Graphic Design Books

I DESIGN MARDI GRAS COSTUMES. THIS BOOK HAS BEEN EVERY USEFUL FOR IDEAS

If you wish to view the real New Orleans carnival celebration, take a look through this window opened by its legendary artist/historian, Henri Schindler. Schindler is a local icon, the touchstone of this unique cultural expression. Students of cultural and social history as well as art lovers and designers will share delight in Schindler's masterful recreation, through well-researched and entertaining text and beautiful color plates, of the "golden age" of the celebration--an oeuvre to which Schindler adds annually through his own designs for several of the old-line carnival organizations, thus keeping alive the artistic and cultural tradition of which he writes in this and his previous books. The reader comes to know, through the insights of a true "insider", the meaning and spirit of the "real" Carnival.

This book is exquisite.
In New Orleans, Mardi Gras as practiced by the faithfull is the high holy event of the year. Mr. Schindler has documented the aesthetic traditions of the rites in a series of beautiful books- this is the lastest and focuses on costume designs from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The plates are all original drawings by the great designers of Carnivals' past (Mr. Schindler is the great designer of Carnivals present). New Orleans Mardi Gras is rooted in the aesthetic of 19th century Italian opera and this book has some truly surreal illustrations. Any Carnival faithfull, opera fan, theatre designer or just folks who love costume parties should love this book. It also stands as a serious work of art history- the talent and effort that go into mounting parades and tableaux balls in New Orleans get overlooked and all of Mr. Schindlers books on the subject document a rich history of artists and artisans who worked in the city and built its most revered tradition.

This large and heavy book is full of inspiration from our founding fathers in the design world. I had the opportunity to hear Mervyn Kurlansky speak at a design conference a few months ago, and he described how long design took before computers made things nice and easy. This book is full of work by designers who had to use "old-fashioned" ways to get their results.

I can appreciate the creative forces of those who paved the way for modern graphic design, just by turing the pages. ..., I demand quality in the content of the book itself. Master's of the 20th Century is worth every penny.

Because graphic design didn't really come of age until this past century, you will experience it's history though the full-color samples in this book.

I recommed this book to all graphic design professionals and to people who like to collect great coffee table books. Anyone who enjoys books with more pictures than words, will appreciate the beauty of this one!

This large and heavy book is full of inspiration from our founding fathers in the design world. I had the opportunity to hear Mervyn Kurlansky speak at a design conference a few months ago, and he described how long design took before computers made things nice and easy. This book is full of work by designers who had to use "old-fashioned" ways to get their results.

I can appreciate the creative forces of those who paved the way for modern graphic design, just by turing the pages. Whenever I spend more than $[money] on a book, I demand quality in the content of the book itself. Master's of the 20th Century is worth every penny.

Because graphic design didn't really come of age until this past century, you will experience it's history though the full-color samples in this book.

I recommed this book to all graphic design professionals and to people who like to collect great coffee table books. Anyone who enjoys books with more pictures than words, will appreciate the beauty of this one!

A fantastic record of 100 of the best designers of this century. All in one book, great illustrations (done only by the best) all full color and best of all a superb interactive CD rom, a big bonus for those of us who's technical skills are better than our reading ones. Highly recomended for all students of design. Suitable for professors as well as interrested readers. A must for all artists; Great and Small.

This was one of the first and best monographs of this most important of West Coast artists who is now enjoying a slight rennaissance. For years this was the only book available on Mike Kelley, other than thin catalogues of european shows. Luckily, with the advent of more writing on Kelley, we have come to find that indeed it was and is the best introduction to his work. We are introduced to Kelley's work via tons of lovely color photos, b & w personal photos of kelleys, lengthy interviews, and essays. Nothing is to hard to understand and the psychological subtexts of his work easily filters into the writing without confusion. His earliest collegiate work recieves just as good attention as his later sonic youth-era works, although I would have appreciated more discussion of his side project the influential noise band Destroy All Monsters. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in the west coast art scene, and should probably be recquired reading for anyone taking a class on the subject.

I have nothing but praise for Phaidon's publications. Each of their artist's books contain great documentations of the artwork, plus detailed writings by the artist and critics. If you are going to read a description of an artist's work, who better to explain it to you than the artist. This is especially true with Mike Kelley. He is well known for the writings he does for each of his works and he pulls no punches in his delivery.

Mike Kelley's excellent catalog from Phaidon may be the most definitive work to date concerning the merging of Elite and Popular culture. Kelley's use of his own astute observations about the world in which we live to "debunk belief systems" and deflate popular pretentions is nothing short of revelatory. His pathetic stance in sculpture, drawing, performance, sound, and banner-making constitute total war on austerity. All modes of his work are well-documented here with color photography of installations and descriptions and criticism by some of the best in their fields.

