Chip Kidd

If you've ever found yourself coveting a book because of something as seemingly superficial as its jacket, chances are that jacket was designed by Chip Kidd. His work is bold, spry, and tirelessly inventive, and his influence on book jacket design has been so pervasive that his style practically exists as its own brand. Kidd's work convinces you that he's actually read the book he's done the cover for, providing a compelling visual commentary on a book's content that goes beyond design and into the territory of silent collaboration. As a result of his inimitable imagination, he has become the "go to" designer for most literary high-profile projects. If his more recent covers have tended to exhibit symptoms of repetition--no doubt from a desperate publishing market's need to trigger sales--his work still remains in a class by itself. There is a rare satisfaction, exclusive to the act of reading, that lies in the moment of finishing a good book, and having an equally satisfying cover to look at, to serve as a coda before putting the book down. In a culture increasingly given over to all types of virtual media, Chip Kidd's jackets remain a part of the aura of The Book itself.