Posts Tagged ‘Chip Kidd’
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The Reflex Blue Show: AIGA Make/Think Conference Special: DAY ONE
October 12th, 2009 |Posted In: The Reflex Blue Show
Rocking it LIVE LIVE LIVE from the show floor — three days ago. Our efforts to bring you the AIGA Make/Think Conference were routed by our shotty server-to-wi-fi connection at the convention center and hotel. Everything else worked great, but when it came to uploading the files, we tasted bitter defeat time and time again. Eventually the stress became to great, and we decided to bring this show back and launch it from the comfort of our own studio chairs.
This show was taped directly following the second day’s (sure it says Day One up there, but our number system is not encumbered by facts) festivities, and with Steve Hartman and Justin Ahrens running the room while we spoke to the passers-by, we crammed an amazing amount of talent into these 25 minutes. In no particular order:
- Chip Kidd, who explodes about being a judge for Command-X
- Bonnie Siegler, who created and served as a judge on Command-X
- Michael Bierut, host of Command-X and gracious gift-giver of time, dance-offs
- Kurt Andersen, host of Studio 360 and emcee of Make/Think, who totally rocked it this year
- Tom Wright from Neenah Paper, huge sponsor of Make/Think and the Life in Abundance print we spoke about during 20/20
- Mig Reyes, from our show’s regular Mig Tips and being awesome all the time
- Steve Hartman, from Creativille
- Justin Ahrens and Tim Damitz, from Rule29
- Gary Mosteller, from we’re-not-sure-where but hey, it’s our show, and you’re welcome on it
So give it a listen — more shows are coming this week!
Download The Reflex Blue Show with Nate Voss and Donovan Beery, AIGA Make/Think Special: DAY ONE or click here to subscribe to The Reflex Blue Show from the iTunes Music Store.
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Reviews Gone Bad: The Learners; The Book After the Cheese Monkeys by Chip Kidd
August 5th, 2009 |Posted In: Reviews Gone Bad, Video
Welcome back to the as-promised sequel to the last book review,The Learners, once again by Chip Kidd. Not that anyone is going to notice, but please, before you rage-out on us for bestowing this fit and well-groomed celebrity designer’s book less than a perfect 5-star review, give the video a watch. I’ve been told on good authority that our reviews will play directly in-window now (hooray) so everyone thank Donovan for that before telling him how wrong he is. Word.
Download Reviews Gone Bad: The Learners (12 meg) or click here to subscribe to Reviews Gone Bad from the iTunes Music Store.
Reviews Gone Bad: Cheese Monkeys; A Novel In Two Semesters by Chip Kidd
July 24th, 2009 |Posted In: Reviews Gone Bad, Video
Donovan plunges into some oldie-but-goodie books this week, starting with the you-probably need-to-read-just-because-you’re-a-designer Cheese Monkeys by Chip Kidd. D wanted to preface this by saying that it’s a work of fiction, and so he felt like he had to hold it to those standards, which, as a category, also includes these works. So, as before, know your bar. We’ll be back soon with Donovan’s take on Kidd’s sequel, The Learners.
Download Reviews Gone Bad: Cheese Monkeys; A Novel In Two Semesters (15 meg) or click here to subscribe to Reviews Gone Bad from the iTunes Music Store.
I’m on a short clock today, so I must be brief. First, sorry for today’s horrible art on the strip. Second, this announcement did indeed find its way onto my TweetDeck yesterday, and I’m pretty excited (for him) about it. I think a Chip Kidd-written Batman book could only be described as “a hoot.” Chip can only really be described as the world’s biggest Batman nerd, as well as the King Geek of Design, so this project has to be one of those life-long, dream-come-true situations. I get it: Read books. Read Batman books. Design books. Then design Batman books. Then write books. Then write Batman books.
Like Paul Rudd’s character’s line in Knocked Up, “I wish I loved anything as much as my kids love bubbles,” I’m not sure I can relate. This would be like me making a Star Wars movie, Halo game, and X-Men comic all at once.
Don’t believe me? Listen to our barely-safe-for-work interview with Chip Kidd and hear for yourself!
There’s been a whole world of discussion as to whether graphic designers constitute “Rock Stars” and while my original intent was to let the comic speak for itself, I found I might actually have a tiny bit to say about the matter.
The world of people who listen to music is much, much larger than the world of people who know and appreciate graphic design. But mistaking the size of the available audience as the sole determining factor of fame to a fanbase is a failing argument. It isn’t the size of the group, it’s the size of their collective fervor (“collective” being the key word here. If I were the only megafan with a basement shrine dedicated to Drew Davies, instead of Donovan and I, well, that would just be creepy). If you have the capacity to get excited about something, and other people share that capacity and excitement, then you have enough right there to make rock stars. So, yes. Graphic Designers can be Rock Stars, but only to people in our comparatively small world.
Nate Voss is a designer, illustrator, talkshow host and design journalist. Working in Omaha since 2001, Nate served four years on the Board of Directors for 
Donovan oversees all creative development at