It all started with books.
Conteporary Book Design was founded in 2025 by Kevin Barrett Kane and Emma Christine Hall with the goal of training the next generation of book designers worldwide. Based on experiences teaching in-person and online, we recognized the astonishing lack of good information about book design available and struck out to change that. We are hard at work on our curriculum and course modules for our official launch sometime in late 2025 or early 2026. Sign up below to be the first to hear about it!
Read an interview about our class at Type Electives.
FAQs
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Short answer: yes. Long answer: you should take our Introduction to InDesign course before getting started on any of the book design modules. We will be launching this course alongside the modules soon.
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Yes. More info on scholarships will be available soon.
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The Advanced Course provides access to CBD instructors during office hours, occurring once a week for the duration of the course. Additionally, students can sign up for a limited number of one-on-one sessions for individualized instruction.
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Of course! Be sure to select “Send this Course as a Gift” when checking out.
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All students are expected to have a working and updated version of Adobe Creative Suite, including InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator. All three programs are used during course instruction.
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We are currently working on an accreditation program with Adobe and a higher-level institution. For now, however, we offer only a CBD certificate signed by your instructors that will be mailed to you upon completion of the course.