| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, July 22, 2016 |
Press Contacts: Laura Dolan / Cristiana Pena Geto & de Milly, Inc. / 212-686-4551 ldolan@getodemilly.com / cpena@getodemilly.comKathy Daneman Kathy Daneman Public Relations / 718-778-0285 / kathy@kathydaneman.com |
Brooklyn Book Festival and Chip Kidd Debut First Ever Official Festival Graphics Prodigious artist, author and art director agrees to develop imagery for a festival that has steeped itself in the art of visual storytellingBROOKLYN, NY—Friday July 22, 2016—The Brooklyn Book Festival (BKBF), New York City’s largest free literary festival, has unveiled two new custom-designed images created by award-winning graphic designer and writer Chip Kidd. From posters to totes to online portals and social media streams, the 2016 Brooklyn Book Festival will be beautifully branded with variations of Kidd’s colorful urban design: the image of a young woman reading a book emblazoned with the Brooklyn Bridge is a celebration of the written word executed in his striking style and pays homage to the borough where the international festival takes place.”The Brooklyn Book Festival is thrilled to have the award winning graphic designer,Chip Kidd, design the Festival’s first art poster,” said Carolyn Greer, co-producer and president of the Brooklyn Book Festival. “A rock star of book design, he is the perfect artist to articulate the vibe of New York City’s hip, smart and diverse book festival. The poster is sure to become a collector’s item!””As a fan (and past participant) of the Brooklyn Book Festival, it was an honor to be asked to create the image for its first art poster,” Kidd said. “My thinking was this: just as books are gateways to amazing places, characters and ideas, the Brooklyn Bridge is such a gateway to one of the most vibrant, diverse and enthralling places on Earth. So I decided to combine the two. Having gotten my professional start in Brooklyn 30 years ago, it is thrilling to contribute this way to one of its most extraordinary cultural celebrations. See you there!”Based in New York City, Chip Kidd has created groundbreaking book jacket designs for Alfred A. Knopf and elevated the design form for close to three decades. He has worked with hundreds of writers, including John Updike, Katharine Hepburn, Cormac McCarthy, Henry Louis Gates Jr., James Ellroy, Karen Russell, Michael Crichton, David Sedaris, Sharon Olds, Orhan Pamuk, Paul Simon, and Neil Gaiman. As an editor and art director for Pantheon Graphic novels, he’s worked with and published some of the very best cartoonists in the world. Kidd is the recipient of the National Design Award for Communications, and his TED Talk has been viewed more than 1.3 million times. The Brooklyn Book Festival attracts tens of thousands from around the world to experience spirited discussions between emerging and iconic writers and a lively Literary Marketplace. This fall’s week-long festival begins on September 12 with five weeknights of literature themed “Bookend” programs presented all over New York City. Brooklyn Book Festival Children’s Day is Saturday, September 17, 2016 and will feature theatrical performances, a dueling draw-off, workshops, picture book and young readers stages, and a Literary Marketplace just for kids are all part of the day’s celebration of childhood reading. The flagship fourteen-stage Brooklyn Book Festival takes place Sunday, September 18. On festival day, 300 writers of beloved works of fiction and nonfiction, poetry and graphic novels will participate in panels, readings and other creative performances of their work. From its inception in 2006, the Brooklyn Book Festival has featured renowned cartoonists and graphic novelists as part of the festival’s evolving focus on visual storytelling. BKBF has since become one of NYC comics fans must-see destinations. Comic fansite The Beat called it an “annual literary love-in,” with a full-day of dedicated comics panels and comic creators speaking with novelists, journalists, and poets, recognizing the form as literature across genre. Award-winning stars who have presented at the festival include Art Spiegelman, Jules Feiffer, Roz Chast, Wendy Pini, Adrian Tomine, Jaime and Gilbert Hernandez, Raina Telgemeier, Jessica Abel, Francoise Mouly, Charles Burns, Keith Knight, Kazuo Kibuishi, Audrey Niffenegger, along with international artists like Kate Beaton, Ulli Lust, Rutu Modan, and Guy DeLisle; and rising stars from the Brooklyn comics renaissance like Paul Pope, Molly Crabapple, Julia Wertz, Dean Haspiel, Sarah Glidden, George O’Connor, and many more. This year the festival includes Margaret Atwood, with her first graphic novel; as well as Chester Brown, Phoebe Gloeckner, Sarah Glidden, Kyle Baker (in his first return to BKBF since its beginning), Faith Erin Hicks, George O’Connor, Ben Katchor, Marjorie Liu, MariNaomi, among other prominent artists.This makes it all the more fitting that an artist so deeply involved in comics and graphic arts undertake BKBF’s first festival image. According to TED Radio Hour, broadcast on NPR, “Kidd’s book jacket designs spawned a revolution in the art of American book packaging. You know a Chip Kidd book when you see it—precisely because it’s unexpected, non-formulaic, and perfectly right for the text within.” USA Today described the artist simply: “the closest thing to a rock star.” Kidd has also published two novels, The Cheese Monkeys and The Learners, as well as Batman: Death by Design, an original graphic novel published by DC Comics and illustrated by Dave Taylor. Kidd has also authored numerous books about comics, notably Mythology: The DC Comics Art of Alex Ross, Batman: Animated, Jack Cole and Plasticman (with Art Spiegelman), and his most recent, 2015’s Peanuts: The Art of Charles M. Schulz. Kidd’s images will be printed on limited-edition BKBF tote bags and posters available for sale to festival attendees. Donors to BKBF will also have the option of receiving a bag. All proceeds will support the Festival. |
|
