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Chip Kidd
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Judge This (TED Books) Hardcover – June 2, 2015

by Chip Kidd (Author)
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 79 ratings
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A fun, playful look at the importance of first impressions—in design and in life—from acclaimed book designer Chip Kidd.

First impressions are everything. They dictate whether something stands out, how we engage with it, whether we buy it, and how we feel. In Judge This, renowned designer Chip Kidd takes us through his day as he takes in first impressions of all kinds. We follow this visual journey as Kidd encounters and engages with everyday design, breaking down the good, the bad, the absurd, and the brilliant as only someone with a critical, trained eye can. From the design of your morning paper to the subway ticket machine to the books you browse to the smartphone you use to the packaging for the chocolate bar you buy as an afternoon treat, Kidd reveals the hidden secrets behind each of the design choices, with a healthy dose of humor, expertise, and of course, judgment as he goes.

Judge This is a design love story, exposing the often invisible beauty and betrayal in simple design choices—ones most of us never even think to notice. And with each object, Kidd proves that first impressions, whether we realize it or not, have a huge impact on the way we perceive the world.
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Previous page
  1. Part of series
    TED
  2. Print length
    144 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publisher
    Simon & Schuster/ TED
  5. Publication date
    June 2, 2015
  6. Dimensions
    5 x 0.7 x 7 inches
  7. ISBN-10
    1476784787
  8. ISBN-13
    978-1476784786
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Chip Kidd is a designer/writer in New York City. His book cover designs for Alfred A. Knopf, where he has worked nonstop since 1986, have helped create a revolution in the art of American book packaging. He is the recipient of the National Design Award for Communications, as well as the Use of Photography in Design award from the International Center of Photography. Kidd has published two novels, The Cheese Monkeys and The Learners, and is also the author of Batman: Death By Design and the coauthor and designer of True Prep, the sequel to the beloved Official Preppy Handbook. His 2012 TED Talk has been viewed 1.2 million times and is cited as one of the “funniest of the year.” He is most recently the author of the bestselling GO: A Kidd’s Guide To Graphic Design.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Simon & Schuster/ TED; First Edition (June 2, 2015)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 144 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1476784787
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1476784786
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10.3 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5 x 0.7 x 7 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 79 ratings

About the author

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Chip Kidd

Chip Kidd

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Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Charles (Chip) Kidd (born September 12, 1964) is an American graphic designer, best known for his innovative book covers. Based in New York city, Kidd has become one of the most famous book cover designers to date.

Bio from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Photo by Luigi Novi [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0) or CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
79 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Blanca de Hvidsten
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent way of getting inspired to CREATE
Reviewed in the United States on October 11, 2015
Verified Purchase
I loved the storytelling with the relevant process of it all.
Great help to writing my master thesis. It helped me draw from my own knowledge in a very creative and inspiring way.
Thank you!
More like this please!
One person found this helpful
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L. Morales
4.0 out of 5 stars Simple, short and sweet
Reviewed in the United States on August 19, 2015
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It's not a novel, but it has nice ideas and examples of how to promote something using mystery or clarity or a combination of both.
One person found this helpful
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Ithamar A.
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on October 25, 2016
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Awesome books, I'd recommend to everyone!
One person found this helpful
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Jennifer Mora
3.0 out of 5 stars Three Stars
Reviewed in the United States on October 23, 2017
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Just watch the Ted Talk instead of purchasing this
One person found this helpful
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NMwritergal
4.0 out of 5 stars Fast and Fun
Reviewed in the United States on November 5, 2016
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Fast and fun read, visually appealing. Chip Kidd, as always is one of my faves in the area of design,
One person found this helpful
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teachlearn4evr
2.0 out of 5 stars I expected a good deal more
Reviewed in the United States on June 8, 2015
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Not as enlightening as I had anticipated, based upon the review/description. For the $7.99, I expected a good deal more...
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David Wineberg
3.0 out of 5 stars Reverse spinoff
Reviewed in the United States on June 2, 2015
Chip Kidd is a very lucky man. Right out of graphic design class he was hired into publishing in New York City, and has been a book cover designer at the same firm ever since. He works with the biggest names and gets seemingly free creative reign. He has collected some of his best covers, and the real world design elements that inspired them, into a short, fast little book you can read in an hour or two.

Kidd created a continuum, a horizontal line that goes from clarity to mystery, rating various elements of daily life according to how much work it takes to understand them. He measures his book covers by how much they might benefit from extreme clarity to extreme mystery.

The medium is the message, so you would expect a book cover designer to publish a book. Unfortunately, this is written as belonging to some other medium. Every image is accompanied by a short paragraph or two, more of a narration than a narrative. The images on the opposite page would have much more impact on a large screen, particularly in an e-book, where you can’t see the image at the same times as the text. The whole effort fairly screams to be a 50 minute slide show, with Kidd narrating. He would be far more entertaining than the book.

And so it is. This is the print extension of his TED talk, for those who need a paper version of the video available online. The video is much more fun.

David Wineberg
9 people found this helpful
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Nita
3.0 out of 5 stars Subject doesn't translate as well in Ereader format.
Reviewed in the United States on June 3, 2015
Though I do not recommend this in ebook format because of the inability to have the graphic illustration and the commentary on screen at the same time, I never the less found the subject extremely interesting. Chip Kidd shares his reasoning for his choice of book cover art. I thought the method by which he selected the type of cover to be fascinating, and it gave me some insight into why I am attracted to covers in the bookstore and library. Perhaps I am missing out by not having a color ereader.....
*I received my copy through Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.
3 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Valeria
5.0 out of 5 stars Pretty compact cute book
Reviewed in Germany on April 19, 2021
Verified Purchase
Super book! I think it teaches a lot. Also it’s really funny at some points I was laughing out loud) who is interested in graphic design is gonna like it.
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Cliente Amazon
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book
Reviewed in Spain on December 6, 2020
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Great book
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Johanna W.
2.0 out of 5 stars Too bad.
Reviewed in Canada on July 25, 2015
Verified Purchase
Sadly if you've seen the Ted talk there is really no need for this- I didn't realize.
Too bad.
One person found this helpful
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Verity
5.0 out of 5 stars Fun read
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 22, 2015
Verified Purchase
I brought this book this evening and finished reading it this evening. For the first time in my life I read a whole book in one evening, it's inspiring how you really can relate everyday objects to wider ideas and more complex problems. I don't usually stop and look at things and try to relate it to design work, but from now on I will. Thanks Chip Kidd, you've inspired another designer 😊
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カスタマー999
4.0 out of 5 stars ！か?か
Reviewed in Japan on August 1, 2015
Verified Purchase
Chip Kiddさんは、書籍などのデザイナーで、村上春樹さんのアメリカ版（英語翻訳）の本のカバーをデザインされています。TED TALKSでのお話がとてもわかりやすくておもしろかった( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nI65jgHG9o )ので、買ってみました。内容は、TED TALKSの続きで、色々なデザインが、!(clarity　分かりやすい）か ?(mystery　謎）かを楽しく解説されています。英語はシンプルで、分かりやすいです (!)。残念なのは、それぞれのデザインの写真が、kindleでは別のページになってしまうので、デザインを見ながら、解説を読めないことです (?)。（書籍版ではおそらく見開き2ページになっているのだと思います。)
とりあえず、この本を読んでから、標識でも看板でも、！か?か考える様になりました。ちいさい楽しみが増えた気分です。
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