Topic: "What the Stories Look Like"
Location: President's Hall, The Penn Stater
Introduction / Moderator: Rodney Erickson / Katie O'Toole
Bio: Chip Kidd is a graphic designer and writer in New York City. His book jacket designs for Alfred A. Knopf (where he has worked since 1986) have helped spawn a revolution in the art of American book packaging.
He is a recipient of the International Center of Photography's award for Use of Photography in Graphic Design, as well as the National Design Award for Communications, the industry's highest honor. His work was included in the Cooper-Hewitt Museum's third National Design Triennial.
Kidd's monograph, CHIP KIDD: BOOK ONE was published by Rizzoli International, with an introduction by John Updike and featuring over 800 works, spanning two decades, from 1986 through 2006.
In his role an editor of books of comics for Pantheon (a subsidiary of Knopf) Kidd has worked extensively with some of the most brilliant talents practicing today, including: Chris Ware, Art Spiegelman, Dan Clowes, Kim Deitch, Charles Burns, David Mazzucchelli, Ben Katchor and Alex Ross.
The Cheese Monkeys, Kidd's first novel and based on his experiences as a design student at Penn State, was published by Scribner in Fall of 2001. It became a national bestseller, as well as a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. His second novel, The Learners, was published in February of 2008 to tremendous acclaim. Both novels broke new ground by using the graphic design process as an engine to drive the plot. He is also the designer and co-author with Lisa Birnbach of True Prep, an instant New York Times best-seller.
His coffee-table book history of Captain Marvel, entitled 'Shazam! The Golden Age of the World's Mightiest Mortal' was released by Abrams in November.
In his spare time, Kidd drinks, cries and leads the neo-newwave band Artbreak.