Book picks similar to
Beware Wet Paint by Alan Fletcher
design
graphic-design
non-fiction
art
Logo Design Love: A Guide to Creating Iconic Brand Identities
David Airey - 2009
But David Airey’s “Logo Design Love” is something different: it’s a guide for designers (and clients) who want to understand what this mysterious business is all about. Written in reader-friendly, concise language, with a minimum of designer jargon, Airey gives a surprisingly clear explanation of the process, using a wide assortment of real-life examples to support his points. Anyone involved in creating visual identities, or wanting to learn how to go about it, will find this book invaluable. - Tom Geismar, Chermayeff & GeismarIn Logo Design Love, Irish graphic designer David Airey brings the best parts of his wildly popular blog of the same name to the printed page. Just as in the blog, David fills each page of this simple, modern-looking book with gorgeous logos and real world anecdotes that illustrate best practices for designing brand identity systems that last. David not only shares his experiences working with clients, including sketches and final results of his successful designs, but uses the work of many well-known designers to explain why well-crafted brand identity systems are important, how to create iconic logos, and how to best work with clients to achieve success as a designer. Contributors include Gerard Huerta, who designed the logos for Time magazine and Waldenbooks; Lindon Leader, who created the current FedEx brand identity system as well as the CIGNA logo; and many more. Readers will learn:• Why one logo is more effective than another• How to create their own iconic designs• What sets some designers above the rest• Best practices for working with clients• 25 practical design tips for creating logos that last
The End of Print: The Graphic Design of David Carson
Lewis Blackwell - 1995
His tortured typography prompted a vocal camp of critics to accuse him of being flippant and of destroying the communicative basis of design. But now the techniques of David Carson (and those of his countless imitators) dominate advertising, design, the Web, and even motion pictures. With 35,000 copies of the original sold, this revised edition of The End of Print includes a striking new cover and first chapter that puts Carson's work in context. The rest is vintage Carson—cutting edge and explosive. The End of Print tracks his career from skateboard and surf magazines, to the landmark Beach Culture magazine and his groundbreaking grid-breaking work for Ray Gun, and finally to handling major corporate identity accounts. The End of Print marks a turning point in design that ushered in the look of today.
Thou Shall Not Use Comic Sans: A Designer's Almanac of Dos and Don'ts
Sean Adams - 2011
All designers have their own way of working and their own combinations of the thousands of techniques one can apply when planning a new design project. But there are some dos and don'ts that always figure in any heated debate about what one should or should not accept as the right way to create the best graphic design. This book looks at key dos and don'ts, bringing them together in the form of a classically structured almanac. Packed with practical advice, but presented in a light-hearted fashion, the advisory rather than dictative approach means designers can take or leave the advice presented in each rule as is typical of most creatives with their own strong views on what does and does not constitute good design practice. Individual entries will either bring forth knowing nods of agreement or hoots of derision, depending on whether or not the reader loves or hates hyphenation, has a pathological fear of beige, or thinks that baseline grids are boring. Thou Shall Not Use Comic Sans is the must-have collection of the best advice that any graphic designer should have at his fingertips, with each entry combining a specific rule with a commentary from a variety of experienced designers from all fields of the graphic design industry. Grouped into six, color-coded categories-typography, color, layout, imagery, production, and the practice of design-but presented numerically and in mixed groups, the reader can either dip in at random or use the book as the source of a daily lesson in how to produce great graphic design.
Hatch Show Print: The History of a Great American Poster Shop
Paul Kingsbury - 2001
Country musicians and magicians, professional wrestlers and rock stars, all have turned to Nashville's historic Hatch Show Print to create showstopping posters. Established in 1879, Hatch preserves the art of traditional printing that has earned a loyal following to this day (including the likes of Beck, Emmylou Harris, and the Beastie Boys). Hatch Show Print: The History of a Great American Poster Shop is the first fully illustrated tour of this iconic print shop and also chronicles the long life and large cast of employees, entertainers, and American legends whose histories are intertwined with it. Complete with 190 illustrations--as well as a special book jacket that unfolds to reveal an original Hatch poster on the reverse--Hatch Show Print is a dazzling document of this legendary institution.