The artwork is original and inspiring. I love the Columbia Record covers from the olden days.

Full Disclosure: I am Art Director for the publisher, although this book was completed before I arrived. That said, this is an incredible and much-needed look into the work of one of the artists that defined the concept of record cover art. A darkly fanciful artist with explosive vision, Flora worked alongside Alex Steinweiss to conceive of what album art should be. There is no way to overstate how important his work is (then and now) and what a shame it is that it took so long to give him his due. Less restrained-in fact, more exuberant-than the revered Blue Note covers, Flora's art put a different face on jazz and classical. One just as accurate but with uninhibited joy in a shadowy world. If you enjoy the likes of the modern low-brow masters (most notably Tim Biskup) you must own this. If you want history on record cover art (which is painfully lacking on the bookshelves), you want an inspiring coffeetable read, or just want to look all hipper-than-thou, then buy it. Fantagraphics has made a beautiful collection in this book.

This book is a terrific introduction and overview of the beautiful, grotesque, familiar and yet shockingly fresh work of Jim Flora. It's pure eye candy, Flora's limited color palette illustrations are brilliantly reproduced in large scale. Essays by Irwin Chusid and others are both witty and informative. You'll come away from this book inspired and giddy.

As a graphic designer and fine artist I found this collective of poster design to be both inspiring and extremely funny. It's refreshing to see such a creative design studio not taking itself too seriously while at the same time doing work that is both timely and powerful. The joy of loving what you do shines through on each page. Bravo Modern Dog.

I am a professional freelance artist who specializes in poster design, and I found this book to be a wonderfully inspiring collection.

No two posters look alike; each have their own distinctive feel and approach and the stories behind them are equally interesting. I had never heard of Modern Dog before, and now I wonder where they've been all my life.

A throughly solid art book, I wish it had been twice as long!

This is a very entertaining book from a group of very talented designers at Modern Dog. I heard the founders of Modern Dog being interviewed by Debbie Millman= and thoroughly enjoyed listening to the Modern Dog story. I highly recommend this book to all fans of the protest poster, and hilarious graphic communication.

This book is full of beautiful psychedelic art. The CD that comes with it is awesome. Definitely something I'll hold onto for the rest of my life!!

This is quite a great book. I haven't been able to find a book dedicated to the "mood music" from the 60's, and this book fills the void! The CD that comes with the book is also excellent. If you are a Stereolab and/or Broadcast fan, you won't be disappointed, as a lot of the album designs for the two bands reference to these great record covers. Also, this book shows you a link between the past and present-day music that is influenced directy by the library music.

Designed for mass consumption, library records often featured pastiches of the popular styles of the day. This resulted in bitter-drinking, suit-wearing pianists with a family to support making far-out psychedelic rock and big band jazzers laying down avant-garde electronic futurism.
As is often the case with pastiche, the library records ended up being far weirder and, paradoxically, more creative and original than the styles they were copying. With an invisable audience and none of the usual pressures like reviews and sales to worry about, top session men like Alan Hawkshaw, jazz-classical pioneer Basil Kirchin, and a pre-Led Zepplin Jimmy Page could let rip with music for a chase scene - usually under a pseudonym - before heading off to the pub for lunch.
As CDs took over from vinyl in the eighties music libraries cleared out their old stock, releasing them onto the private collectors' market and revealing a fact previously unknown to all bar a few musicians: these albums had fantastic covers.
With no famous names to go on a striking images was the only way of catching the attention of potential clients, hence such classics as `Musique Idiote' by Roger Roger and `Feelings' by Italian easy jazz maestro Stefano Terrosi.
`Ah yes, `Feelings'... good hip hop break on that one. Goes for £1,000 on eBay,' reflects Jonny Trunk, a hopeless library addict who has collaborated with the London design agency Fuel to produce `The Music Library', a collection of 325 of the greatest album covers never seen. `There's a big collecting cult around library records now. Some of it is simply down to it's rarity, but the beautiful covers and strangeness of the music has a lot to do with it too.'
Founder member of the Specials Jerry Dammers puts it's appeal down to the way it `seems to get every musical genre just wrong enough to make it sound twisted and different - ie, great.' Record library albums are pure pop art - and best of all, they're free from any pop stars that might let you down.

I found this book very helpful in learning to use all of Painter's features effectively. It was easy to read & has lots of good photos. My only wish is that it had more accurate instructions on using the CD.

