Hey Book Lovers! The first trailer for the forthcoming documentary movie “Salinger,” about the life of the famous recluse author, J. D. Salinger, has finally surfaced and it looks extremely interesting! Created by the Weinstein Company, the movie features John Cusack, Tom Wolfe and Martin Sheen among others talking about the classic American novel, The Catcher in the Rye, and its creator. (watch down below). This new movie looks like it’s gonna be GREAT! No release date has been set yet, as this film is still in post-production, but stay tuned to CHIPKIDD.COM because as soon as we know we’ll pass along the info. Now, go watch the video!

They say you can’t judge a book by its cover - but that hasn’t stopped anyone from trying. An original and visually engaging book cover/jacket can help make the difference between a flop and a smash, and over the years more than a few designers have taken the creative and mysterious process to levels of supreme beauty and imagination. Peter Mendelsund is that kind of designer and COVER is the story of his love affair with books.

Renowned and award-winning designer of many best-selling books, Peter Mendelsund has enjoyed years as a much-sought-after designer and art director. Amongst the many recognizable covers he has created are those for the American edition of “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” and the following books of the Millennium trilogy; collections of the works of James Joyce, Franz Kafka, Dostoevsky, de Beauvoir, Bernhard, and Camus; the contemporary works of Peter Carey, Martin Amis, Tom McCarthy, Ben Marcus, Rick Bragg, and James Gleick; and many more. All have greatly benefited from the care and touch Mendelsund gave their jackets.

The entire story of a book cover - from the moment a book is initially acquired to when it finally appears on bookstores’ shelves is explained and illustrated in COVER. This brand-new book features Peter Mendelsund’s completed book jackets along with ephemera from his previously unseen creative processes, including jacket sketches, interior art and illustrations, editorial illustration, and scores of rejected drafts. These images are also punctuated by his reflections on his work and his process, as well as by texts from writers with whom he has worked and designed for, including bestselling crime writers, Pulitzer and Booker Prize-winning fiction and non-fiction authors, well-known scientists, actors, and politicians.

COVER is a compendium of beautiful design and a beautiful design object itself; a profile and celebration of one of the publishing world’s most talented and prolific contemporary creators, and a brilliant showcase of his deft touch for balanced and innovative design. Also, as sort of a disclaimer, we should note that he works with Chip Kidd at Random House Publishing. So, we’re kind of biased a little bit here! But honestly, this book is gonna be GREAT and it’s already on most book lover’s (and design students) reading lists. The book will be released in Hardcover on April 8th, 2014 and will be published by PowerHouse Books.

Remember, pre-order the book from AMAZON and save big bucks!

While mindlessly surfing around the crazy world-wide Internet the other night I came across this very excellent video showcasing the Author David Sedaris where he reads from his new book, “Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls”. David discusses the complexities of Chinese food and working with monkeys with Jonathan Ross at the Apple Store Regent Street in London. It’s both enlightening, hilarious and very entertaining.

The video is FREE to watch but you will have to have iTunes installed on your computer (works on both Windows and Mac). Here’s the LINK to David’s talk and if you don’t have iTunes, but want it (Yes, it’s 2013… you NEED it!), then you can find the download area at the very bottom left-hand side of the page. Hey, just CLICK HERE!

How did Theodor Seuss Geisel create The Lorax? Well, that question can be answered by visiting THE LORAX Art Museum exhibit in Omaha, Nebraska that opens next week. While there, Dr. Seuss' fans will see the birth of this beloved Children’s picture book.

This special program will feature doodles, crayon drawings, and ink pieces that inspired the book. It will be on view at Omaha's Joslyn Art Museum from August 10th until November 3rd, 2013.

Here's a little bit more about the exhibit:

Published in 1971, before protecting the earth became a global concern, Dr. Seuss spoke through his character, the Lorax, who 'spoke for the trees,' warning against mindless progress and the danger it poses to the planet ... The color sketches and line art on view at the Joslyn Art Museum, along with the typewritten story Geisel affixed to the pages, provide a fascinating look at the early development of a Dr. Seuss classic.