Adobe Photoshop CS Down & Dirty Tricks
Scott Kelby - 2003
It also offers tips, shortcuts, design techniques, ideas and layouts to unleash your creativity.
Thoughts on Design
Paul Rand - 1947
Writing at the height of his career, Rand articulated in his slender volume the pioneering vision that all design should seamlessly integrate form and function. This facsimile edition preserves Rand's original 1947 essay with the adjustments he made to its text and imagery for a revised printing in 1970, and adds only an informative and inspiring new foreword by design luminary Michael Bierut. As relevant today as it was when first published, this classic treatise is an indispensable addition to the library of every designer.
How to Be an Artist Without Losing Your Mind, Your Shirt, Or Your Creative Compass: A Practical Guide
JoAnneh Nagler - 2016
Author JoAnneh Nagler wants you to welcome your creativity and continue to make art—but to do so with a plan. In this groundbreaking book, she provides step-by-step strategies to teach writers, sculptors, painters, musicians, designers, and other artists how tohave a well-supported, well-lived life—and make art at the same time.Learn how to:Answer your own artistic callings and get to your art workGive up starving and struggling and build a supported, creative daily lifeManage time, money, and day jobs with easy-to-learn, simple toolsDevelop rock-solid creative work ethics and motivational skillsNo matter what kind of creative person you are, this book has the tools you need to live the life you’ve always wanted to live—right now, and for your whole life long.
Designing Brand Identity: An Essential Guide for the Entire Branding Team
Alina Wheeler - 2003
From researching the competition to translating the vision of the CEO, to designing and implementing an integrated brand identity programme, the meticulous development process of designing a brand identity is presented through a highly visible step-by-step approach in five phases.
Feck Perfuction: Dangerous Ideas on the Business of Life (Business Books, Graphic Design Books, Books on Success)
James Victore - 2019
His ideas on optimizing your creativity, doing wow work, and building a life that inspires will devastate your limits. And show you how to win. Read this book fast." —Robin Sharma, bestselling author of The Monk Who Sold His FerrariBegin before you're ready and other lessons on living a happy and creative life: Renowned designer and professional hell-raiser James Victore wants to drag you off your couch and throw you headfirst into a life of bold creativity. In Feck Perfuction, Victore will guide you through all the twists, trials, and triumphs of starting your creative career, from finding your voice to picking the right moment to start a project (hint: It's now). Bring your biggest, craziest, most revolutionary ideas, and he will give you the kick in the pants you need to make them real.Filled with humor and stern advice, Feck Perfuction provides "dangerous ideas" for unearthing your authentic self, including "the things that made you weird as a kid make you great today," "the struggle is everything," and many more.No matter what industry or medium you work in, this book will help you live, work, and create freely and fearlessly.James Victore is an award-winning designer for bold believers, an advocate for creativity, a sought after teacher and speaker, and an artist whose work is exhibited around the globe.Fans of Austin Kleon's Keep Going: 10 Ways to Stay Creative in Good Times and Bad and Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative will love James Victore's inspiring book on embracing authenticity and unleashing your creative self. Begin before you're ready, live dangerously, take a risk, and other lessons on living a purpose-driven lifeA perfect coffee table or bar top conversation-starting bookMakes a great gift for a new graduate or someone embarking on a personal or professional adventure
How to Be an Explorer of the World: Portable Life Museum
Keri Smith - 2008
In this captivating guided journal, readers are encouraged to explore their world as both artists and scientists. The mission Smith proposes? To document and observe the world around you. As if you've never seen it before. Take notes. Collect things you find on your travels. Document findings. Notice patterns. Copy. Trace. Focus on one thing at a time. Record what you are drawn to. With a series of interactive prompts and a beautifully hand-illustrated two-color package, readers will enjoy exploring and discovering the world through this gorgeous book.
