Freehand Drawing and Discovery: Urban Sketching and Concept Drawing for Designers


James Richards - 2013
    Taking a "both/and" approach, this book provides step-by-step guidance on drawing tools and techniques and offers practical suggestions on how to use these skills in conjunction with digital tools on real-world projects. Illustrated with nearly 300 full color drawings, the book includes a series of video demonstrations that reinforces the sketching techniques.

Principles of Form and Design


Wucius Wong - 1993
    This is a master class in the principles and practical fundamentals of design that will appeal to a broad audience of graphic artists and designers.

The Fine Art of Cabinetmaking


James Krenov - 1977
    A bevy of topics, including the proper way to sharpen and hone tools, hollow grinding methodology, and obtaining proper grinding angles, are detailed in this comprehensive cabinet-making sourcebook. Lessons devoted to using and understanding various woods, including common or exotic pieces, learning how to read grain, and the pros and cons in working with air-dried wood versus kiln-dried wood, will educate any level of woodworker. Chapters devoted to resawing as well as problems and concerns due to moisture content and wood movement are also included.

The Paintings That Revolutionized Art


Claudia Stauble - 2013
    What makes the Book of Kells such an extraordinary example of the illuminated manuscript? Why is Durer's self-portrait so iconic? How did Turner's Rain, Steam, Speed turn the art world on its head? What's so great about Jasper Johns's Flag? And who was Whistler's mother, anyway? Art history is filled with paintings that shocked, intrigued, enraged, and mystified their audiences--paintings that exemplified the period in which they were created and forever changed the way we think. Here, 100 examples of these icons of art are presented in beautiful, high-quality reproductions. Each spread features comparative illustrations and details as well as an engaging text that explains why that particular painting belongs in the pantheon of world-changing art.

Seductive Interaction Design: Creating Playful, Fun, and Effective User Experiences


Stephen P. Anderson - 2011
    Anderson takes a fresh approach to designing sites and interactions based on the stages of seduction. This beautifully designed book examines what motivates people to act.Topics include: AESTHETICS, BEAUTY, AND BEHAVIOR: Why do striking visuals grab our attention? And how do emotions affect judgment and behavior? PLAYFUL SEDUCTION: How do you create playful engagements during the moment? Why are serendipity, arousal, rewards, and other delights critical to a good experience? THE SUBTLE ART OF SEDUCTION: How do you put people at ease through clear and suggestive language? What are some subtle ways to influence behavior and get people to move from intent to action? THE GAME OF SEDUCTION: How do you continue motivating people long after the first encounter? Are there lessons to be gained from learning theories or game design? Principles from psychology are found throughout the book, along with dozens of examples showing how these techniques have been applied with great success. In addition, each section includes interviews with influential web and interaction designers.

The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation


Frank Thomas - 1981
    The authors, Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston, worked with Walt Disney himself as well as other leading figures in a half-century of Disney films. They personally animated leading characters in most of the famous films and have decades of close association with the others who helped perfect this extremely difficult and time-consuming art form. Not to be mistaken for just a "how-to-do-it," this voluminously illustrated volume (like the classic Disney films themselves) is intended for everyone to enjoy.Besides relating the painstaking trial-and-error development of Disney's character animation technology, this book irresistibly charms us with almost an overabundance of the original historic drawings used in creating some of the best-loved characters in American culture: Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, Snow White and Bambi (among many, many others) as well as early sketches used in developing memorable sequences from classic features such as Fantasia and Pinocchio. With the full cooperation of Walt Disney Productions and free access to the studio's priceless archives, the authors took unparalleled advantage of their intimate long-term experience with animated films to choose the precise drawings to illustrate their points from among hundreds of thousands of pieces of artwork carefully stored away.The book answers everybody's question about how the amazingly lifelike effects of Disney character animation were achieved, including charming stories of the ways that many favorite animated figures got their unique personalities. From the perspective of two men who had an important role in shaping the art of animation, and within the context of the history of animation and the growth of the Disney studio, this is the definitive volume on the work and achievement of one of America's best-known and most widely loved cultural institutions. Nostalgia and film buffs, students of popular culture, and that very broad audience who warmly responds to the Disney "illusion of life" will find this book compelling reading (and looking!).Searching for that perfect gift for the animation fan in your life? Explore more behind-the-scenes stories from Disney Editions:The Art of Mulan: A Disney Editions ClassicWalt Disney's Ultimate Inventor: The Genius of Ub IwerksOne Day at Disney: Meet the People Who Make the Magic Across the GlobeThe Walt Disney Studios: A Lot to RememberFrom All of Us to All of You: The Disney Christmas CardInk & Paint: The Women of Walt Disney's AnimationOswald the Lucky Rabbit: The Search for the Lost Disney Cartoons, Revised Special EditionDisney Villains: Delightfully Evil - The Creation, The Inspiration, The FascinationThe Art and Flair of Mary Blair: An Appreciation, Updated Edition

