Quotes and links

"Books are very… Each book is in its own way unique. It has its own set of problems, own set of circumstances, and that doesn’t seem to change. So, there will always be an idiosyncratic nature to the work." Chip Kidd, 2012 

"All of these solutions derive their origins from the text of the book, but once the book designer has read the text then he has to be an interpretor and translator." (Chip Kidd, TED talk April 2012)

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2012/02/20/beautiful-covers-interview-chip-kidd/

"When you design book covers, you often have to learn a lot about the subject of the book. If it's a work of fiction, you need to read the book to figure out what themes you could use to best illustrate the story. When it's a work of non-fiction, you have to become familiar with the writer's work." (p. 29 Go. A Kidd's Guide to Graphic Design, Chip Kidd, 2013)

Kidd's own design process is more art than science. First, he reads the book. Then he employs what he calls "the magpie method," which is: "picking, choosing, borrowing things that have been done before." The process, Kidd claims, is "driven by nothing." [http://www.austinchronicle.com/books/2000-09-08/78515/ accessed 17/05/14]

"Chip Kidd has a reputation for designing covers that engage the readers' intelligence and imagination." (Veronique Vienne, Chip Kidd p.10)

http://bookcoverarchive.com/