Wonderbook: The Illustrated Guide to Creating Imaginative Fiction


Jeff VanderMeer - 2013
    Employing an accessible, example-rich approach, Wonderbook energizes and motivates while also providing practical, nuts-and-bolts information needed to improve as a writer. Aimed at aspiring and intermediate-level writers, Wonderbook includes helpful sidebars and essays from some of the biggest names in fantasy today, such as George R. R. Martin, Lev Grossman, Neil Gaiman, Michael Moorcock, Catherynne M. Valente, and Karen Joy Fowler, to name a few.Praise for Wonderbook: “Jammed with storytelling wisdom.” —Fast Company’s Co.Create blog“This is the kind of book you leave sitting out for all to see . . . and the kind of book you will find yourself picking up again and again.” —Kirkus Reviews online“If you’re looking for a handy guide to not just crafting imaginative fiction like sci-fi, fantasy, and horror, but to writing in general, be sure to pick up a copy of Steampunk Bible author Jeff Vandermeer’s lovingly compiled Wonderbook."  —Flavorwire“Jeff Vandermeer and Jeremy Zerfoss have created a kaleidoscopically rich and beautiful book about fiction writing.”  —Star Tribune“Because it is so layered and filled with text, tips, and links to online extras, this book can be read again and again by both those who want to learn the craft of writing and those interested in the process of others.” —Library Journal

Better Web Typography for a Better Web


Matej Latin - 2017
    The author, Matej Latin, takes complex concepts such as vertical rhythm, modular scale and page composition, and explains them in a simple way. The content of the book is accompanied by live code examples and the readers design and build an example website as they go through it. This is a new typography book for a new medium, the rules haven't changed much, everything else has.

Graphic Design Solutions


Robin Landa - 1996
    Graphic Design Solutions continues to provide a clear and comprehensive introduction to graphic design and advertising design, with step-by-step visual solutions that readers can apply with confidence to their own design and advertising projects. A highly illustrative, straightforward assessment of developing winning graphic design solutions for a variety of media-including print, Web, television, and unconventional formats-helps designers think critically and creatively about their work while understanding the demands of the graphic design profession in today's world.

Becoming a Writer


Dorothea Brande - 1934
    Brande believed passionately that although people have varying amounts of talent, anyone can write. It's just a question of finding the "writer's magic"--a degree of which is in us all. She also insists that writing can be both taught and learned. So she is enraged by the pessimistic authors of so many writing books who rejoice in trying to put off the aspiring writer by constantly stressing how difficult it all is.With close reference to the great writers of her day--Wolfe, Forster, Wharton and so on--Brande gives practical but inspirational advice about finding the right time of day to write and being very self disciplined about it--"You have decided to write at four o'clock, and at four o'clock you must write." She's strong on confidence building and there's a lot about cheating your unconscious which will constantly try to stop you writing by coming up with excuses. Then there are exercises to help you get into the right frame of mind and to build up writing stamina. She also shows how to harness the unconscious, how to fall into the "artistic coma," then how to re-emerge and be your own critic.This is Dorothea Brande's legacy to all those who have ever wanted to express their ideas in written form. A sound, practical, inspirational and charming approach to writing, it fulfills on finding "the writer's magic."

Understanding Exposure: How to Shoot Great Photographs with a Film or Digital Camera


Bryan Peterson - 1990
    Peterson stresses the importance of metering the subject for a starting exposure, and then explains how to use various exposure meters and different kinds of lighting. The book contains lessons on each element of the exposure-aperature, shutter speed, iso-and how it relates to the other two in terms of depth of field, freezing and blurring action, and shooting in low light or at night. A section on special techniques explores such options as deliberate under- and overexposures, how to produce double exposures, bracketing, shooting the moon, and the use of filters. Understanding Exposure demonstrates that there are always creative choices about how to expose a picture-and that the decision is up to the photographer, not the camera.