Mobile Design Pattern Gallery: UI Patterns for Mobile Applications


Theresa Neil - 2011
    This concise book provides a handy reference to 70 mobile app design patterns, illustrated by more than 400 screenshots from current iOS, Android, BlackBerry, WebOS, Windows Mobile, and Symbian apps.User experience professional Theresa Neil (Designing Web Interfaces) walks you through design patterns in 10 separate categories, including anti-patterns. Whether you’re designing a simple iPhone application or one that’s meant to work for every popular mobile OS on the market, these patterns provide solutions to common design challenges. This print edition is in full color.Pattern categories include:Navigation: get patterns for primary and secondary navigation Forms: break the industry-wide habits of bad form design Tables and lists: display only the most important information Search, sort, and filter: make these functions easy to use Tools: create the illusion of direct interaction Charts: learn best practices for basic chart design Invitations: invite users to get started and discover featuresHelp: integrate help pages into a smaller form factor"It’s a super handy catalog that I can flip to for ideas."—Bill Scott, Senior Director of Web Development at PayPal "Looks fantastic."—Erin Malone, Partner at Tangible UX "Just a quick thanks to express my sheer gratitude for this pub, it has been a guide for me reworking a design for an app already in production!"—Agatha June, UX designer

The Vignelli Canon


Massimo Vignelli - 2010
    He uses numerous examples to convey applications in practice - from product design via signaletics and graphic design to Corporate Design. By doing this he is making an important manual available to young designers that in its clarity both in terms of subject matter and visually is entirely committed to Vignelli's modern design.

The Art Book


Phaidon Press - 1997
    Each artist is represented by a full-page colour plate of a definitive work, accompanied by explanatory and illuminating information on the image and its creator. Glossaries of artistic movements and technical terms are included, making this a valuable work of reference as well as a feast for the eyes. By breaking with traditional classifications, The Art Book presents a fresh and original approach to art: an unparalleled visual sourcebook and a celebration of our rich and multi-faceted culture.

Lighting and the Dramatic Portrait: The Art of Celebrity and Editorial Photography


Michael Grecco - 2006
    His beautiful, insightful work is all around us--on movie posters, in advertising, on magazine covers, everywhere. “I delight in inspiring people,” he writes. “I want them to stop, think, and feel.” Now Grecco shares the secrets of great portraits with photographers at every level, in Lighting and the Dramatic Portrait. Sections on cameras, illumination, film and digital, creativity and conceptualization, connecting with the subject, and having a point of view, plus intriguing case studies that show “how I got that picture,” make this book a resource photographers will use again and again through the years. Whether the subject is a star or a soccer mom, Grecco shows how to add artistry, drama, wit, humor, and personality to their portrait.

UX Research: Practical Techniques for Designing Better Products


Brad Nunnally - 2016
    But there's often mystery around product research, with the feeling that you need to be a research Zen master to gather anything useful. Fact is, anyone can conduct product research. With this quick reference guide, you'll learn a common language and set of tools to help you carry out research in an informed and productive manner.This book contains four sections, including a brief introduction to UX research, planning and preparation, facilitating research, and analysis and reporting. Each chapter includes a short exercise so you can quickly apply what you've learned.Learn what it takes to ask good research questionsKnow when to use quantitative and qualitative research methodsExplore the logistics and details of coordinating a research sessionUse softer skills to make research seem natural to participantsLearn tools and approaches to uncover meaning in your raw dataCommunicate your findings with a framework and structure

Sewing for Plus Sizes: Creating Clothes That Fit & Flatter


Barbara Deckert - 1999
    Designed to meet the needs of the basic sewer, Sewing for Plus Sizes guides the reader through such important steps as selecting designs, colors and fabrics that will enhance plus-size figures.

The Art of Boudoir Photography: How to Create Stunning Photographs of Women


Christa Meola - 2012
    This beautifully illustrated guide will not only enhance your understanding of how to bring out the best in every woman, but also sharpen your photography skills in order to capture her successfully. Whether shooting with a pro model, plain-Jane, curvy gal, or soccer mom, Christa gets to know her subject intimately in order to help her look and feel beautiful, sexy, and confident. Christa shares her personal tips and techniques throughout the entire process, creating an amazing experience that produces photographs packed with emotion. She covers every step in creating a successful boudoir shoot, including how to prepare a subject who has never posed before, coaching sensual movement, beautiful lighting setups with minimal equipment, how to flatter every figure, and more. With "Before and After" profiles and "Do and Don't" scenarios throughout, essential lists, practical tips for male photographers, metadata for every shot, as well as post-processing techniques in Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop, this book offers clear and inspiring instruction. The Art of Boudoir Photography is about transformation. It's about cultivating sex appeal and enthusiastic positivity. It's that jolt of confidence and bolt of sexual prowess to tease out of your subject. It's for each woman to recognize her individual beauty, provide an opportunity for her to break through her comfort zone, honor her body, and celebrate femininity. For photographers with varying levels of experience, this book is for you-to appreciate and embrace boudoir photography, enhance your understanding of what it is, what it can do for women, and most importantly, how to have fun with it!

Information is Beautiful


David McCandless - 2001
    We need a brand new way to take it all in. 'Information is Beautiful' transforms the ideas surrounding and swamping us into graphs and maps that anyone can follow at a single glance.

Jean Haines' World of Watercolour


Jean Haines - 2015
    Jean's loose, expressive paintings are filled with colour and personality, and embrace a range of subjects that includes flowers, animals, people and places, all influenced by the countries and cities she's lived in and the people she's met during her life. This beautiful book contains easy-to-follow and inspiring introductory sections such as ‘an artist’s treasure chest’ and ‘the colour gym’, offering practical guidance and in-depth exercises in an innovative and accessible way, and the numerous examples of Jean’s work will inspire and encourage novice as well as experienced artists. After this introductory section, the book shows the reader how to put the skills they've learned into practice with gorgeous step-by-step projects packed full of expert tips and advice, encouraging them to move forward and develop their own style of working. Like her painting, Jean's writing is filled with passion and enthusiasm, transporting the reader through a world of watercolour that will not fail to excite and inspire.