These Video Tutorials take you step by step through the process of setting up Adobe Illustrator ( CS 4 and above ) so you can easily transfer artwork across to FontLab Studio 5.

LOLITA, you know the name, you know the classic literary book and you might even have seen one of the two movies adapted from it ( Stanley Kubrick’s 1962 version is the best ). It was written by Vladimir Nabokov and published in Paris in 1955; and then later, in New York, in 1958. The book has gone on to become an icon in Literature. It ALWAYS ranks high ( like #4 ) in a few notable “100 Best Novels of All Time” lists.

But this post is not so much about the story structure or how great it is. This post is about the huge amount of covers this book has been presented with. One site we found listed 158 different Book and Media Covers alone. The book has been printed many times over in 37 Countries, for 57 years, so you can just imagine how many times it has been created with a new version. Shown here are just a few random covers and book jackets that have happened over the years. Then, if you click this LINK you can see the vast amount of LOLITA BOOK COVERS made. It’s pretty interesting stuff and since it could possibly be an inspiration to Graphic Design Fans/Students I knew it had to shared it here. I should also note that the very 1st book, shown up above with the “plain green cover”, that’s the rare First Edition.

Design Camp has been an annual event since 1980 & usually appears in late September/early October at a lodge in northern Minnesota. Design Camp sets the standard for regional design conferences. Its atypical three-day structure mixes indoor and outdoor activities with both educational and social events.

Featured keynote speakers set the tone for camp, and small-group workshops and creative sessions follow these presentations. Attendees (referred to as "campers") stay in lakefront cabins and condos, then meet in the main lodge for events and meals. For more information click here to visit the main AIGA MINNESOTA DESIGN CAMP 2012 Website, DESIGN CAMP FACEBOOK Event Page and the Official DESIGN CAMP FACEBOOK Page.

This year’s line-up of all star speakers include:

Chip Kidd
The Heads of State
Paula Scher
Eric Madsen
Simon Collison

HUMANS INVENT, a website set in the UK who’s main focus is Innovation, Craftsmanship, & Design; recently published a very interesting article on Chip Kidd. The interview was conducted by Reporter Leo Kent. He & Chip discuss important matters concerning the design of a book’s cover. How important is it to selling a book? Plus, what are some of the Graphic Design ideas to think about when creating a Book Jacket? Overall a very excellent discussion, Thanks Leo and Thank you Humans Invent! Readers, to view the full-story please CLICK HERE!

This post is a quick shout-out to thank the MadLit Publishing Tumbler Page for their mention of a quote by Chip Kidd on a Book Cover he did awhile back. This was for Bret Easton Elis’ book, “American Psycho”. They also linked the story to our GALLERY Page. Hey, Thanks MadLit!

WOW! We don’t mean to brag or anything, but the GALLERY PAGE to the Official CHIP KIDD Website has been getting a lot of buzz lately! So we just wanted to say THANK YOU to all the blogs and websites out there who have been talking about it. We really appreciate it! The 1st Gallery Page has grown so much we just recently added a second one. You can access it by clicking the “GALLERY TAB” up above & then scrolling down to the bottom of that page, then just click “Next Page”. We plan on adding many more Chip Kidd-designed Book Covers and Jackets so please check back later. Also, here’s the list of sites who have mentioned it recently:

OUT OF PRINT CLOTHING
BOOKSHELF NEWS
BETTY MING LIU

A special THANK YOU goes out to the BIFF BAM POP Website for doing a wonderful Book Review for THE ART AND MAKING OF THE DARK KNIGHT TRILOGY. This is the recently published book that Chip Kidd designed for Abrams. It tells the story of how all three of Christopher Nolan’s Batman movies were made. Anyway, Blogger Andy Burns wrote an excellent review. Please CLICK HERE to check it out!! ( Thanks Andy! )

Here’s a quick post to share a website we recently discovered that’s pretty interesting. Well, it’s very interesting if you totally love fonts! What they do is present some images where TYPE has been used in Magazine Ads, Product Packaging, Building Signage, etc… and then tell you what FONT it is. OK, it sounds kinda dumb ( ha ha ) but it’s actually very interesting and also inspiring. Like, did you know the font used for the “Google” logo is named “Catull”? Hey, here’s a LINK so you can check it out for yourself. Also, please let us know what you think.

This post is a shout out to all the Fans of Dr. Seuss ( a.k.a. Theodore Seuss Geisel ). Before finding fame and fortune as a major Children’s Book Author Mr. Geisel supported himself and his family with commercial art work. Yes, during the Depression he was an Illustrator and did a lot of Advertising Graphics for Magazines. He quickly developed a large list of Clients like General Electric, FLIT Bug Killer, Holly Sugar, NBC and many more.

Well, One great source to view his advertising artwork is at the Mandeville Special Collections Library at the University of California, San Diego. The library has scanned a selection of these advertisements for greater access, which they call “The Dr. Seuss Collection”, and they can be viewed by clicking right HERE. Please be sure to check it out sometime because it’s not only important historically, but is also very inspiring.

With the release of the recent movie trailer for the film adaptation of ON THE ROAD by Jack Kerouac ( 1922 - 1969 ) I thought it would be fun to share a LINK to a website where they have collected a ton of different covers for this famous book. Down below are just a few examples but if you visit the SITE you’ll be shocked by how many there are & it’s also sort of an interesting study on Graphic Design. Speaking of which, the drawing you see up above was actually done by Jack Kerouac has his idea of what the book jacket should look like. Strangely, the Publisher never considered it and even after all the covers that have been made over the years this version has never popped-up. It’s also interesting to note, about the website, that the Book Covers & Dust Jackets shown there are in English, German, Spanish, Dutch, Japanese, French, etc…

ON THE ROAD was written in 1951, and published by Viking Press in 1957. The book is mostly autobiographical in nature. It portrays the story of a fierce personal quest for meaning and belonging. This comes at an interesting point in American history when conformity was praised and outsiders were suspect. This was during the start of the Cold War. The book instantly became a major hit and it is considered a defining work of America’s “Beat Generation”. One thing that is pretty interesting about the creation of this book was the fact that Jack Kerouac wrote it on one solid piece of paper that he called “The Scroll”. He taped many pieces of teletype paper together to achieve this. The “Scroll” still exists & can be seen in the photo down below.

Earlier I mentioned the “new movie” coming out and you can see that trailer at the bottom of this post. But first, I think it would be best to view another video where Jack Kerouac made an early appearance on TV’s “The Steve Allen Show” in 1959. He reads from the book and it’s pretty interesting to not only hear his original voice but it also gives you an idea of “the rhythm in which he wrote it”. Many Literary Critics have labeled the style of this book as a “Jazz Piece” because of it’s continuous flow.