Graphic Design Books

great examples and insight towards creating a successful and visually impactful annual report.

As a serious amateur photohrapher who's trying to learn more and do more, and as a fan of photography, I had a great time viewing this amazing collection.

The works presented within each category are not only the best of this year but include some of the best photos I've seen. Ever.

Very entertaining and extremely inspiring - and I'd recommend it to all photography professionals, amateurs and fans. You'll enjoy every single page.

There are also a few interviews with some of today's best photographers in the world that we also interesting to read.

There are lots of good books about Art Deco as an overall art style but Patricia Kery seems to have corned the market with this title covering graphics. Large size, 320 pages and with 476 illustrations it will most likely be the standard reference for many years. The first chapter, `Foundations of Art Deco graphic style' is a lucid explanation and the following chapters (printed on light mauve paper) expand on this excellent start. The illustrations are fortunately printed on glossy white paper.

***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover.

Good as the book is though I was rather disappointed with the presentation. All of the spreads with several pictures have them deliberately unaligned and where there are only two images to a page they are usually the same size with a lot of white space and I mean a LOT. I think one of the images should have been big and the other smaller, thus reducing all the white space to a minimum. Typography on the mauve text pages is a mess, various sizes are used and the caption size is really too small. The left-hand page numbers are on the inside of the page next to the books spine, this seems a silly bit of designer whimsy.

The book is very comprehensive and rightly shows how the creative output of mostly European artists was used commercially. For an American perspective have a look at this beautifully designed paperback, `Streamline: American Art Deco Graphic Design' by Steven Heller and Louise Fili. This has excellent illustrations showing how the style was adapted (those famous three speed lines) by American creative folk to sell products rather than a European fine art genre.

Art Deco Graphics is about graciousness of form. An unmatchable book that can be read five, ten times and still sift up new baubles. Brief-lived, yet timeless, like the then-young artists' cheerful way of navigating into the future using no compass or ancestral guidance. Like office girls who adored the little black dress, but were informed they could liquefy, rather than dump, themselves, into it, and so did.

The drifting directionlessness of France in the 1920s when film and poetry were all but the same thing, a nostalgia for what always is because it never was. It was time for something new.

New . . . and yet . . . more: Modern. Diverting. Striking, startling, disharmonious, direct. Everyone saw the need: Art of street to challenge art of salon. A merger between middle-class decorative taste and the revolutionary's love of the outré, the young artist's love of the avant-garde, the liberated career woman's preoccupation with the suave and the elegantly insolent. By the time the 1925 Exposition des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes opened in Paris, the masters of modern art-Picasso, Braque, to skim for the moment the mythic cream, Klimt, Léger, Kandinsky, Magritte, Modigliani, Duchamp, Ernst, and Toulouse-Lautrec-had already transformed the fine arts. There seemed no new territory to explore.

Then the newbies discovered graphic arts.

There was no "Art Deco" then. Indeed, that appellation was not used until 1966. But artisans embracing a handful of ideas loosely bundled as "Style moderne" borrowed bits from Cubism, Russian Constructivism, Italian Futurism, the Vienna Secession, Bauhaus, then added techniques of their own: abstraction, distortion, oversimplification, geometric solidities reinforced with intense colors. They used these to celebrate the rise of commerce, technology, and (thanks to the auto and airplane) speed. The ensuing volcano spewed simultaneous views from several directions: hypercontrasts of color and arrangement, transformations of reality, personality, eccentricity.

These inspired a new kind of fine artist, the illustrator. Names like Cassandre, Jean Carlu, Herbert Bayer, and McKnight-Kauffer began to turn up not merely on posters, but magazine covers, stationery design, advertisements. A kumquat of Orientalism was squeezed out of Diaghilev's sensational Ballets Russes. American jazz, native American and African art, Egyptian glyphs, these too. And above all the discovery of personal power in the power of machines. All these contributed to an aesthetic confluence from which has flown the sociological art theme of our times: graphics, commerce, private purpose, public event, and social attitude are all immersed in one. Art Deco Graphics is like looking at the wedding pictures of one's grandparents.

Almost all these images are standouts, but a few are unsettling, and breathtakingly so. On page 89 is an ad for Herkules Bier "aus dem Hasenbrau-Augsburg." The sinister, leviathanic, muscle-bound, fist-clenched figure uses one of the hallmarks of Art Deco-deep shadow to enhance contrast-to convey a message as self-contradictory as it is threatening: Drink this and it won't go to your belly, it will build the muscle of Germany. Rage is power,too.

