LITQUAKE, San Francisco’s Literary Festival, is coming next week & it looks like they have another amazing line-up this year. The event runs from Oct 5th to the 13th but the main focus of this post is the fact that, on Oct 9th, they will have two very special speakers. Yes, Litquake welcomes the creative minds of Daniel Clowe and Dave Eggers, who between them have earned the titles of publisher, editor, journalist, cartoonist, philanthropist, educator, illustrator, author, screenwriter, and graphic novelist, as well as former resident of Chicago, The Windy City. On that night the two will discuss the vagaries of the creative process, their favorite comics, books, and movies, anything else that might come up, and which Chicago hot dog is better: Vienna Beef or Red Hot Chicago ( I vote for “Vienna”, ha ha ). For Tickets and other Info just CLICK HERE!

October 9th, 2012 - 8:00 PM

Z Space
450 Florida St.
San Francisco, CA

Ticket Price: $15

Bill Moggridge, director of the Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum and an outspoken advocate for the value of design in everyday life, died September 8th, 2012, following a battle with cancer. He was 69. Designer of the first laptop computer and co-founder of the renowned innovation and design firm, IDEO, Bill pioneered interaction design and integrated human factors into the design of computer software and hardware.

In this Author History Lecture Video, recorded at the 92nd Street Y back in November, 2009, Martin Amis, Brian Boyd and Chip Kidd pay tribute to Vladimir Nabokov and read from his posthumous work, “The Original of Laura”. Biographer Brian Boyd begins with a presentation on the novel's place within Nabokov's canon; Martin Amis discusses Nabokov in relation to tragedy and the Holocaust; Chip Kidd discusses the design history of Nabokov's book covers from the past in reference to his own design of “The Original of Laura” Book Jacket ( shown up above ). A reading from Laura follows. Also, for more 92Y event information please visit: 92Y.org

Over at the VICE MAGAZINE Website a Reporter named Nick Gazin recently interviewed Chip Kidd about his latest Graphic Novel, Batman: Death By Design ( Published by DC Comics with Artwork by Dave Taylor ). This BATMAN book has been getting a lot of attention lately and Nick did an excellent interview. Seriously, the questions are pretty clever. To check it out it please CLICK HERE. Also, Please be sure to share, tweet, & spread the news of CHIPKIDD.COM on your favorite Social Networking Site ( Facebook, Twitter, etc…). You can click some of the SHARE Buttons down below, OR use the ones located at the top-right side-bar of this page. Thanks!

This is a limited edition, archival, facsimile print of the cover painting used for issue no.18 of the comic Eightball by Daniel Clowes. It has been reproduced at a 1:1 scale to match the size of the original painting that is currently on display as a key part of the "Modern Cartoonist: The Art of Daniel Clowes" touring museum exhibition.

This gicl e print was created to the highest standards of production under supervision of the artist. The finest quality materials were used including an eleven color, high dynamic range, process inkset on conservation grade 100% cotton acid and lignin free paper and tested by the Fine Arts Trade Guild and guaranteed to resist fading and discoloration in excess of seventy five-years. Each print is signed and numbered by the artist and includes a registered certificate of authenticity. Don't miss out on this chance to have a museum quality piece of art for your very own. For more information please be sure to visit DANIELCLOWES.COM

Here’s some good news! Over at the TINKER’S PACKS Website they have finally made their next “Lee Moyer’s Literary Pin-Up” Calendar available. For this new Calendar for 2013 they have teamed up with some of the best Authors in the fantasy book genre: Peter S. Beagle, Ray Bradbury, Patricia Briggs, Jim Butcher, Jacqueline Carey, Neil Gaiman, Charlaine Harris, Robin Hobb, N.K. Jemisin, George R. R. Martin, Terry Pratchett, and Patrick Rothfuss.

Each month of the calendar will feature a pin-up based on a different author’s works and/or characters. Illustrated by Lee Moyer, all proceeds will go to Worldbuilders in support of Heifer International. For more info on how to order just CLICK HERE!

Shown here are just a few of the many different Cover Designs for George Orwell’s “Nineteen Eighty-Four”, or simply, “1984″ . Published in 1948 ( the title is a reversal of those numbers ) this book has become an international classic. Seriously, it should be a “must read” on anyone’s book-reading list. The story is both political fiction and dystopian science-fiction. It has also introduced many terms and concepts still used today, stuff like: Big Brother, Doublethink, Thoughtcrime, etc… In fact, many subjects considered to be Censorship, Mind Control or Government Surveillance is thought of as being “Orwellian”.

The 1st photo shown way up above is the original UK FIRST EDITION Hardback with Dust-Jacket as it appeared in England, 1948. Then, we get to see what the FIRST EDITION US VERSION looked like. Following these, down below, are many examples of the book’s cover over the years ( both hardback & paperback ). Oh, there have been many many more than these, this is just a small sample. The very last cover shown, plain white with a blue eye pupil, is just one of the most recent modern-day versions.

In closing, here is a recent photo taken at the real-life “George Orwell House” in England. The irony of it? Check out the Police Camera, ha!!

Chip Kidd recently gave a talk at the GRID Summit in Stockholm, Sweden. The title for his speech was “Failing better” and it revolves around the idea of getting past tough moments in the creative process. The lecture is also about “Book Cover Design”. GRID is a yearly two-day event where speakers and storytellers share courageous ideas with passionate people from across the Design World. Much more than your average media conference, every participant plays an active part in making GRID what it is - a unique experience filled with exciting ideas and inspiring encounters. Here’s what Chip had to say:

There’s a new trend in Typography Design now where Hollywood is to blame for many Graphic Designers being totally unable to enjoy certain movies. No, it doesn’t involve bad story lines, crappy special effects, or even horrible acting, the main reason some people can’t enjoy a film is because, “Dammit, This movie is set in the year 1944 and they’re using Helvetica as a typeface, which was not even invented until 1957, arrgghh!”.

Yes, we’re talking about the misuse of Typography. Most of the general public don’t even notice it as long as it looks good. But there are many very serious people out there ( Font-Freaks ) who love, study and obsess over FONTS so much that they know the entire history of them and when they see a FONT used incorrectly it drives them crazy!

The photos up above are a pretty good example of what we’re talking about. They show scenes from the recent movie “The Artist”, which was set in the late 1920′s “Silent Movie” era, and you can see their use of fonts in Signage, Magazine Covers, etc. All this stuff has to be created by Prop Designers and they do try their best to “make the stuff look good”. But sometimes they’re not experts and they end up using font styles that didn’t even exist in certain eras.

Now, One guy who studies this sort of thing is a Font Designer named Mark Simonson. He designs FONTS for commercial use and recently started a brand-new career where he is hired by Hollywood to “make sure they’re using the super-correct font” for their film productions. It’s a whole new industry that’s popping-up! As more of the viewing public are getting more familiar with Graphic Design history it’s become more important to use this talent, especially in “period movies”. Something to think about, ha!

We’re just touching on the subject lightly here, but if you visit Mark’s Website/Blog then you will totally see what we’re talking about. He shares a ton of examples from many popular movies and the analysis is pretty interesting, just CLICK HERE!

To celebrate the release of Chris Ware’s brand-new Graphic Novel Book published by Pantheon, BUILDING STORIES, Chris Ware will have two separate Art Gallery Openings that, together, will exhibit 126 drawings used to create the new story. The events will be held at Adam Baumgold Gallery (New York) and Carl Hammer Gallery (Chicago). The Art Shows open on September 8th, 2012 and run until October 27th. Hey, that’s going on right now, you better hurry!