Go: A Kidd's Guide to Graphic Design - by Chip Kidd (Paperback)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

​Design is all around you. And whether you realize it or not, you are already a designer. In Go, renowned graphic designer Chip Kidd explains not just the elements of design, including form, line, color, scale, typography, and more, but most important, how to use those elements in creative ways. Like putting the word "go" on a stop sign, Go is all about shaking things up.

Kidd writes about scale: When a picture looks good small, don't stop there--see how it looks when it's really small. Or really big. He explains the difference between vertical lines and horizontal lines. The effect of cropping a picture to make it beautiful--or, cropping it even more to make it mysterious and compelling. How different colors signify different moods. The art of typography, including serifs and sans serifs, kerning and leading. The book ends with ten hands-on design projects for kids.

"An excellent introduction to graphic design through [the author's] own excellent work. Anyone interested in the subject, including most practitioners, will find it delightful."--Milton Glaser

Review Quotes

"I wish I had this book when I was a kid!" -Jeff Kinney, author of Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Kidd's folksy, conversational tone, in which he speaks directly to readers, is appealing. . . . This is a book not only for art classes, but also for courses in journalism, communications, media, and writing, for units on persuasive writing and advertising, and to demonstrate how strong visual images convey meaning and appeal." - School Library Journal (starred review)

"Beginning with the striking cover design--a red stop sign reading "GO"--this book challenges our assumptions about what we see and read. Kidd skillfully uses typography and illustration to demonstrate how graphic design informs the ways we make decisions that affect our lives. . . . An engaging introduction to a critical feature of our modern, design-rich environment." - Kirkus Reviews

"A series of lucid, witty, and absorbing analyses of graphic design techniques . . . tomorrow's designers will want to grab a pencil and get going." - Publishers Weekly

"'GO: A Kidd's Guide To Graphic Design, ' is pretty awesome." - The Huffington Post

"Kidd . . . uses his writing skill to make design theory more interesting and appealing for young artists. . . . A great choice for the high school student considering a design career and perhaps for older or younger readers as well." - Library Journal

"Chip Kidd is the world's pre-eminent book-jacket designer. He's done more than 1,000 of them, and built such a sterling reputation that several high-profile authors, including Oliver Sacks, have it in their contracts that Kidd design their book covers. The man has mastered graphic design. But that's not to say his job is without challenges. One of the more recent ones? How to think like a 10-year-old. . . . Kidd faced that challenge to create his new book, Go: A Kidd's Guide to Graphic Design. The book covers the fundamentals of graphic design: form, typography, content and concept. . . . Kidd's book features many examples of great design, including some of his own covers, to illustrate points. It's as much a visual experience as an intellectual one, which is a measure of great graphic design. . . The ideas in Go are simple, whether it is playing with scale or how fonts convey meaning. And they are all put forward so clearly and with such visual flair that readers will walk away feeling like junior Milton Glasers. Many, actually, maybe not so junior. . . . Considering that it's a Chip Kidd book, meaning fantastically designed, and that it covers a very popular subject, there's a good chance that some adults will grab it for themselves." - The Globe and Mail

"Chip Kidd has been called the closest thing to a rock star in the design world. . . . In his new book, Go: A Kidd's Guide to Graphic Design, Kidd shares this rock star wisdom with the pubescent set, explaining the basics of typography, form, function, color, branding with playful narration and eye-popping visuals. . . . It's written for young readers aged 10 and up, but its witty, direct approach makes it a perfect primer for older design rookies as well. And the design of the book itself is, of course, far too beautiful to be reserved just for children." -Co.Design, a Fast Company blog

"The design superstar gives us a crash course in the field; not surprisingly the book itself is extraordinarily designed!" -Pop Candy, a USA Today blog

"A thing of beauty." -People Magazine