That was 1925. Five years earlier Ludwig Hohlwein design an ad "Tachometerwerke" for a Düsseldorf maker of the eponymous instruments to clock engine revs. The vehicle, with its riveted sheet metal body and upjutting phallic levers for gears and brakes, all done in a dark drab befitting military maneuvers in the slime, is not a Gay Paree streamlined beauty with chauffeur and mink-trimmed consort. It is a tank. The vehicle alone says, "We're coming, out of the way." But it is the driver who truly frightens. Garbed in the thick leathers of automobiling at the time, gloved hands gripping-no, choking-the wheel, his face is of such grim, hating, enraged determination that one cannot think of similar malevolency in all of art history except perhaps for Meiji-era Japanese prints extolling the glories of battle. Even in 1920 the omens were shrieking, and by 1925 they were building muscle.

Yet for the most part Art Deco was sweetness and elegance, if not light, and a kind of innocence during the days when modern commercialism was being established. One can see editors exploiting inner fears on behalf of ad sales even then: the Vogue and Vanity Fair covers depict improbably slender women draped in the silks and furs of unattainable wealth, their eyes of steel willing and able to stare down an amorous tycoon (page 143). Book publishers were right alongside them: A book cover by a designer pseudonymed "Fish" (in reality the British caracaturist Ann Sefton) proclaimed, "High Society-Hints on how to Attain, Relish - and Survive It; A Pictorial Guide to Life in Our Upper Circles." Powerful "Fortune" covers (whose ultra-simplicity and unusual view angles could inspire cinema students even today). They also were the days when "Fortune" had taste: A 1941 cover was graced with a Fernand Léger graphic.

I'd been looking for an art noveau tattoo design for quite some time, and I ordered this book to see if I could find something interesting in it. I was not disappointed, to put it mildly. The book has got the most beautiful art in it, and I've got my tattoo now! If you want art noveau patterns and borders, this is the book to buy, TRUST ME!

This book was well worth the money. It is packed full of beautiful and ornate frames and borders. Most are elegant, but a few are on the whimsical side. Since they are all copywright-free, I plan to use them for newsletters and scrapbooking. All of the images are printed in black ink. To use them, they will definately need to be photocopied or scanned. This is a nice book to be added to your clipart collection.

I love all of the illustrations! If you enjoy Harper, you will most likely relish this calendars wonderful and well chosen animal art. I will enjoy flipping the page every month to see my new artwork. And the price is right! Absolutely perfect gift for a Harper fan, graphic design enthusiast or animal lover.

Most beautiful calendar ever. I love Charley Harper and was worried this would be somehow disappointing, but it's perfect. The editors selected some of Harper's loveliest images, and I'm utterly satisfied. Full of whimsy and color and charm. Buy twenty and be a hero to your friends and neighbors.

Lot of good material here on all aspects of design, focused in on the broad subject of typographic design. A must for any dedicated typographer or designer.

I have Martin's class this semester. Great guy and teacher, he is very good at explaining typography in a vivid, easy to absorb way. He is very open to new things unlike the other old school typographer. He can give one simple piece of advice and make your design stronger.I read this book briefly before this semester, I could not stop until I had to leave my friend's house. Most typography books I have come across are very arrogant and trying to be sophisticated. Martin's book is very down to earth and inspiring. There are some assignments at the end of the book. They are simply fun to do... A must have for beginners(I wished this was my first typography book) to advance typographers. The only thing is that this book is in black and white... some colors would be nice

Wendy Kaplan has succeeded to capture in her book, "The Art that is Life," the broad scope of the movement. It is wonderful to see and read of the various elements that made up this rich period in American craftsmanship. From the aesthetics in architectural styles, to the furnishings within them, this book helps to put into perspective the far--reaching impact the movement had on the American consiousness. This well illustrated volume has been a handy reference to me as a collector of Arts & Crafts items, since its publication in 1987. Fortunately now it is available in paperback form as well.

