Who

If you've been in a bookstore, you've seen his work: Kidd has designed iconic covers for books by the likes of Dean Koontz, David Sedaris, and Donna Tartt.

Backstory

Kidd went to work for Knopf right out of college in 1986 and over the past two decades, he's designed more than 1,500 book covers for authors like Bret East Ellis, Larry McMurtry, Michael Crichton, Anne Rice, and John Updike. His most famous design: Jurassic Park, featuring the outline of a skeleton of tyrannosaurus rex, which the producers of the movie used in advertisements and as the logo for the dino-themed amusement park in the film.

Of note

Kidd says a book cover can take anywhere from 10 minutes to six months. "I read it, I brood, then eventually respond. Along the way, I may or may not involve photographers or illustrators or any amount of ephemeral detritus that washes up on my shores in the pursuit of solving the problem." That said, just because he designs the covers of the books doesn't mean that he wants you to exclusively judge a book by its cover. Picking out a book just because you like the cover is "irredeemably shallow," he's said.

In print

Kidd's debut novel The Cheese Monkeys, loosely based on his experiences at art school, came out in 2001; a sequel, The Learners, appeared in February 2008. He's also published a book about graphic design, one about Batman, and a retrospective of his own work titled Chip Kidd: Book One: 1986-2006.

Personal

Kidd lives with his boyfriend J.D. McClatchy, the poet and editor of the Yale Review, in the East 60s. They also have a country house in Connecticut. A big fan of comic books, Kidd is a serious collector of Batman memorabilia.