For more information about both the exhibit and Joslyn Art Museum, please CLICK HERE!

We reported awhile back here at CHIPKIDD.COM that DC Comics was going to premier a “Book Trailer” Video for their new line of Graphic Novels titled, BEFORE THE WATCHMEN, in Times Square (NYC, NY). There are 4 books in the complete set and Chip Kidd designed the covers for all of them! Some other excited news is that this is the very first time that DC Comics has had a promo on the giant Jumbotron, yes!

Up above is some actual photographic proof and if you still don’t believe us then check out this cool video, ha!

Cartoonist, Illustrator, Graphic Artist… no matter how you say it, the artwork of SETH is pretty amazing! Over at the NATIONAL POST Website they recently conducted a pretty damn interesting interview with the Artist. He mostly talks about his experience of working with Chip Kidd on David Rakoff’s latest book, “Love, Dishonor, Marry, Die, Cherish, Perish” (Knopf Doubleday) and how he balanced the ethics of drawing art for an Author who has, sadly, passed away during the publishing process.

The article shares some great insight into Seth’s art and you’re gonna love reading it, just CLICK HERE!

Just a quick note to let Chip Kidd Book Cover Design Fans know that we just updated our Galley Page where we added a ton of new jackets… actually, they appear on Gallery Page Two… just CLICK HERE!

OK, I hope the picture up above is not misleading, ha! I mean, this is NOT a new book about “The Art of Batman: Death By Design”, ha ha! It’s a graphic designed to present a wonderful video created by Bernard Hill who seems to really like the Batman Graphic Novel created by Chip Kidd and Dave Taylor, BATMAN: DEATH BY DESIGN (DC Comics). It’s one of those “Book Trailers” where they browse through the book and give you an idea of it’s contents. It’s pretty well made and we think it really does showcase Dave Taylor’s amazing artwork really well. So, please check it out! (Thanks Bernard!)

Josef Albers’s INTERACTION OF COLOR is a masterwork in twentieth-century art education. Conceived as a handbook and teaching aid for artists, instructors, and students, this timeless book presents Albers’s unique ideas of color experimentation in a way that is valuable to specialists as well as to a larger audience. Originally published by Yale University Press in 1963 as a limited silkscreen edition with 150 color plates, INTERACTION OF COLOR first appeared in paperback in 1971, featuring ten representative color studies chosen by Josef Albers. The paperback has remained in print ever since and remains one of the most influential resources on color for countless readers (LINK down below).

Well, now for the amazing news! This book has now been made into an APP for the Apple iPad! Here are just a few of it’s amazing features:

• Full text and plate commentary, describing Albers's renowned principles on how to see and understand color.
• Over 125 original color studies, including flaps and moving pieces.
• Over 60 interactive plates that reproduce the experience of working with paper, a captivating feature inspired by Albers's teaching methodologies.
• A beautiful new palette tool, in which colors are manipulated like paper.
• The ability to create, save, and export your final designs and palettes into any vector-based design software.
• Over two hours of video commentary, including archival video of Albers and interviews with experts explaining key principles, making even the most challenging problems easy to understand.
• Interviews with leading designers and artists explaining how they use color in their professional practices.

The free download allows you to sample Chapter 10, including accompanying text, video commentary, two interactive plates, and the palette tool. The complete app, featuring the full text, 125 plates, 60 interactive studies, and over two hours of video commentary, is available for $9.99 through an in-app purchase on iTunes, just CLICK HERE!

Down below are a few promo videos showing this incredible app in action, please be sure to check them out.

Also, Yale University Press created a website that is very in-depth and very well designed. Don’t believe me? CLICK HERE!

OK, Just for fun, I thought I would post this Official Theatrical Trailer for “The Adventures of Captain Marvel!” (Republic Pictures). This was a 12-part movie serial that appeared in 1949 and, yes, that’s an original Vintage Lobby card pictured up above. The film featured the Actors, Tom Tyler as Captain Marvel and Frank Coghlan, Jr. as Billy Batson, radio operator! The special effects, especially the “flying”, was pretty amazing for the time period… check it out!