to enter that, no purchase necessary.
For more information, please visit the LITTLE DEBBIE website today!
Real quick, we wanna thank the guys over at THE OKC EDGE website for posting a very excellent book review for Chip Kidd’s book, “GO: A Kidd’s Guide To Graphic Design” (Workman Publishing). It’s very well thought out and has an interesting angle. The author of that post, Scott Cosby (who’s main personal focus is being a digital colorist for comic books), actually bought the book to improve his color design skills and he said it was a great inspiration. Thanks Scott!
This is so cool, YOU can help further the cause of Breast Cancer Research!! Yes, CHARITY BUZZ has teamed-up with the Book Designer Chip Kidd to raise money for PINK ZONE AT PENN STATE. This non-profit organization is one of the most hard-working charities out there who are doing everything possible to help those affected with this disease. It’s a great cause and here’s how YOU can join the fight!
OK FIRST, Charity Buzz is having an AUCTION where the winner gets to have Chip Kidd design a book cover for them. So if you’re an Author this is your chance to get a great deal on having an award-winning Design create your cover. All you have to do is BID at their official website. But, you gotta hurry because it ends in about a week from now!! So, please CLICK HERE!
SECOND, Even if you don’t think you want to bid then please share this page on your favorite social media pages. We’re talking Twitter, Facebook, your Blog, ETC… We really want to get the word out there about this wonderful cause. Oh yeah, in advance, thank you!!
If you are not familiar with Chip Kidd’s Book Cover Design Work we have posted a few down below. Also, if you would like to see more then please CLICK HERE for a huge portfolio of examples!
If you head on over to the 13th DIMENSION website the Editor Dan Greenfield has just posted Part 3 of his interview with Chip Kidd. In this episode they discuss the complete and total brilliance of the legendary BATMAN Comic Book Artist Marshall Rogers. Also, if you’re a fan of this artist’s work then the post there has a lot of delicious eye-candy to enjoy. To check it out, just CLICK HERE!
Martha Frankel is a Blogger/Reporter for WOODSTOCK WRITERS RADIO and she recently met up with Chip Kidd at the Miami Book Fair to discuss his new book, Only What’s Necessary: Charles M. Schulz and the Art of Peanuts (Abrams). The interview is available online as a free podcast and we want to invite everyone to please check it out. She did an amazing job (Thanks Martha!).
To hear the complete broadcast, please CLICK HERE!
Dan Greenfield, a writer/reporter for the always brilliant 13th DIMENSION website, has been interviewing a ton of Batman-related artists and writers lately and here is a shout-out for an interview he did with the designer and author, Chip Kidd (This is actually “Part 2” in a continuing series).
Anyone who knows Chip knows he is crazy about “Batman”, ha ha, so they get pretty serious about the character. In this segment (link down below) they discuss the BATMAN #1 “Famous 1st Edition” Treasury Comic Book, published many years ago by DC Comics, that reprinted the very 1st issue of Batman.
