This book is the most compact and lucid handbook available outlining the basic principles of layout, typography, colour usage and space. Being a creative designer is often about coming up with unique design solutions. Unfortunately, when the basic rules of design are ignored in an effort to be distinctive, design becomes useless. In language, a departure from the rules is only appreciated as great literature if recognition of the rules underlies the text. Graphic design is a 'visual language' and brilliance is recognised in designers whose work seems to break all the rules, yet communicates its messages clearly. This is a fun and accessible handbook that presents the fundamentals of design in lists, tips, brief text and examples. The chapters include Graphic Design: What It Is; What Are They and What Do They Do?, Choosing and Using Type and Breaking the Rules: When and Why to Challenge all the Rules of this Book.
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About the Author
Timothy Samara is a graphic designer and educator. His fifteen-year career includes a diverse project history, from branding systems and user interfaces to books, animation and architectural work. He is the author of Making and Breaking the Grid, Typography Workbook, Publication Workbook and Type Style Finder, all from Rockport Publishers. He lives in New York, USA.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
31 of 31 people found the following review helpful
By F. Ridler
Format:Paperback
Currently I am in the third year of my architecture degree where the porfolio and the exhibition are the most important aspects of the degree. I have struggled to find a book which gave me assistance on improviing the graphical communication of my work, until I found this one.
As anyone doing a design based degree will know, portfolios are not just a collection of work, they are a visual communication of an idea and an extension of the work.
This book has the ideal balance of examples (all neatly catagorised to help you understand what it is that makes them a good example) as well as informative text which acts as an aid rather than the main descriptive tool.
The categories are clearly headed and organised and allw for quick reference and understanding. Just flicking through and simply looking at the diagrams and pictures has already given me numerous ideas and understanding.
Offering a set of rules and guidelines this book helps to develop a personal awareness of HOW to create something visually pleasing and communicate clearly instead of teaching how others do it with no real understanding of the method involved.
I have not found a single book that sums up graphical communication as this one does. A vital tool in porfolio design I would HIGHLY recommend this book to anyone who needs to present a portfolio. The applications of this book would also extend and be extremely useful for anyone involved in visual communication.
Excellent value for money, a really smart and sleek book, and a must have on a designers shelf. BRILLIANT!
As anyone doing a design based degree will know, portfolios are not just a collection of work, they are a visual communication of an idea and an extension of the work.
This book has the ideal balance of examples (all neatly catagorised to help you understand what it is that makes them a good example) as well as informative text which acts as an aid rather than the main descriptive tool.
The categories are clearly headed and organised and allw for quick reference and understanding. Just flicking through and simply looking at the diagrams and pictures has already given me numerous ideas and understanding.
Offering a set of rules and guidelines this book helps to develop a personal awareness of HOW to create something visually pleasing and communicate clearly instead of teaching how others do it with no real understanding of the method involved.
I have not found a single book that sums up graphical communication as this one does. A vital tool in porfolio design I would HIGHLY recommend this book to anyone who needs to present a portfolio. The applications of this book would also extend and be extremely useful for anyone involved in visual communication.
Excellent value for money, a really smart and sleek book, and a must have on a designers shelf. BRILLIANT!
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
By John Donner
Format:Paperback
This book is a truly inspirational gem, a must for every graphic designer. The quality of the physical product, cover and bind, is a perfect match for the beauty of its pages. I`m grateful to writer and publisher and feel lucky for owning this title.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By Pekka
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Being a non-schooled, part-time graphic designer, who's learnt everything on his own during about 10 years of doing print-design, this book has provided quite a useful resource. I just bought it, and it certainly isn't completely perfect (small gripes, such as too small print and at times a bit messy layout that perhaps aimed at something artistic but fell short), but for its price, it has already done some wonders and has given me quite a lot of food for thought.
Actually, inspired by this, I designed a nice propositional layout and managed to get a good contract doing the design for a 250-page text book with loads of pictures, graphs, tables, and all those nice, giddy little bits that one can spend a ton of time with. For me, this book has been quite educational and reasonably inspirational, though if you've been through a formal education in design, this might not be up to scratch. But for every self-taught designer, I would heartily recommend this nice little piece.
I suppose the main gist of what I would say is that if you're thinking of whether or not you should buy this, my advice would be to go ahead.
Actually, inspired by this, I designed a nice propositional layout and managed to get a good contract doing the design for a 250-page text book with loads of pictures, graphs, tables, and all those nice, giddy little bits that one can spend a ton of time with. For me, this book has been quite educational and reasonably inspirational, though if you've been through a formal education in design, this might not be up to scratch. But for every self-taught designer, I would heartily recommend this nice little piece.
I suppose the main gist of what I would say is that if you're thinking of whether or not you should buy this, my advice would be to go ahead.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
hard to read
I bought this book to learn more about print design issues and was disappointed to find how hard it was to read. Read more
Published 15 days ago by kubus
5.0 out of 5 stars
Full of information
Great creative book. Full of very informative ideas, styles and graphic structure. Lots of stuff that makes you want to better your own portfolio.
Published 4 months ago by ian hughes
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