Comic Book Cover Design: Unleash Your Super Designer
A course by Chip Kidd , Graphic Designer and Writer
Learn to design a book cover that invites exploration, interaction, and touch by using both physical artwork and InDesign
Learn to design a book cover that invites exploration, interaction, and touch by using both physical artwork and InDesign
Although they say “never judge a book by its cover”, a great book cover design has the power to lock the eyes of the viewer while sitting on a shelf. For award-winning graphic designer Chip Kidd, designing a book cover is about figuring out what a story should look like. With widely recognized cover designs like the iconic Jurassic Park dinosaur skeleton design, for authors like Haruki Murakami, as well as several covers for the Rolling Stone Magazine, Chip has been creating iconic designs for more than three decades.
As someone who doesn’t consider himself much of a sketch artist, Chip is known for his ability to combine conceptual thinking and problem-solving to bring visually striking designs to life. In this course, he teaches you his method to create compelling designs that both invite exploration and encapsulate a story— without the need for drawing.
What will you learn in this online course?
12 lessons & 13 downloads
- 98% positive reviews (47)
- 1,313 students
- 12 lessons (1h 43m)
- 13 additional resources (3 files)
- Online and at your own pace
- Available on the app
- Audio: English
- English · Spanish · Portuguese · German · French · Italian · Polish · Dutch
- Level: Beginner
- Unlimited access forever
Recommended software for this course
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe InDesign
Adobe PhotoshopWhat is this course's project?
Create an original book (or album) cover using art supplies, Photoshop, and InDesign.
Projects by course students
Who is this online course for?
This course is ideal for anyone who wants to learn more about graphic design, discover new design techniques, or build a design portfolio.
Requirements and materials
No previous experience necessary.
To take this course, you need art supplies to create a cover prototype. Chip uses stencils and spray paint, but you are free to use whatever you’d like. To finalize the cover, you need access to InDesign and Photoshop, or similar software.
Reviews
Charles Kidd, better known as Chip, is a graphic designer and writer from Reading, Pennsylvania. After completing his studies in graphic design at Penn State University in 1986, he moved to New York City, where he found work at Random House as a junior book jacket designer, and where he still works to this day. Today, Chip is currently the Art Director of Knopf, an imprint of Random House.
Chip is best known for his work on the dinosaur skeleton image that he created for the first edition of Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park, which was then used in the movie franchise’s logo. He has also worked with many other authors over the years, including John Updike, Donna Tartt, Cormac McCarthy, James Ellroy, Orhan Pamuk, Neil Gaiman Haruki Murakami, and more. Chip has designed numerous covers for DC and Marvel Comics, notably The Watchmen, Spider-Man, Batman, Marvelocity, as well as covers for magazines like The Rolling Stone. In one of their issues, Time Out New York said about him: “the history of book design can be split into two eras: before graphic designer Chip Kidd and after.”
Content
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U1
Introduction
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Who I Am and How I Came to Be
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Influences
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U2
How to Prepare to Solve a Problem
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Defining the Problem
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Analyzing the Problem
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Materials and Methodology
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U3
Creating a Solution
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The Assignment
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Creating Your Concept
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Creating a Prototype
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Photoshop and InDesign
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Picking the Final Prototype
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U4
Final Steps
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Creating a Theme
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Creating a Portfolio and Finding a Job
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FP
Final project
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Book Cover Design
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What to expect from a Domestika course
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Learn at your own pace
Enjoy learning from home without a set schedule and with an easy-to-follow method. You set your own pace.
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Learn from the best professionals
Learn valuable methods and techniques explained by top experts in the creative sector.
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Meet expert teachers
Each expert teaches what they do best, with clear guidelines, true passion, and professional insight in every lesson.
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Certificates
PlusIf you're a Plus member, get a custom certificate signed by your teacher for every course. Share it on your portfolio, social media, or wherever you like.
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Get front-row seats
Videos of the highest quality, so you don't miss a single detail. With unlimited access, you can watch them as many times as you need to perfect your technique.
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Share knowledge and ideas
Ask questions, request feedback, or offer solutions. Share your learning experience with other students in the community who are as passionate about creativity as you are.
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Connect with a global creative community
The community is home to millions of people from around the world who are curious and passionate about exploring and expressing their creativity.
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Watch professionally produced courses
Domestika curates its teacher roster and produces every course in-house to ensure a high-quality online learning experience.
FAQs
Domestika's courses are online classes that provide you with the tools and skills you need to complete a specific project. Every step of the project combines video lessons with complementary instructional material, so you can learn by doing. Domestika's courses also allow you to share your own projects with the teacher and with other students, creating a dynamic course community.
All courses are 100% online, so once they're published, courses start and finish whenever you want. You set the pace of the class. You can go back to review what interests you most and skip what you already know, ask questions, answer questions, share your projects, and more.
The courses are divided into different units. Each one includes lessons, informational text, tasks, and practice exercises to help you carry out your project step by step, with additional complementary resources and downloads. You'll also have access to an exclusive forum where you can interact with the teacher and with other students, as well as share your work and your course project, creating a community around the course.
You can redeem the course you received by accessing the redeeming page and entering your gift code.
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe InDesign
Adobe Photoshop
betsy.tuma
Chip Kidd is a lovely human whose design sensibilities are thoughtful and cheeky. Highly recommend.
thomas_aux
buen curso
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rrmehdi123
Love this course. Pretty easy to understand and covers alot of content in a short amount of time.
georgehaughton
PlusI am in awe of Chip Kidd. For the past 18 months I've been reading about him, watching YouTube vids by him, being inspired by his TED Talk, and basically digesting everything I could find on this wonderful man.
And then, Domestika happened. Buying this course was a no-brainer for me. Looking at his work, learning what he does and how he does it, and being inspired by this gentleman is worth 10 times the price.
If you are into graphic design, Chip Kidd is where you start to feed that fire.
elijah.boor.ux
I love the way Chip thinks about visual communication. His insights are a valuable resource to anyone willing to listen.