NPR Radio’s Talk of the Nation recently interviewed Neil Gaiman about his latest Graduation Gift book titled, “Neil Gaiman’s MAKE GOOD ART Speech”. The new book, designed by Chip Kidd and published by Harper Collins, is set to be released on Wednesday, May 15th, 2013.

Click here to listen to the NPR Radio Interview with Neil Gaiman:

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To celebrate the launch of Neil Gaiman’s “MAKE GOOD ART“ Speech Book Neil Gaiman and Chip Kidd will both appear at the OBERON in Cambridge (Boston) on Wednesday, June 5th, 2013 at 6:30pm.

Literary legend Neil Gaiman (American Gods, The Sandman, Stardust & soon to be, Ocean at the End of the Lane: a Novel), in his wonderful 2012 commencement address at the University of the Arts in Pennsylvania, encouraged graduates to do one thing, even in the worst of times: Make Good Art. Gaiman– who has written novels, short fiction, comic books, screenplays, children’s books, and graphic novels– and Chip Kidd, who designed the innovative cover and interior for the published book based on the speech, convene at the Oberon to discuss Gaiman's unconventional career path, prodigious output, and the bravery and creativity that goes into making good art. This special, intimate evening presents a rare encounter with one of contemporary literature’s most creative minds alongside the top graphic designer in publishing. They will discuss their own artistic processes and pass along advice for how to Make Good Art. Tickets are $25, which includes a copy of MAKE GOOD ART with a book signing to follow the conversation.

For Ticket Information please CLICK HERE!

Also, CLICK HERE to preview a sampling of Make Good Art‘s fantastically stylized interior.

Design for change. Design for good. Design for a better world.

These are the premises that fuel DESIGN INDABA. Their goal is for a better world through design, creativity and innovation.

Chip Kidd spoke at their 2011 event and while in Barcelona he stumbled across a caf decorated with book covers that he had designed. He found this both strange… and rather great!

Last year, around February, Chip Kidd was in Texas to speak at a special lecture given at the Dallas Museum of Art. So, to promote the event he got the chance to talk with the crazy guys over at FANBOY RADIO. ( We mean “crazy” in a good way, they’re awesome!)

The cool thing is that you can tell that the people doing the interview either, did some amazing research, or they’re just honestly huge fans because their questions were really really clever. I mean, they discuss Graphic Design, Book Covers, Comic Books, Batman, and a few of Chip Kidd’s Books like – The Cheese Monkeys, The Learners, Batman: Death By Design, and much more.

OK, I know this podcast interview is “a year old”, but it’s actually still very timely today and it shares some really good insight into design and other issues. So, please enjoy… oh yeah, and please share it with everybody you know

THANK YOU FANBOY RADIO!

CLICK HERE TO HEAR IT LIVE:

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This post is mostly a friendly reminder to let people know that Chip Kidd will be appearing at a special event in New York City on May 9th. We announced it here awhile back. But the main reason we posted this reminder is that on the “Next Appearances” page, we recently added another event for May 11th ( Canada – 2013 TORONTO COMICS ARTS FESTIVAL ), and that pushes this NYC event down the list… we just didn’t want anyone to miss it.

So, for more information, please CLICK HERE!

WOW! We’re really excited to report that Chip Kidd designed the main graphic for the cover to today’s New York Times BOOK REVIEW. The image, shown up above, is obviously a parody on the famous British World War Two “Keep Calm and Carry On” Poster, but it also does a very good job of conveying the basic message of the main book review they are featuring on the cover. It’s the latest Triller Novel from John Le Carr titled, A DELICATE TRUTH.

The book will be released by Viking on May 7th (Yes, that’s in 2 days, ha!). As an important side note we should mention that Chip Kidd did not design the cover for the actual book.

So, please be sure to read today’s New York Times BOOK REVIEW by OLEN STEINHAUER, just CLICK HERE!

This coming weekend, May 11th and 12th to be exact, Chip Kidd will be making an appearance at the 2013 TORONTO COMICS ARTS FESTIVAL. The event is held at the Toronto Reference Library in Toronto, Canada and is open FREE to the public.

Other guests appearing this year will be Gengoroh Tagame, Art Spiegelman, Fran oise Mouly, Paul Pope, Maurice Vellekoop (who designed the poster shown up above), the Brothers Jaime and Gilbert Hernandez, Ivan Brunetti, Taiyo Matsumoto, Michel Rabagliati, and many others. Please check their website for a complete list of special guests and events.

1:30-2:30PM Spotlight: Maurice Vellekoop in conversation with Chip Kidd
One of the most respected editorial and fashion cartoonists today, Maurice Vellekoop is a featured guest. On this program, Vellekoop discusses his life, work, and upcoming projects with Book Designer and Pantheon Books editor Chip Kidd. The two will also make a very special announcement...!

Also, The event is open from 9:00 to 5:00 pm on Saturday, May 11th. Then on Sunday, May 12th, from 11:00 to 5:00 pm.

For more information, please CLICK HERE!

Cartoonist and MacArthur Foundation "Genius" Fellowship winner Ben Katchor was recently interviewed by Gil Roth in a episode of “The Virtual Memories Show” Podcast. The main focus was Ben Katchor’s brand-new graphic novel recently published by Pantheon Books in 2013 titled, HAND-DRYING IN AMERICA AND OTHER STORIES, which collects his monthly comic page from Metropolis magazine. During this special episode, Ben even “performs” several of his comics. Plus, he gives us all some really great insight into his creative process. Also, as a side-note, we should mention that this book cover was designed by Chip Kidd.

We have embedded the podcast down below, but for even MORE information we suggest a visit to VIRTUAL MEMORIES.

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Ben Katchor
Hand Drying in America and Other Stories
Pantheon Books / Random House
ISBN 978-0-307-90690-8
160 Pages

Over at the DESIGN LAB website ( The Blog for the Mail Chimp Company ), they did a very excellent write-up about their experience with Chip Kidd and his recent visit to the company. Also, a Graphic Artist named Jason Travis created a poster for the event, which you can see up above. For more information about Mail Chimp, please CLICK HERE!

Here’s a video that is a part of the ongoing series created by Random House Books called, “Inside Random House”. These short features give all of us a small glimpse into the workings of the famous publishing house. This particular clip is titled, “Digital Product Innovation”. Here is their quote:

“The way we transform book content into digital experiences is rapidly evolving. Join some of our key in-house digital product experts as they give you an insight into how they approach their work, and highlight a few of our exciting new digital products. Tune in!”