Graphic Design History: A Critical Guide Review

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(More customer reviews)This book is a splendid addition to the field of Graphic Design History. Until recently the study of graphic design lacked the sort of critical analysis that art historians have routinely lavished on painting or sculpture. Drucker and McVarish do a great job of engaging the reader in their thought processes. Some of the best pages are mash-ups of colorful and diverse graphics with interjected commentary and questions. For example, the two-page spread presenting Chinese oracle scripts, Sumerian cuneiform, and a Mayan codex is bisected by a horizontal red ribbon of text asking: What is the written equivalent of an ironic inflection? What is the spoken equivalent of a sans serif face?
I had the opportunity to see this text of this book before it was published. The book design is splendid. One might quibble with certain inclusions or ommisions, but overall this volume is extraordinary. The writers left me thinking anew about the impact and importance of graphic design. I teach a graphic design history class, and I found it thought provoking.

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Graphic Design History traces the social and cultural role of visual communication from prehistory to the present, connecting what designers do every day to a history of innovative graphic forms and effects. It offers a unique and exciting set of critical lenses for thinking about the cultural purpose and historical dimensions of the graphic designer's work, placing emphasis on the relevance of the history to the practices of designers today. Designed by the authors, the book is beautiful, spacious, and elegant. Clearly organized into three content-rich layers, it is informative yet lively and driven by ideas that offer ways of thinking about graphic design from a wealth of historical examples

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Preparing for a Career in Media and Design Review

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(More customer reviews)This book was required for one of my classes. It is a fantastic book and I feel like it covers almost everything I need to know. Unlike most textbooks it is a pretty easy read. The assignments that are in the book are extreamly useful, if you decide to purchase this book do the assignments! They will really make you think about your future, and each and every step you need to take to get there. I will definately be using this book after college as a guideline.

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Developed specifically for the media and design fields, this guide covers all aspects of career development and moves beyond simply landing a job offer. Early chapters discuss how to search for a job, prepare for an interview and obtain a position in media and design–and then how to negotiate salary and understand benefit packages. Throughout the book, samples of resumes, cover letters, and interview questions are included and worksheets are provided to teach students how to create their own. Industry-specific chapters set this text apart and show readers how to protect their work, establish a freelance business, and evaluate opportunities within the field.

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Understanding Three Dimensions Review

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(More customer reviews)This book really got me on my feet with the whole "three dimensions" thing. Before reading this swashbuckling tale, I feel my life existed in only 2 dimensions. It took this masterpiece for me to realize that my view of the world was horribly obscured B.U.T.D. (Before Understanding Three Dimensions). This is a life altering work of brilliance, form first dimension to third.

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Production for Graphic Designers (5th Edition) Review

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(More customer reviews)This is the SECOND year I will be ordering this title for my Graphic Art Production students. I hope Mr. Pipes plans to keep this publication up to date with another edition. What I like about this book is manifold: the author's clear, intelligent and succinct language tops my list. My students and I both found his prose not just informative, but interesting. The information covers all the basic concerns of a designer involved in production for print and the internet (it gives a well fleshed-out overview of all our areas of study at least). The section on Typography is also quite thorough and far less ponderous than other commonly used Type texts. All the chapters lay down a perfect bridge to a full lecture. Students come to class comprehending the basics, thus adding to their ability to build on that knowledge. The bios throughout the book are of great interest and focus on contemorary designers of note. The attractive layout supports the notion of Grahic Design, not too common these days. I have viewed many texts in the related areas of Graphic Design and find this book to be a perfect example of what a text should be. Bravo Mr Pipes, and thank-you! I will be watching to see what you publish next.

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Now in its fifth edition, thisbook covers the most up-to-date technological advances in graphics and print production, fully explaining all the standard prepress and printing processes, including detailed coverage of the latest digital direct-to-plate offset and small-run on-demand color printing. Production for Graphic Designers gives clear and concisely written advice on preparing artwork for printers, examines the creative potential of typography in a digital environment, and provides comprehensive coverage of working with illustrations, layout and proofing in both computerized and conventional workflows.

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Graphic Design: Vision, Process Product Review

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(More customer reviews)This text was very useful in a graphic design class I recently took. Color and black & white illustrations or images, explanations were easy to understand, and fairly good read. This is not a how-to book, but a good reference for the foundation of good design. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to learn about the history of graphic art, and how those actions are still in active use today.

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Conveniently compact, richly illustrated, andstep-by-step in approach, this volume follows the process thatnearly all designers use in producing "good"communicationdesign—focusing on the universal elements of graphic designthat transcend period and style. Each chapter addresses a singleelement, demonstrating how the element can be used in actual projects,and showing how creative and practical decisions are made in responseto project requirements and parameters—with an emphasis onachieving a balance between individual creativity, utility, andresponsibility to the client. Example projects featured throughouthave been gathered from outstanding contemporary graphic designers, aswell as museums and private collections, and represent a diverse rangeof communication formats (e.g., posters, covers, catalogs,etc.)—executed in a rich sampling of media. Chapters can be usedin sequential as the basis for actual design projects. KEYTOPICS: Content. Parameters and Problem Solving. The DesignProcess. Point-of-View and Attitude. Letters and Words. Images.Integration of Word and Image. Arrangement and Organization.Line. Shape and Form. Value and Texture. Color. Rhythm and Pattern.Emphasis, Exaggeration and Contrast. Decoration. Graphic Production. For Graphic Designers.

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Mapping: Ways of Representing the World Review

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(More customer reviews)Finding this book in the geography section of one of my favorite bookstores was, well, "a find," and especially so because there is a lot masquerading as "geography" or "mapping" these days.
This, as it happens, is the real thing. The British authors have constructed a kind of dream volume for those who want to boost the visual or geographic literacy of their friends, children, neighbors, or students. 'Tisn't a book just for geographers, though those in that profession will love this item. It's at least as much for the many, many, many folks in the world who understand that they don't know what they should about how the world is expressed in maps, and who feel more than a passing need to remedy that inadequacy.
Who's this for? I'd say anyone who has read and learned from the work of Edward Tufte, and as much, for those who revel in the writings of Mark Monmonier, cartography's current gray eminence and a brilliant scholar to boot. But this is also for those who just love maps: The Thelin and Peak SLAR map of the lower 48 states, Erwin Raisz's work, or the luminous cartographer of such great as Eduard Imhof.
The sole drawback is the price -- that's a pocketful of change, and were the ducats sought a few less, this would be a five-star choice, hands down.
Read it, love it, and learn.

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Illustrates how maps tell us as much about the people and the powers which create them, as about the places they show. Presents historical and contemporary evidence of how the human urge to describe, understand and control the world is presented through the medium of mapping, together with the individual and environmental constraints of the creator of the map.

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