The Cheese Monkeys: A Novel In Two Semesters (Paperback)

The story is told from the point of view of a kid who has no ambition, so he goes to State University and stumbles upon a graphic design class because all the other classes are taken. He takes the class with his friend Himillsy Dodd, a charismatic and tragic beauty. He falls in love with her but she never returns his love. The antitheses of Himillsy is the graphic design professor, Winter Sorbeck. Happy also falls in love with Winter and eventually photographs himself kissing him in a disgusting scene where Happy has taken the pants off of the passed out Winter. Winter who calls our narrator, "Happy," opens his students eyes to the world of graphic design by ruthlessly destroying their projects and giving assignments that although vague, will supposedly teach them the secrets of graphic design if completed successfully. It is through Winter's character that we hear the only voice on graphic design in this book. It is only fair to assume that his voice gives us Chip Kidd's philosophy on graphic design.

So what does he say? The first thing that jumps out at me is the sentence, "Good is dead." This phrase is printed on the binding as well as hidden on the edge of the pages if you hold the pages at an angle. After his anti-American fit, Winter makes a student repeat this sentence in a scene where he verbally beats her into tears. I would like to think that this phrase simply means that graphic designers need to be more than good to be successful. However, based on the context of the rest of the book, I conclude that Kidd has a more disturbing meaning to this phrase. Here is what I mean: I am a graphic designer because I believe I can make the world better by producing quality design. The power of graphic design is the power to improve life. Life can be good because of graphic design. Good is not dead. Good should be the ultimate result of graphic design. Saying that "good is dead" is a suggestion that there should be another goal for design. We learn what that goal is when we see the graphic design that Winter Sorbeck produces for the faculty art show. Here are the four pieces that Winter produces that Kidd apparently holds as the pinnacle of graphic design:

1. A book cover for "Hitler's Switzerland: The Illusion of Neutrality During the Third Reich."
2. An anti-war poster with a tag line that he stole from one of his students.
3. An anti-industry, pro-environmental awareness poster (also a theme stolen from a student).
4. A box of feces on which is printed the words "Whatever you do, don't open." The inside of the box lists things at the school that Winter disapproves of.

That should make it pretty clear what Kidd thinks are important to design: work that promotes political ideas, work that contributes to socially causes, or work that gives a shocking commentary on something you believe in. I don't know about you, but I have never been paid to design any of those things. These idealistic values have absolutely nothing to do with what graphic designers do. What is worse, are the concepts that Winter uses to execute his work. They would sound like this:

"It doesn't matter what something looks like as long as it gets the job done."
"Shock value is more important than substance."
"Graphic Designers are better than their audience. Since we are so much better, it is appropriate to use and manipulate our audience to attain our goal."

This way of thinking is offensive to me, and are dangerous ideas for any designer to entertain. They aren't clearly visible on the surface of Cheese Monkeys. If someone sees something that I am missing, I would love to hear it. I was hoping that in the end the narrator would expose the stupidity and defeat Winter Sorbeck. Unfortunately, the story ends like this. Winter gets kicked out of the school, Himillsy dies, and Happy is left alone to grade his final exam by himself. We are left to fill in the blanks that our weak hero, who has demonstrated very few strong character traits, apparently goes on to be the great book designer, Chip Kidd. Maybe he should stick to designing the books, and let someone else write them.

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This book highlights an experience with such a teacher. It is told from the perspective of a student who gleens the meaning of his instructors tirades while still taking the class. Unlike me who just recently figured why a teacher would browbeat students with nearly impossible problems and unreachable expectations.

This seems to be on alot of design lists, and rightfully so. Don't be fooled though, this is for anyone who was pushed to a higher level of understanding by someone who was a jerk.

You are the worm, life is the plow.

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