My favorite section was on the Painter pallets. It shows example pictures for each "brush" & it's variants. Sample photos also showed the various options available in the gradient box. These made it far easier to know what tool to use.

Other sections of the book covered masking, image hose use, painting & composite techniques, special effects, working with type, enhancing & outputting images, animation & web application, and using Painter with other programs.

The CD contains some good movies on making blobs, creating an image hose from a floater, building and editing floaters maps and making mosaic or patterned type. It also includes tutorials on making movies & working with color.

This book is very useful, in that the ideas and follow-through presented will get you well into capable use of the software. The organization, quality and content are top-notch.
Job Well Done!

Wayne D
Arizona-where art is everywhere!

It's an incredible book! A must-have for all Painter users. The book contains step by step instructions to create amazing effects seen on fully colored pictures.

This book captured the essence of teaching art. She drew us into the realm of red riding hood with her step-by-step construction. It took awhile before I realised that I was learning in a fun way. The author had constructed an easy to read book, sharing her observation as well as her knowledge of colours, shapes and space. I really like the fact that her concept is simple to understand, takes a meticulous effort to implement and probably a lifetime to truly master.

I am a professional graphic designer and I learned many things from this book. I purchased a copy at the Cooper/Hewitt Design Mueseum store in New York City, then left it on the plane, after reading all but the last pages. Now, I have to buy a new copy! It is one of my all-time favorite design books, and I have many. Among other ideas, she has an original way of describing gravity's influence on our perceptions in a picture plane. That alone is worth the money and time for this wonderful book

This book is a gem to be treasured by all elementary teachers for their Art library. Molly Bang demonstrates the use color and shape to inspire creativity and emotions in the minds of young students. I had the privlege of attending her demonstration lecture some years ago at a Children's Literature Conference. There I was delighted to discover the subtle simplicity of her ideas; I even put them into practice with my preschool class. This book will open a new world of enjoyment and enrichment activities--especially in the study of fairy tales--while introducing basic artistic principles. I highly recommend it!

The PieceBook gives you an inside look to the world of graffiti through the eyes of street artist.

i myself grew up a graffiti writer and are quite familiar to all those who contributed art work to this book. it was well done the prologue written by sacha jenkins(another graffiti writer) was well spoken an hit home as we who grew up in the early days of this era of graffiti sub culture can relate to. the art was reproduced with colorful visages that brought it all to life again as if it was done a few hours before i bought the book. each page was a look back to yesteryear, reading the messages that were a staple of the times ''fresh,def,and many other phrases we used then bring memories of an earlier time when it was fun to do the graffiti and create styles of your imagining.special thanks to chino villorente (another graffiti writer) who took the time an the love to put this together!! i truly enjoyed this book tremendously and glad i bought it, any graffiti writer should have this book on the shelf next to all the other homage books of the street life growing up.

Piecebook: The Secret Drawings of Graffiti Writers has successfully compiled a who's who of writer's writers in a format that looks so legit, you'd swear you could feel the grooves in the pages left by pencils and pens... as authentic and realistic as possible, there are even a few blank sheets to get up yourself! I even tried to peel the sticker off the inside cover!

This is a mandatory book in an urban planner or college bookshelf, for it has all the necessary information to complete urban projects. It is my handbook and that says all. It is also very well presented with a hardcover in good leather. The only shortcoming that I see is the absence of folded pages with urban plans in a larger scale, or renderings of zoning plans.

This book is tremendously broad in its coverage of planning topics, though not in depth. Most topics get only 2 pages, though some get 4-5. References are listed for each topic to help you find more detailed information. The book is well organized and indexed. It's loaded with illustrations such as graphs, diagrams, flow charts, line art, photographs, and maps. Most are black and white, but there are 16 color plates that are grouped together and stuck in a seemingly arbitrary position in the middle of an unrelated topic.

Some information is already out of date. For example, on page 580 it says that the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) expired in 2003 and Congress was still debating reauthorization. The new act (SAFETEA-LU) was enacted in August 2005 and is not mentioned.

My only real complaint is that the type is quite small and can be difficult to read for 40+ year-old readers. On the other hand, I understand that if they used larger type this huge, heavy book would be even bigger and heavier.

I also got the electronic, online version of the book and was disappointed in that, again because of the small type. Even using a 20" monitor I had a very hard time reading it. The viewer application that Amazon uses has very limited capability to zoom in on the text so it does not help.

An excellent resource for anyone involved in public sector land-use planning. Contains great detail on many different subjects. Good illustrations throughout. Not the best resource for site planning, though.