The Graphic Design Exercise Book
Jessica Glaser - 2010
The design briefs in The Graphic Design Exercise Book act as sparks to fire your creativity and exercises to broaden your skill set. As prompts for developing your own personal projects they can lead to unexpected developments and revitalized portfolios, helping you break into new and lucrative areas of the design industry.Each brief is illustrated with inspiring reference material providing a visual resource that can be utilized well beyond this book. Sample roughs and visuals show work in progress to give you an insight into the thought processes and creative bent of other designers. Industry insiders share their specialist knowledge, offering professional advice on a selection of fully realized projects.As an additional research tool, The Graphic Design Exercise Book gives you a full glossary and reading list for every genre covered, including:packagingvisual identity and brandingpage layoutmusic graphicsscreen-based design
Do the F*cking Work: Lowbrow Advice for High-Level Creativity
Brian Buirge - 2019
Covering everything from drinking your morning coffee to handling productive criticism, from embracing failure to rejecting the status quo, their insights upend conventional thinking and teach you to embrace and celebrate the journey of creation—the joy of trying, failing, learning, and sometimes failing again.To make something good we have to make some mistakes. Bacher and Buirge teach you to embrace the unknown and to f*cking laugh at yourself during the process. There is a method to their madness—a surprising reassurance that is baked into their bluntness. We’re all trying, messing up, and trying again. And there’s joy to be found in that—something we often overlook in our rush to get everything done and get it right the first time.With personal insights, actionable advice, stylish visuals, and lots of colorful language, Do the F*cking Work will leave you feeling renewed and inspired, and will make you see that the value of work is as much about the process as the outcome.
The Principles of Uncertainty
Maira Kalman - 2007
Part personal narrative, part documentary, part travelogue, part chapbook, and all Kalman, these brilliant, whimsical paintings, ideas, and images - which initially appear random - ultimately form an intricately interconnected worldview, an idiosyncratic inner monologue.
The Laws of Simplicity: Design, Technology, Business, Life
John Maeda - 2006
We're rebelling against technology that's too complicated, DVD players with too many menus, and software accompanied by 75-megabyte "read me" manuals. The iPod's clean gadgetry has made simplicity hip. But sometimes we find ourselves caught up in the simplicity paradox: we want something that's simple and easy to use, but also does all the complex things we might ever want it to do. In The Laws of Simplicity, John Maeda offers ten laws for balancing simplicity and complexity in business, technology, and design—guidelines for needing less and actually getting more.Maeda—a professor in MIT's Media Lab and a world-renowned graphic designer—explores the question of how we can redefine the notion of "improved" so that it doesn't always mean something more, something added on.Maeda's first law of simplicity is "Reduce." It's not necessarily beneficial to add technology features just because we can. And the features that we do have must be organized (Law 2) in a sensible hierarchy so users aren't distracted by features and functions they don't need. But simplicity is not less just for the sake of less. Skip ahead to Law 9: "Failure: Accept the fact that some things can never be made simple." Maeda's concise guide to simplicity in the digital age shows us how this idea can be a cornerstone of organizations and their products—how it can drive both business and technology. We can learn to simplify without sacrificing comfort and meaning, and we can achieve the balance described in Law 10. This law, which Maeda calls "The One," tells us: "Simplicity is about subtracting the obvious, and adding the meaningful."
Interaction of Color
Josef Albers - 1971
Conceived as a handbook and teaching aid for artists, instructors, and students, this timeless book presents Albers’s unique ideas of color experimentation in a way that is valuable to specialists as well as to a larger audience.Originally published by Yale University Press in 1963 as a limited silkscreen edition with 150 color plates, Interaction of Color first appeared in paperback in 1971, featuring ten representative color studies chosen by Albers. The paperback has remained in print ever since and is one of the most influential resources on color for countless readers.This new paperback edition presents a significantly expanded selection of more than thirty color studies alongside Albers’s original unabridged text, demonstrating such principles as color relativity, intensity, and temperature; vibrating and vanishing boundaries; and the illusions of transparency and reversed grounds. Now available in a larger format and with enhanced production values, this expanded edition celebrates the unique authority of Albers’s contribution to color theory and brings the artist’s iconic study to an eager new generation of readers.