Burn Your Portfolio: Stuff They Don't Teach You in Design School, But Should


Michael Janda - 2013
    Burn Your Portfolio teaches the real-world practices, professional do's and don'ts, and unwritten rules of business that most designers, photographers, web designers, copy writers, programmers, and architects only learn after putting in years of experience on the job.Michael Janda, owner of the Utah-based design firm Riser, uses humor to dispense nugget after nugget of hard-won advice collected over the last decade from the personal successes and failures he has faced running his own agency. In this surprisingly funny, but incredibly practical advice guide, Janda's advice on teamwork and collaboration, relationship building, managing clients, bidding work, production processes, and more will resonate with creative professionals of all stripes.

Designing for Behavior Change: Applying Psychology and Behavioral Economics


Stephen Wendel - 2013
    This practical guide shows you how to design these types of products for users seeking to take action and achieve specific goals.Stephen Wendel, HelloWallet’s head researcher, takes you step-by-step through the process of applying behavioral economics and psychology to the practical problems of product design and development. Using a combination of lean and agile development methods, you’ll learn a simple iterative approach for identifying target users and behaviors, building the product, and gauging its effectiveness. Discover how to create easy-to-use products to help people make positive changes.Learn the three main strategies to help people change behaviorIdentify your target audience and the behaviors they seek to changeExtract user stories and identify obstacles to behavior changeDevelop effective interface designs that are enjoyable to useMeasure your product’s impact and learn ways to improve itUse practical examples from products like Nest, Fitbit, and Opower

The Anatomy of Type


Stephen Coles - 2012
    The Anatomy of Type (The Geometry of Type in the UK) is all about looking more closely at letters. Through visual diagrams and practical descriptions, you’ll learn how to distinguish between related typefaces and see how the attributes of letterforms (such as contrast, detail, and proportion) affect the mood, readability, and use of each typeface. Nutritional value aside, the spreads full of big type are nice eye candy, too.The 100 typefaces featured in the book are hand-picked by the author for their functionality and stylistic relevance in today’s design landscape. Along with several familiar faces (Garamond, Bodoni, Gill Sans, Helvetica), you’ll also discover contemporary fonts that are less common — and often more useful — than the overused classics.

Mastering Manga with Mark Crilley: 30 Drawing Lessons from the Creator of Akiko


Mark Crilley - 2012
    In these action-packed pages, graphic novelist Mark Crilley shows you step-by-step how to achieve an authentic manga style—from drawing faces and figures to laying out awesome, high-drama spreads. You'll learn how a few basic lines will help you place facial features in their proper locations and simple tricks for getting body proportions right. Plus, you'll find inspiration for infusing your work with expression, attitude and action.This is the book fans have been requesting for years, packed with expert tips on everything from hairstyles and clothing to word bubbles and sound effects, delivered in the same friendly, easy-to-follow style that has made Mark Crilley one of the "25 Most Subscribed to Gurus on YouTube." Take this opportunity to turn the characters and stories in your head into professional-quality art on the page!Packed with everything you need to make your first (or your best-ever) manga stories!30 step-by-step demonstrations showing how to draw faces and figures for a variety of ages and body typesInspirational galleries featuring 101 eyes, 50 ways to draw hands, 40 hairstyles, 12 common expressions, 30 classic poses and more!Tutorials to create a variety of realistic settingsAdvanced lessons on backgrounds, inking, sequencing and layout options

Gamestorming: A Playbook for Innovators, Rule-breakers, and Changemakers


Dave Gray - 2010
    But creating an environment for creative thinking and innovation can be a daunting challenge. How can you make it happen at your company? The answer may surprise you: gamestorming.This book includes more than 80 games to help you break down barriers, communicate better, and generate new ideas, insights, and strategies. The authors have identified tools and techniques from some of the world's most innovative professionals, whose teams collaborate and make great things happen. This book is the result: a unique collection of games that encourage engagement and creativity while bringing more structure and clarity to the workplace. Find out why -- and how -- with Gamestorming.Overcome conflict and increase engagement with team-oriented gamesImprove collaboration and communication in cross-disciplinary teams with visual-thinking techniquesImprove understanding by role-playing customer and user experiencesGenerate better ideas and more of them, faster than ever beforeShorten meetings and make them more productiveSimulate and explore complex systems, interactions, and dynamicsIdentify a problem's root cause, and find the paths that point toward a solution

