Volume 3, No. 15 February 28, 2003
Novel by design A Review By Beth E. Concepción At the Savannah College of Art and Design, art is fairly specific. That is, there are categories of art and design to study, such as architecture or fashion. At many colleges, however, “Art” is amorphous, tending to mean “that which is not business or English.” The narrator of “The Cheese Monkeys” by Chip Kidd decides to major in art at a state university because “you can’t major in Making Stuff, so it was Art by default.” Once there, he works his way through Art 101: Introduction to Drawing, where he meets Himillsy Dodd, a free-thinking hellion who is years before her time. The next semester, thanks to the nightmare of closed classes at registration, they end up taking Introduction to Graphic Design with the brilliant yet sadistic Winter Sorbeck. What follows is a coming-of-age story, sprinkled with selections from “Animal House” and roasted with ruminations on the state of art. It is set in the late 1950s and, though I could not find a concrete flaw, the book seems anachronistic. I guess that can be a good thing as it doesn’t seem dated. This is Kidd’s first novel and that novice quality only shows in spots, such as an out-of-the-blue revelation that seems a little forced (to reveal it would be to ruin it). Kidd’s primary career is as a graphic designer who has created revolutionary and award-winning book jacket designs for Alfred A. Knopf for more than 14 years. He also has written about graphic design and popular culture for Vogue, The New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, Details, ID and Print. So he knows what he is talking about when it comes to graphic design. This book is an interesting read for not only students of graphic design, but the rest of us at SCAD as it can spark a dialogue. For example, think about this: Sorbeck states, “[Graphic Design] is not Art. And Art is not Design, though it used to be … Graphic Design for its own sake will never happen, because the concept cancels itself out — a poster about nothing other than itself is not Graphic Design it’s … makin’ ART.” And consider this Sorbeck assessment: “Design must always be in service to solving a problem, or it’s not Design. I will not, so help me, ever attempt to define what Art is. But I know what it no longer is, and that’s Graphic Design.” And that’s something to talk about. “The Cheese Monkeys” by Chip Kidd is available at Ex Libris, 228 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Home | Accolades | What’s the Buzz | Art and About | The Reel Deal Book Marks | On the Safe Side | The Bee Line | Classifieds | Contact the Chronicle | Chronicle Archives