Comic Book Cover Design: Unleash Your Super Designer

A course by Chip Kidd , Graphic Designer and Writer

Graphic Designer and Writer. Palm Beach, United States.
Joined January 2021

Learn to design a book cover that invites exploration, interaction, and touch by using both physical artwork and InDesign

98% positive reviews (47)
1,347 students
Audio: English
English · Spanish · Portuguese · German · French · Italian · Polish · Dutch

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.

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What will you learn in this online course?

12 lessons & 13 downloads

Defining the Problem
10 minutes, 32 seconds
Analyzing the Problem
10 minutes, 15 seconds
Materials and Methodology
8 minutes, 31 seconds
The Assignment
7 minutes, 43 seconds
Creating Your Concept
8 minutes, 48 seconds
Creating a Prototype
7 minutes, 47 seconds
  • 98% positive reviews (47)
  • 1,347 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

What 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

1,347 Students
47 Reviews
98% Positive ratings
  • More reviews

Chip Kidd

A course by Chip Kidd

Teacher Plus
Graphic Designer and Writer

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

  • U1

    Introduction

    • Who I Am and How I Came to Be
    • Influences
  • U2

    How to Prepare to Solve a Problem

    • Defining the Problem
    • Analyzing the Problem
    • Materials and Methodology
  • U3

    Creating a Solution

    • The Assignment
    • Creating Your Concept
    • Creating a Prototype
    • Photoshop and InDesign
    • Picking the Final Prototype
  • U4

    Final Steps

    • Creating a Theme
    • Creating a Portfolio and Finding a Job
  • FP

    Final project

    • Book Cover Design

What to expect from a Domestika course

  • 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.

  • Learn from the best professionals

    Learn valuable methods and techniques explained by top experts in the creative sector.

  • Meet expert teachers

    Each expert teaches what they do best, with clear guidelines, true passion, and professional insight in every lesson.

  • Certificates
    Plus

    If 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

If you're a Plus member, when you complete a course you've purchased, you'll instantly get your personalized certificate. You can see all your certificates in the Certificates section of your profile. You can download your certificates as PDFs and share the link online. Learn more about certificates.
Comic Book Cover Design: Unleash Your Super Designer. Design course by Chip Kidd

Comic Book Cover Design: Unleash Your Super Designer

A course by Chip Kidd
Graphic Designer and Writer. Palm Beach, United States.
Joined January 2021
  • 98% positive reviews (47)
  • 1,347 students