Notan: The Dark-Light Principle of Design


Dorr Bothwell - 1977
    In composition, it recognizes the separate but equally important identity of both a shape and its background.Since their introduction in the West, the intriguing exercises associated with Notan have produced striking results in every branch of Western art and design. This book, by two American artists and teachers who made an intensive study of Notan, was the first basic book on the subject in the West, and it remains one of the definitive texts. Through a series of simple exercises, it places the extraordinary creative resources of Notan easily within the grasp of Western artists and designers.Clearly and concisely, the authors demonstrate Notan's practical applications in six problems of progressive difficulty — creative exercises that will fascinate artists and designers of every calling and level of expertise. Along with these exercises, the book includes many illustrations of the principle of Notan, among them images as diverse as a sculpture by David Smith, a Samoan tapa cloth, a Museum of Modern Art shopping bag, New England gravestone rubbings, Japanese wrapping paper, a painting by Robert Motherwell, a psychedelic poster, and a carved and dyed Nigerian calabash. Painters, sculptors, potters, jewelry, and textile designers, architects, and interior designers all will discover — or rediscover — in these pages an ancient principle of composition that can help them meet creative challenges with fresh new perspective.

Understanding Art


Lois Fichner-Rathus - 1986
    This is all done through stimulating discussions on the elements, media, methods, content, composition, and style of art.Along with discussions on the purpose of art (Ch. 1-9), a separate Chapter (18) takes a look at art beyond Europe and the U.S. and examines art from all around the world. The history of art is contained chronologically in the second part of the book, (Ch. 10-17).

A Practical Guide to Designing for the Web


Mark Boulton - 2009
    Featuring five sections, each covering a core aspect of graphic design: Getting Started, Research, Typography, Colour, and Layout. Learn solid graphic design theory that you can simply apply to your designs, making the difference from a good design to a great one.http://designingfortheweb.co.uk

Talent Is Not Enough: Business Secrets for Designers


Shel Perkins - 2005
    This work helps you learn things such as: How to get on the right career path; How to market your services successfully; How to avoid common legal pitfalls; How to structure projects for success; The secrets of successful teams; and, more.

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association(r)


American Psychological Association - 1952
    With millions of copies sold, the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association is the style manual of choice for writers, editors, students, educators, and professionals in psychology, sociology, business, economics, nursing, social work, and justice administration, and other disciplines in which effective communication with words and data is fundamental.In addition to providing clear guidance on grammar, the mechanics of writing, and APA style, the Publication Manual offers an authoritative and easy-to-use reference and citation system and comprehensive coverage of the treatment of numbers, metrication, statistical and mathematical data, tables, and figures for use in writing, reports, or presentations. The new edition has been revised and updated to include: The latest guidelines and examples for referencing electronic and online sources New and revised guidelines for submitting papers electronically Improved guidelines for avoiding plagiarism Simplified formatting guidelines for writers using up-to-date word-processing software All new guidelines for presenting case studies Improved guidelines for the construction of tables Updates on copyright and permissions issues for writers New reference examples for audiovisual media and patents An expanded and improved index for quick and easy access Writers, scholars, and professionals will also find: New guidelines on how to choose text, tables, or figures to present data Guidelines for writing cover letters for submitting articles for publication, plus a sample letter Expanded guidelines on the retention of raw data New advice on establishing written agreements for the use of shared data New information on the responsibilities of co-authors New and experienced readers alike will find the 5th Edition a complete resource for writing, presenting, or publishing with clarity and persuasiveness.Approximately 400 pages