Chip Kidd, who had been designing Vertical‘s books since the company debuted in 2003, is leaving, moving on to other projects. He has, however, recommended his replacement: book designer Peter Mendelsund is taking over as the company’s new freelance art director. He will be in charge of the Vertical catalog starting with this autumn’s releases.
Meldelsund is “a multiple award-winning graphic designer, part-time classical pianist, and full-time gadfly. He has jacketed books for almost every major publisher in America and abroad. His design work appears in several permanent museum collections, has been featured in numerous magazines, and his editorial illustrations show up frequently in the New York Times and other publications. As well as art-directing the Vertical list, he is the senior designer at Alfred A. Knopf.”
Vertical is a New York-based publisher which specializes in translating “the best contemporary Japanese books,” including novels, graphic novels, and nonfiction.