Check out my guest post 20 questions that clients ask before choosing a designer on David Airey’s blog. David’s site was ranked 46 in the AdAge Power 150. My site was ranked… well maybe next year.

Look out, here I come. Woot!

Huge poster size ad seen in a nearby mall. The headline reads “Closer than you think.”

What’s closer? Infirmity in a hospital bed? Old age? The cold hand of death?

Read on to discover that there are career opportunities in Springfield, a nearby city.

Oh.

Do you think they were being deliberately misleading, matching the ambiguous headline with that picture? Or is it just bad design and copyrighting?

Seen recently in a Harry and David catalog (emphasis mine):

Nothing builds the Christmas brand like Santa’s big, beaming countenance, spreading his unique charm and plenty of holiday cheer throughout the kitchen or family room.

The Christmas brand? Really? I know its been commercialized past all recognition, but isn’t Christmas supposed to mean something? And don’t even get me started on how this catalog arrived just days after Halloween. Five years from now I’m expecting the first Christmas catalogs on the Fourth of July.

As a graphic designer, one of the things I’m often called on to do is “build a brand.” This usually includes a logo, stationery, advertising, a brochure, a web site, and more. I went to an interesting conference a couple of years ago about branding that was very persuasive that a brand also should include the behavior of the company or organization, both internally and to the greater community. Branding gives a company a cohesive look, a united presence, that makes it easy to identify. Hopefully it also leads to increased sales and higher profits. Is this something Christmas really needs? Maybe, maybe, individual companies could argue that they need to brand themselves for more Christmas sales. Christmas itself does not need to be branded. And the “Santa brand” just seems like a bad idea. Could there possibly be more street corner Santas, mall photo op Santas, TV commercial Santas, and holiday party Santas? Not to mention Santa t-shirts, jewelry, dolls, books, magnets, figurines, hats… It already feels a little obscene.

Too many years ago to mention I was in my high-school choir, and one of the annual concerts we gave was the Christmas Eve midnight mass in a local church (the particular flavor of church I don’t remember — did I mention I’m Jewish? ) What I do remember was the sense of ceremony and beauty as people came together to celebrate and worship. I left empty handed, though. I guess that church was missing the true branding opportunity of Christmas. I’m sure a nice Santa keychain would have left a real lasting impression. Perhaps a tote bag.

Huberama, you’re one fabulous book richer!

Please email me your shipping address and I’ll get the book off to you after the holiday.

Thanks for entering, everyone. I’ll be back with more posts, and a monthly contest!, after Thanksgiving.

Have a thankful holiday!

Or, How Chip Kidd has changed my life.

While I have you, I’m holding my first ever blog contest! It’s at the end of this post, so read this lovingly crafted missive, or just click here to find out how to enter and win a copy of this book for yourself.

Anyone who knows me in real life knows that I’ve been reading Chip Kidd’s Book One. They know this because I can’t stop talking about it. It’s that amazingly good, and it’s changing the way I think about graphic design and about my career in design.

Book One is crazy. The cover is half hardcover, half paperback, and not in the way you’re probably thinking.

Remember in high school study hall, when you wanted to read something that wasn’t your homework and you slickly sandwiched your preferred reading material into the outer casing of your biology textbook and no one ever knew? This book is like that, except the sneaky inside is twice the size of the outer cover. And everyone knows.

Inside it’s jam packed with covers, published and not, discarded ideas, letters from editors, writers, and artists, old projects, sketches, photos, source material, text by Mr. Kidd (who is not that much older than I am, but really, I feel weird calling him Chip. It’s like my brother used to always say, “Chip. Like you know him.“) and more. Much, much more. I’m a good, careful reader (former English major) and I didn’t come close to seeing all that’s in there the first time around.

If there are graphic design gods, Chip Kidd is one. He’s been credited with changing the face of book publishing (pun intended). And I fully expected to be blown away by the beauty and craftsmanship of his work.

And I wasn’t.

It’s not all beautiful. It’s not all precious typefaces and white space and careful color combinations. And reading it, I realized that that’s what I’ve been thinking graphic design is for the last I don’t know how long. Prettying it up. Making it look nice. Putting this font with that picture and classing up the layout.

This collection of covers is thought provoking, sometimes disturbing, often pretty, but sometimes fully unattractive. It’s full of quirks and tricks, and it makes you look and wonder what’s inside. Mr. Kidd reads the books he designs for, thinks about them, and tries to distill their essence in the limited space of the covers and spine (and sometimes interiors). It’s thoughtful design and it’s what I wanted to do when I decided that graphic design was the career path for me. Somewhere along the way, I’ve gotten sidetracked.

Of course, book cover design for literary fiction is its own breed of design work. It offers opportunities that you just don’t find designing a brochure for a septic system installer (true story). But what I was captivated by in reading this book was the sense that here were designs that meant something.

I didn’t get that feeling from the author narrative (or at least, not too much). The first to poke fun at himself and the ways that design can get ridiculously self important, Mr. Kidd comes across as less Boy-Genius-Realized and more Can-You-Believe-They-Pay-Me-for-This? The author letters range from the hilarious to the moving. Having worked in the book publishing world, I know it’s rare that an author is thrilled by the design of his book. The way it looks all too often doesn’t match, or measure up to, what’s in the author’s head. I can imagine that as a writer, having your ideas captured in a design that feels like the perfect fit would be a thrilling experience. And most of the author letters in Book One say that, in one writerly turn of phrase or another.

I think everyone should read this book. So here’s where the contest comes in. I’m giving away one brand new copy of Book One (what? You didn’t think I’d give my copy away?) All you have to do to enter is leave a comment here. If your comment includes the title of a book that’s inspired you, either through its content or its design, I’ll enter you twice. I’m going to give it a week, then pull a name from a hat (literally). The winner gets Book One.

A note: I know that I have some international readers. If I can ship to you, you’re eligible to win.