This paperback is a reprint edition of an important exhibition catalog that was originally issued in 1987. The exhibition, which was held at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and which bore the same title as this book, was comprised of 225 design-related artifacts (furniture, glass, silver, ceramics, textiles, wallpaper, books and architectural drawings) from the era in design and architectural history known as the American Arts and Crafts movement. The book is important because of the thoroughness with which it documents, interprets, and illustrates the moral, esthetic and social reforms that enabled the Arts and Crafts movement to flourish. Included in the 400-page volume are eight essays by various experts on the subject, who introduce more than 300 photographs (including 55 color plates) in discussing a wide range of topics, among them American Arts and Crafts Architecture, The Art of Work, The Role of the Schools, House and Home, and A More Reasonable Way to Dress. The text and illustrations provide ample evidence of the continuing influence of Arts and Crafts: "In altering attitudes toward the fabrication and use of objects," writes curator Wendy Kaplan, "it changed the fundamental perceptions regarding design, the home, and work." (Copyright by Roy R. Behrens from Ballast Quarterly Review, Vol. 15, No. 1, Autumn 1999.)

Penny Baillie-De Byl's ARTIFICIAL LIFE POSSIBILITIES: A STAR TREK PERSPECTIVE examines what the future might bring in creating exceptional artificial environments such as Star Trek has featured. Using Star Trek's innovative concepts as a foundation, artificial intelligence researcher Dr. Penmny Baillie-De Byl considers artificial life forms depicted in the TV series and the state of current technology to consider the potentials behind creating advanced AI systems.

The author has picked an interesting way to examine the state of the art in artificial intelligence. It is an interesting turn around. The originators of the TV series Star Trek looked at the research that was being done and extrapolated this research into their characters. In turn, these characters were looked at by researchers to see how their research might really be carried forward.

In this book, Dr. Penny Baillie-de Byl, an Australian university lecturer has in turned looked at the research being conducted and tied it back to the TV show characters. She looks at androids and at purely projection characters such as those that are generated on the holodeck.

The chapter I liked best was her discussion of the Turing Test, a test Alan Turing devised to determine if a machine could think - (what's think, what's a machine). Have we passed the test yet? Then again, I see some humans once in a while that I don't think could pass the test.

Among the myriad biographies on Aubrey Beardsley, I have to say that this one stands out. Thorough, in depth and a quick read, it covers his life, work and complex personality perfectly. Although I have enjoyed immensely many other books about the man, I feel that this one provides a great starting point. From Beardsley's birth in Brighton to his untimely death in Menton, his tragic story is told with warmth, pathos and the great knowledge of a man clearly admiring of his subject. This book will open your eyes to new and startling truths about Beardsley and his work, if you have been convinced that his life was one of wanton decadence and sexual excess. What a surprise to learn that this clearly was not the case - rather, Beardsley was a most conservative man. I have for many years admired him and his work greatly, and am personally very thankful that Sturgis wrote this book.
For those more interested in a review of Beardsley's work, I'd suggest Chris Snodgrass' book, Aubrey Beardsley, Dandy of the Grotesque. It stands as a perfect companion to Sturgis' biography.

Matthew Sturgis' biography of the short-lived pen and ink master of black and white imagery provides an informative and elegantly written life of Art Noveau figure Aubrey Beardsley. Discussions of Beardsley's early years, meetings with famous figures like Oscar Wilde and James Whistler, Yellow Book fame, and last years full of physical decline are covered with intelligent attention to detail. Also included are several reproductions of Beardsley's illustrations and the critical response to them. The book is a fast read that is accessible to those not overly familiar with the man and the period, and is also interesting to the fin-de-siecle conoisseur.

no substitute for your architectural consultant by your side but extremely informative and helpful.

It was a wonderful little book to assist you in every detail. If you didn't know something, or weren't quite familiar with it, you just looked it up in this book, and there it was plain and simple. It is short and to the point, so you don't get more confused. I am not that smart at computers, but it even helped me - alot! It is a great book!

I had purchesed the 2002 seris for work and found the books to be the best step-by-step text on AutoCAD had had found to date. When my company updated to 2004, I checked to see if Mr. Metz had writen a new seris for latest version. I was elated when I saw that he had. This new seris is as easy to use as the original.

These books are the most user friendly I have ever used. Weather you are a novice or seasoned AutoCAD user, these books should be on your shelf at work or home.

If there could be a higher rating then 5 stars, this AutoCAD seris would get my vote.

I've used the previous edition and am now using the new edition of these books for my high school technology classes and really like them. In place of lectures, I let the students work through the books at their own pace. These books are so well written with easy to follow instructions that my students learn the AutoCAD program very quickly. The best part is that after the students have completed the exercises in the books, I can assign them any drawing and they can do it.

I really recommend these books to any instructor who teaches an introductory course in AutoCAD or for any individual who wants to learn AutoCAD on their own.