Yes, here is some very exciting news! Over at the KIOWA COUNTY SIGNAL website they just did a very excellent Book Review on Chip Kidd’s latest project, the BATMAN: DEATH BY DESIGN Graphic Novel, published by DC Comics with artwork by Dave Taylor. For people who have read the book you know that the main focus, or theme, is “Architecture” and it’s funny because the Kiowa County Signal gave the book a score of “8 out of 10 Skyscrapers!” But seriously, it’s well-written and we appreciate it. So, please read it by clicking HERE!

This particular post was created to share an extremely excellent podcast interview of Chip Kidd done awhile back by Debbie Millman. For the few people unfamiliar with her work: she is a Partner and President of the design division at Sterling Brands, one of the leading brand identity firms in the country. Millman is President Emeritus of AIGA, and chair of the School of Visual Arts’ Master’s Program in Branding. She is a contributing editor to Print magazine and host of the podcast “Design Matters.” She is also the Author of many excellent books on Branding & Graphic Design, whew!

OK, now, we could not embed the podcast here at this site but please follow this LINK to the “DESIGN OBSERVER” where you can listen to it. If you’re a fan of Chip Kidd, or just love Graphic Design in general, then you’ll really love it. It’s really well done & also entertaining as well. It was done around the time Chip Kidd wrote his 2 Books: “The Cheese Monkeys: A Novel in Two Semesters” and “The Learners: A Novel”. But, they are not the only focus of the interview because they also do an excellent job of covering many different aspects of Design. So, go check it out!

Whoops! One last thing, if you would like to learn more about Debbie Millman then please be sure to visit her website by clicking HERE!

WNYC Radio has a very interesting & informative podcast called ON THE MEDIA, where they cover issues related to Books, TV, Culture, Politics, Art, etc… One of the many areas they report about is “The Book Publishing Industry”. Here’s a recent podcast titled, “PUBLISHING: ADAPT OR DIE”, where they investigate fears of Amazon becoming a monopoly and the little publishing house standing up to it, a Pulitzer snub for fiction, the problem of knock-off books, Pottermore and much more.

At the recent 2012 San Diego Comic Con Chip Kidd announced that he’ll be designing a brand-new book for PictureBox Inc. The title is “The Passion Of Gengoroh Tagame: Bara Master ” ( Gay Bondage Manga ) and it’s set to be published in Spring 2013. Plus, it will be an over-sized volume & the Japanese language will be translated by Anne Ishii. The Book Cover Prototype is shown up above & we want to thank Tom Spurgeon, the Writer of THE COMICS REPORTER website, for breaking this story. In fact, the article he wrote is wayyy better than what you’re reading here, ha ha! So please, check it out —> CLICK HERE!

If you enjoy the art of Book Jacket design, or Graphic Design in general, then you owe it to yourself to check out a recent article over at the TIME Magazine Website titled, “The Book Jacket Art of Chip Kidd”. It’s a part of their TIME PHOTO SERIES where they present a small slideshow of images with quotes or information down below the pictures, it’s both educational and fun! They picked 15 Book Covers created by Chip Kidd and they’re pretty interesting to see. I mean, OK the graphics are nice ( not trying to brag, ha ha ) but the really interesting part is reading about the creation of these covers. Some of them are quotes from the Authors & how they felt about the jacket. It’s very thought-provoking. It’s also a bit like “a study of Book Publishing”, if that’s the right way to phrase it. Anyways, I’ll shut-up & let you visit their website so you can see what I mean. Just CLICK HERE! ( Oh Yeah, and Thanks TIME Magazine! )

Blog Reporter Matt Staggs of SUVUDU showed up at the 2012 San Diego Comic Con and did a really great interview with Chip Kidd. They talked about two new releases from Pantheon Books: THE HIVE by Charles Burns and BUILDING STORIES by Chris Ware. They also touched a little bit on Chip Kidd & Dave Taylor’s new DC Comics’ Graphic Novel, BATMAN: DEATH BY DESIGN. Then, the amazing part, he mentioned this website! OK, the new books are way more important but I was happy about the site getting a little bit of hype, ha ha! ( Thanks to Matt Staggs for sharing the Video ).

Just a quick post to share this fun photo Chip Kidd took while taking a break from working at the 2012 San Diego Comic Con. Walking around he ran into some amazing creatures, and then, he saw these TROLLS! Yes, Peter Jackson & company were at the event hyping their new movie, ” THE HOBBIT”, and as a part of their promotional display they had these GIANT statues erected. If you look at the Woman in the photo, for scale, you can easily imagine how HUGE these things really were. They were a total hit, everybody loved them.

Oh man, we’re all so extremely excited!! In about 5 days (July 20th, 2012) Abrams Books will be releasing a brand-new “Batman History” Book right around the time of THE DARK KNIGHT RISES Movie. It’s titled, The Art and Making of The Dark Knight Trilogy. In 2005, director Christopher Nolan redefined the Batman legend with “Batman Begins”, starring Christian Bale as the Caped Crusader. A fresh, dynamic reboot of the franchise, “Batman Begins” explored the comic book hero's origins and his evolution from Billionaire Bruce Wayne to Dark Avenger who fights crime and corruption in Gotham City. A 2008 sequel, “The Dark Knight”, took those compelling, character-driven foundations and raised the stakes, pitting Batman against a deranged master criminal, the Joker, in an all-out war for Gotham's soul. Now, the final film of Nolan's trilogy, “The Dark Knight Rises”, is 2012's most anticipated film release.

The Art and Making of The Dark Knight Trilogy tells the complete behind-the-scenes story of these three monumental films. Based on in-depth interviews with Christopher Nolan and all of the films' key cast and crew including: Co-Writers David S. Goyer and Jonathan Nolan, Cinematographer Wally Pfister, and more! The book reveals the creative process behind the epic Dark Knight Trilogy, supported by lavish art and never-before-seen photography.

The Authors who wrote the book are Jody Duncan Jesser and Janine Pourroy. There is also an Introduction written by Michael Caine (Actor who plays Alfred The Butler), a Foreword written by Christopher Nolan, and the book was designed by Chip Kidd (Designer).

Chip Kidd, among many other Comic Book Publishers, Authors, Artists, etc… supports the CBLDF <— Click Here . What is it? In a nut shell, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund is a non-profit organization that supports all of our Rights to Freedom of Speech. To learn more please check out the video down below with Comic Book Artist Terry Moore ( Strangers in Paradise, Echo, and Rachel Rising ) as he explains why HE supports the cause and why YOU should too.

OK, We’re sharing a fun photo here from the 2012 San Diego Comic Con event that Chip Kidd is scheduled to be at all weekend ( Please see our NEXT APPEARANCES page for more information ). While there yesterday Chip met the Artist Dave McKean and the main thing he had to say about him was, “Wotta sweetheart!” Of course this is the guy who is a legendary Graphic Artist! Some of his best known work is the amazing Book Covers for Neil Gaiman’s Sandman ( Vertigo ) and Batman’s Arkham Asylum ( DC Comics ). Speaking of Gaiman, Dave McKean also did the illustrations for Coraline (2002) and The Graveyard Book (2008), among others. Actually, he’s done way too many cool things to list here, ha! So, if you want to see more great art from this guy then just please be sure to visit his personal website & blog, CLICK HERE!