Chip Kidd. Thingy-ness.

Chip Kidd: Designing books is no laughing matter. OK, it is. 

 "Much is to be gained by ebooks: ease, convenience, portability. But something is definitely lost: tradition, essential experience, the comfort of thingy-ness. A little bit of humanity."

- Chip Kidd

Chip Kidd begins his talk at Ted Talks by saying that books, “All need a face”. It is the designer's role to accomplish this. Kidd also says that a book designer's responsibility, “Is three fold: to the reader, to the publisher and, most of all, to the author.” 

In his designs, Kidd demonstrates how he has made the most of the book as a physical object in his work. For example, Kidd designed a number of book covers for the Buddha series by Osamu Tezuka, which goes into the life of the Buddha. 

When the books are placed in order, side by side, an image is formed. Reinforcing the theme of the series, the image depicts the life of Buddha, moving from one age to the next. 

I have seen a similar technique being used on DVD box sets, but never on ebooks, for this is quite simply something that could not work in that format. What this also does, is encourage the reader to "collect them all". When you purchase all the books you will have a complete set, a complete image.

  

Naked 

This book is about the author's trip to a nudest colony after struggling with insecurities of self image. Kidd explains that this is a book, “You can literally take the pants off”, which is what he incorporates quite cleverly into his design. 

Removing the jacket, reveals:

Under the jacket shows the skeleton of the person, going “much deeper than you expect”. The book's jacket becomes another selling tool that is also used to incorporate a metaphor. This adds an extra layer to the book and immediately you want to know what exactly it is about (though you already have a strong idea from the cover), encouraging the reader to pick it up to find out more.

 

Making a story out of the book's physicality: My Name Is Red

 

My Name is Red is a book about “intrigue and murder among 16^th century Ottoman court painters”. This could be considered quite a dry book to design for, yet Kidd introduces a way to immediately unfold its story, all through the cover's design.

Kidd using the physicality of the book to tell a story, even before the reader even opens the book. He takes the design from the spine (a feature that wouldn't even be shown on a ebook) onto the front cover, engaging the reader even when, on a cramped bookshelf, the viewer can only witness one thin section of the book. With this, Kidd considers everything about the book's design, including how it will be presented on a bookshelf.

 

The spine shows the lovers:

They have now been discovered by the Sultan:

And now the sultan is in danger!

Kidd goes on to say, “And now we have to open it up, to find out what happens next!' Before joking, “Try experiencing that on a kindle!” 


The Wind Up Bird Chronicle 

Kidd uses the entirety of the book - front, spine and back - to produce an image. For, when you unfold the book, you are able to see the full artwork. Yet the image also works when shown in pieces. Again, Kidd has considered the format of the book and how to make the most of it. 

 

   

1Q84

This book is about a woman who thinks she has entered an alternative reality. To enforce this into the design, Kidd uses different pieces of paper, as though to symbolise the different planes of existence.

The front of his cover has been created on a semi-transparent piece of velum. Underneath that, is this image:

This is a paperboard, which is the opposite. When placed together, this image is formed:

Kidd explains, “Even if you don't know anything about this book, you are forced to consider a single person straddling two planes of existence." He says, "The object itself invited exploration, interaction, consideration and touch."

What I have learned:

Chip Kidd's talk was amazing to learn from. I loved hearing of his idea process. It has made me realise that the most important part of any design is getting the right idea. Kidd's initial concepts all have a powerful meaning behind them, which all incorporates the themes of the book he is designing for. He does not cast the written words of the book into the shadows with his design, eclipsing them, nor do his designs do nothing for the book itself; he enhances the book. 

Not only that, but his talk has reinforced the fact to me that the physical copy of a book can be extremely powerful in design. All of the ideas shown above could not have been accomplished through a digital copy - and if they could, their brilliance would have been lost. 

I feel that the book as a physical object can become its own tool for the designer.