We could not be more proud of our good friend & favorite author Neil Gaiman. 2013 really seems to be HIS year. He has had a ton of success lately and soon his other new book, “The Ocean at the End of the Lane” will be coming out. It should go totally crazy! But, for now, his ultra-new book, the one based on his MAKE GOOD ART speech, just got a really great review over at the the L. A. TIMES!

The Los Angeles Times Book Critic, David L. Ulin, recently wrote a very clever, if not extremely thorough, essay on the new “MAKE GOOD ART” Speech Book (Published by William Morrow). Which, we should mention, was totally designed (both book cover and inside contents) by Chip Kidd. So, a special thanks goes out to David Ulin for an excellent article and everyone can read it by clicking RIGHT HERE!

OK, Just to be clear, Chip Kidd did NOT design the cover for this book… but we wanted to share this fun video of the new BOOK TRAILER for “Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls: Essays, Etc” (published by Little, Brown and Company) because David Sedaris is a good friend. Plus, the video (and the book) is totally hilarious! Enjoy. Oh yeah, and don’t forget to share this on Facebook or Twitter, ha!

Other David Sedaris Books with Covers Designed by Chip Kidd:

Over at the TED Radio Hour Podcast (NPR Radio) they recently interviewed Designer Chip Kidd on “How Do Book Covers Create Their Own Stories”. It’s mostly a recap of his TED Speech, which has been pretty popular, but they also talk about the importance of Graphic Design in the service of selling books and supporting the Author’s ideas. We have embedded the podcast down below, right here, for you to enjoy. So, please give that a quick listen.

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Also, Chip’s interview was a part of a larger series of interviews with other Designers, Writers and Authors all about writing & overall book design.. The entire program is titled, “Framing The Story”, so to hear the complete episode please visit the Official NPR website, just CLICK HERE!

One more thing, we want to invite anyone who has not seen Chip Kidd’s TED Speech to check it out too. I mean, it is sort of what this interview was based on and if you have never seen it then it will make more sense. And, as always, please feel free to share this post on Facebook, Twitter, or any other social network you might be a member of. Thank you!

With a new season quickly approaching many “book lover” blogs & websites are starting to publish their Summer of 2013 Reading Lists. Like, what books they feel will be big hits soon & what you should hunt down at your favorite bookstore or library. So, on Jimmy Fallon’s LATE NIGHT he recently shared his “Do NOT Read” List. Yes, you read that right, “DO NOT READ”… his Summer reading tips are a warning for what NOT to hunt down. It’s pretty funny, check it out!

Here’s a fun video we knew we had to share. Chip Kidd was at the recent 2013 BookExpo America where he ran into Kristen, a roving reporter at the event. She’s the super-cute girl on the right, ha! She was also kind enough to stop & interview Chip about his next new book, “GO: A Kidd’s Guide To Graphic Design”. The book will be published by Workman Publishing Group & you can look for it to hit bookstores around October. Kristen had some really great questions so please be sure to check it out!

Here’s some exciting news for Batman Fans!! DC Comics has plans to bring back the extremely awesome BATMAN: BLACK AND WHITE comic books series. You can look for issue #1 around September 4th, 2013. The fun thing that we get to report today is that Chip Kidd will be writing one of the stories for this large 48-page book. They also have plans to publish 6 books in this series. OH MY GOD! Please check out the Official Press Release:

BATMAN BLACK AND WHITE #1
Written by CHIP KIDD, NEAL ADAMS, JOE QUINONES, MARIS WICKS, JOHN ARCUDI and HOWARD MACKIE
Art by MICHAEL CHO, NEAL ADAMS, JOE QUINONES, SEAN MURPHY and CHRIS SAMNEE
Cover by MARC SILVESTRI
1:25 Variant cover by TBD
1:200 B&W Variant cover by MARC SILVESTRI
"We Can Be Heroes" Blank variant cover also available.
On sale SEPTEMBER 4 48 pg, 1 of 6, B&W, $4.99 US RATED T
The legendary, Eisner Award-winning series BATMAN BLACK AND WHITE returns in a brand-new six-issue miniseries featuring tales of The Dark Knight by some of comics' greatest writers and artists! This first issue kicks off with stories by Chip Kidd and Michael Cho, Neal Adams, Joe Quinones and Maris Wicks, John Arcudi and Sean Murphy, and Howard Mackie and Chris Samnee!

Here’s a quick post to share this lovely photo we just stole from our friend Amanda Palmer. She shot this last night at the book signing Event for Neil Gaiman & Chip Kidd that was at the Oberon in Cambridge, Maine. This was where they discussed their latest project, the MAKE GOOD ART Speech Book, which is out now, published by William Morrow.

Neil Gaiman talked about his future plans for the new SANDMAN Series to be published by Vertigo (DC Comics) later this year and he also talked his next brand-new book, that will probably be a major bestseller, and it’s titled, “The Ocean at the End of the Lane: a Novel” (To be published by William Morrow - Look for it around June 18th, 2013).

Also, Chip Kidd got to mention his new art book to be released later this year that will teach kids about design. It’s called, “GO: A Kidd’s Guide To Graphic Design” and you can look for that book around October 8th, 2013 and it will be published by the Workman Publishing Company.

Brit Mandelo, who is one of the contributing writers over at TOR.COM, just got done posting a very excellent, and well thought out, book review for Neil Gaiman’s MAKE GOOD ART SPEECH Book (William Morrow/Harper Collins)! Of course this book was designed by Chip Kidd so we could not be happier! Hey, if you have been reading Chip Kidd’s website for any length of time then you know how obsessed we are with this new book, ha! So, it’s totally great that it’s starting to get some major attention… that is ALWAYS nice and always appreciated!

Thank you TOR.COM and also, a special thanks to Brit, great job!

WOW! We could not be more pleased about this! Over at the SAMARITAN BLOG they posted a wonderful book review for the new MAKE GOOD ART Book, the one about Neil Gaiman’s famous commencement speech he gave last year. The new book, out now & published by William Morrow (an imprint of Harper Collins) , was created from the words of speech given by Neil Gaiman and designed by Chip Kidd.

The review is pretty short in length but that doesn’t take away from it being a serious book review. I mean, the Reviewer does convey their feelings about the book really well. Also, the photos of the cover are totally great! Why am I excited about some photos of a book? Well, the lighting of the photo shows you how some of the lettering on the cover is embossed & it gives you a better understanding of “how it looks”. In all the photos shared online these are the best at doing just that. So, Thank You Samaritan Blog!

Hey, please check out the book review by clicking HERE!

This Wednesday, June 5th, at 6:30pm (Doors open one hour early for “The Donkey Show”) both Neil Gaiman, Author, and Chip Kidd, Book Designer, will make a special appearance at the OBERON (Cambridge, Maine) to discuss Neil Gaiman's unconventional career path and prodigious output and the bravery and creativity that goes into making good art. This special, intimate evening is presented by the Boston Book Festival.

Seated tickets include a copy of Make Good Art with admission. Standing Room patrons will have the option to purchase a copy of the book in the lobby. There will be a booksigning to follow the conversation. Hope to see you there!

For Tickets & More Information Please CLICK HERE!