Nichola - poster

Bruce Mau is a Canadian graphic designer born on October 25, 1959.  He is the creative director of Bruce Mau Design (BMD).   Mau studied at the Ontario College of Art & Design, but did not graduate.  He left to join the fifty fingers design group in 1980.  He stayed for a couple of years then he went to Pentagram in the UK. When he returned to Toronto he became part of the founding of Public Good Design and Communication.  Soon after he establish his own strudio Bruce Mau Design (BMD).

Mau has lectured widely across North America and Europe.  He currently serves on the International Committee of the Wexner Center in Columbus, Ohio.

Awards and Honorary:

Chrysler Award for Design Innovation (1998)
Toronto Arts Award for Architecture and Design (1999)
Honory Doctor of Letter from the Emily Carr University of Art and Design in Vancouver
(2001)

Chip Kidd

Chip Kidd

“Design is a response to a specific problem. You are given a problem to solve, and then you let the problem itself tell you what your solution is.”-Chip Kidd

Born and raised in Pennsylvania, Chip Kidd is an American graphic designer who was heavily influenced by pop culture is best known for his book cover, having been described as “the world’s greatest book-jacket designer” (James Ellroy).  While he has designed the jackets to many of my favorite books, particularly for acclaimed authors like David Sedaris and Dean Koontz, he has also tried his hand in comic book design, designing for DC Comics for several years.  He has dabbled in graphic novels and continues to currently, and is a self-described serious collector of Batman memorabilia. This is one reason why I chose to profile Chip Kidd.  My husband is a die-hard fan of classic comic books, particularly anything that has to do with Batman and the Joker.  Like Chip Kidd, he has a room of Joker memorabilia and piles of comic books, a full arm-sleeve tattoo dedicated to the 1960s version of TwoFace and the Joker, and a genuine appreciation for all things Batman.  What drew me into Chip Kidd besides this was the integration of things that my husband is interested in with books that I have enjoyed; it was kind of a subliminal message that I had to learn more about this guy.  I came across this archive of his book cover designs, please visit it to really get a feel for the versatile dynamic of Kidd’s designs at http://bookcoverarchive.com/Chip_Kidd

I also found a photo gallery on Time Magazine’s website that has a great sample of his designs as well: http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1853737,00.html

I also want to mention that he designed the logo for the popular Michael Crichton Jurassic Park series, maybe you’ve heard of the books or seen the movies?  The more I read about Chip Kidd, the more I liked the guy.  Currently, Chip Kidd lives in Manhattan where he works as an art director for Knopf, an imprint of Random House. Admirably, he is still in high demand, many authors have contract clauses that Chip Kidd design the covers for their books.   The above image I chose is the cover to one of the books I read that he designed the cover for, and like his reputation, the book cover and the coinciding story inside become one once you begin to read this story. 

Nichola- stamp

I had a hard time incorporating the scallop for some reason....

Eric's book cover

I think the Dos Equis adds with "the worlds most interesting man" are some of the best commericals I can recall. Decided to use that as the theme to my book cover.

William Morris

William Morris was an English designer who lived 1834 to 1896. Morris was a man of diverse interests. His contributions extend, or perhaps were an extension of, his design work. He was a textile designer, artist and writer. The central theme for Morris’ designs was derived from ancient and medieval texts. From this influence we would write poetry and poetry as well as translate ancient texts. His best known work was The Earthly Paradise.  Morris also had a deep interest in textile design, as well as all thing related to textiles. Here too his medieval influence was evident. Morris wished to design in the old ways. He wanted to create tapestries in the medieval ways, which he called "the noblest of the weaving arts." Morris founded the Kelmscott Press in 1891 with the mission to print limited edition books in medieval fashion. He personally designed many of the aspects of the books, including the typeface. He created three typefaces, Golden, Troy and Chaucer. One of Morris’ most renowned works was his publication of The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer.  The Kelmscott Press printed 425 copies in paper and another 13 copies in vellum.

Page from an illuminated manuscript
of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam,
 watercolor, bodycolor and gold leaf. Calligraphy
 and ornamentation by William Morris

The Kelmscott Press version of The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer
 published by William Morris

The McCune collection website http://www.mccunecollection.org/kelmscott_chaucer.html

Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Morris#Morris.2C_Marshall.2C_Faulkner_.26_Co.

Paul Lange

Poul Lange Design is a New York-based company which specializes in design for book covers and illustration - digital as well as conventional. It is the company's philosophy to adapt to the particular challenges posed by every project selecting the artistic medium and style best suited to each brief.

Danish-born artist and designer Poul Lange established the company after working for Walter Bernard & Milton Glaser Inc. For several years now, he has been designing book jackets and cd covers for the leading publishing houses of his native Denmark as well as major American publishers. Indeed, Poul Lange Design prides itself on transforming books into objects, endowing them with a visual identity that expresses their literary content.

Poul Lange Design has received numerous awards from New York Art Directors Club, Communication Arts, American Illustration, American Photography, Illustration West, Applied Arts Magazine, Portfolios.com and The American Scandinavian Society.