Design Essentials for the Motion Media Artist: A Practical Guide to Principles & Techniques [Paperback]

This is a very good and informative introduction to design for those who are interested in all sorts of motion media applications. The book is aimed at beginners, although some familiarity with some design software (Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effects) and concepts would be useful. If you have never worked in design this book will be a great first taste of this field. It is very basic and broad, but it has enough information that will be useful to anyone who is just starting or considering working with design. Even though the main focus of the book is on motion media, most of the information that it contains would be useful for any other form of design. The book is written in an accessible and encouraging language and it can be very inspirational for those who are new to design.

The only issue that I have with this book is that I wish it contained worked out examples and hands-on tutorials. Most people learn new concepts best when they have to apply them to concrete situations. The book is still an excellent introductory resource, but an inclusion of applied material would make it a great textbook as well.

This book accomplishes exactly what Angie Taylor says she wants to achieve in the introduction, and then some. I've checked out books at my library on graphic design before, but many of them focus so much on the software side of design and they're full of techie stuff. Now, don't get me wrong, this book is very textbook in style, but the principles are not based on techie software. They are based on getting back to the real elements of design.

I love that Taylor begins the book with lessons on drawing. I think it's her approach with beginning at the beginning that too many media artists miss. She's clear that it begins with shape, form, color, light. This book is fabulous for college students who need to grasp the core principles of design before they begin clicking with a mouse. And Taylor sure delivers!

But the book is also great as a reference for people like me who do a little of this and a little of that. I draw, I paint, I play with Photoshop and experiment with green screen video for fun. With a reference book like this, the hobby media artist will find a priceless resource. Where I might have to invest heaps of cash in a class, this book offers a college course in core design for less than $30. She even has a chapter on fonts, which applies to so many aspects of design, even that outside of motion media.

Taylor was wise in creating a visually stunning book that cross markets to college students and the hobby artist. Sure, there are chapters that go over my head, but that's okay. If it weren't so, it wouldn't make a very good college textbook.

Motion Graphics programs such as Flash and After Effects have become very advanced, and it's possible to create highly sophisticated, professional quality graphics and animation on a basic consumer laptop. What keeps much of it from looking very professional, though, is that most amateur users are winging it, going with what looks decent enough but tends to be cluttered or busy or lacking in unity or overall coherence. What Angie Taylor does in this richly illustrated and clear guide is introduce and apply basic principles of design to bring a consistent and coherent look to projects using programs such as After Effects, Final Cut Pro, Premiere Pro, and Flash. I learned a lot from it, and expect to consult this on a regular basis.

There's a bit of a punk sensibility to Angie Taylor's own work, and it shows in many of the examples she uses, but the principles she teaches are mostly adaptations from timeless rules that you'd find treated similarly in many art and design books. It's a very helpful approach, and while I've been exposed to many of the general ideas already, I'm far from internalizing most of them, and found this to be a very helpful refresher book. Even more helpful is the way that she takes theoretical principles of design and shows how they can be adapted for use with motion graphics programs. The chapter on color, especially, helped clarify things to me I'd seen or heard before but never quite understood, such as color theory and the relation between color spaces and the overall color spectrum.

The book covers a wide range of design issues, such as planning and thinking about composition, principles of animation and editing, typography, color, and managing the business side of motion graphics design. The author balances a spunky enthusiasm with the need for clarity; and there's a nice balance here as well between theory and practice, or principles and illustration. Each chapter includes a few insights from successful professionals whose work reflects an attention to the issues of that chapter. It's a very worthwhile guide, that would benefit both beginners and professionals who want to brush up on basic principles they may have missed. I think it would make a useful textbook for a design class, where the instructor would need to develop exercises to complement each chapter. That's really the only thing missing - the author has an encouraging and warm tone, but doesn't offer much in the way of "where to go from here and put these ideas into practice" for the beginner who may not have projects underway where these ideas could be implemented.