Graphic Design Books

The African (usually Nigerian) scammer letter has become iconic in western culture over the past 20 years. In the 80's I got letters in the mail, in the 90's it was faxes, and these days e-mails of course. There has been plenty of coverage about horror stories connected with these letters, that it's amazing that there are still people stupid and greedy enough to fall for them. As someone who has read so many of these for the comedy value, I find it only fitting that someone should turn these into works of art. This book is a collection of 36 of the author's favorite letters, wonderfully illustrated to depict the sob stories, promises of vast riches, etc.

Makes a fun quirky gift to anyone who is familiar with these letters.

German illustrator, Henning Wagenbreth, illustrates 36 scam emails from Africa .. not only are the illustrations amazing .. the emails are hilarious. I highly recommend this book!

The book is a great combination of inspiration and technical tips. Excellence book on depth of photoshop technique. More detail is better.

I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR MONTHS FOR THE RELEASE OF THIS BOOK, I HAVE NOT WAITED IN VAIN, EXCELLENT BOOK!

Royo never disappoints. His work just keeps getting better, and more exciting to look at. I love his sense of erotic fantasy!!!

Dark Labyrinth is artist Luis Royo's latest collection, thinly disguised as a graphic novel. There is a modest story that frames the collection of Royo's artwork. The story tells of a young artist who visits the studio of a painter that he has long admired. The young man has long been enthralled by the painter's brooding, yet sensual work. The young man praised the older painter as he was invited into the master's studio. When the old man asks if he would like to become his apprentice, the young artists jumps at the chance.

The old painter's routine, however, is quite confusing. He paints only at night, and in a small room with only moonlight for illumination, a room the apprentice is forbidden to enter. One day, while his teacher is sleeping, he dares to enter the forbidden room, only to find canvases covered completely in black. He begins to touch the painting, sensing something beautiful and terrible beneath the darkness, and soon finds himself drawn into the gothic, exquisite world of the Dark labyrinth.

Well that's the backstory but the real story is 64 pages of Royo's stunning art, all fitting into this theme. The book contains primarily work that was previously unpublished, most of it finished paintings along with a smattering of sketches. Royo's art is horrific and evocative. His beautiful women are sexy yet with an air of danger about them.

"Mother Earth" is one of my favorite paintings in the book. It shows that nature goddess shedding a tear of blood over a desolate landscape. Then there is "The Game of the Mask" featuring a lovely, mask-clad nude in a richly detailed costume, looking like a princess of Hell. "The Counter of Time" depicts an angelic blond maiden wearing a skull headpiece, apparently looking down over the world.

Each page of Dark Labyrinth brings a new shadowy delight to the reader in one of Royo's best collections yet from NBM Publishing. A true spectacle!

Reviewed by Tim Janson

Chuck has done it again. His series of books are THE best design books on the market and this one on newsletters is the best of the best. Even if you just look at the examples you will become a better designer--but I recommend reading this book cover to cover. Wow! What a great book.

DIY: Newsletters is another Chuck Green gem of great clarity and simple beauty. Good, thorough review of the design process in part one. But it's the 13 newsletter recipes in part two that I craved. Some stylish and arty, some plain and practical -- all uncluttered and appealing. With his step-by-step specifications, you just choose and use. Mix compelling content with any of these handsome templates and your readers will appreciate you. Even if you don't do a newsletter, Chuck's lucid explanations, sample palettes and effective use of clip art will improve all your print communication. Buy this book. Buy two...one to use and one to loan out. It's a bargain.

This is a must read for every person who is involved with Media Ministry, especially the graphic design. Compliments and reinforces the Digital Storytellers conference.
This book also covers some general design even if your not involved with Church Media.
Highly Recommended.

Jason Moore and Len Wilson do a great job of explaining how to create imagery for worship. unlike thier other books, that deal more with a theology of imagery in worship or the practical aspect of congregational expectations, this book is very much the get-in-and-get-your-hands-dirty book by creating imagery. This is thier attempt at the overview of art school for the novice and I believe it is successful. I find myself encouraged and motivated. Thank you Jason and Len.
I would recommend reading "Digital Storytellers" first for the doctrine and theology. It is good to mule these over first.

The Graphic Workshop book has been a lifesaver for me in my InDesign class! As a beginner in the Graphic Arts program, this book has guided me through the steps needed to create letterheads and the logos on them. It has been so helpful to have this book along with my InDesign workbook. It was delivered in a very timely fashion and in excellent condition. Thank you so much!

Very useful and illustrative book that guides you to the entire design process. This is for both, designers and non-designers. I recommend it so much.

I agree wholeheartedly with the review below and would like to add that
this book far outstrips its predecessors in the series (I haven't seen DGTC 5 yet).

The initial sections are divided by color type (pales, pastels, brights, neutrals, greys, deeps, darks), while the follow-up sections show combinations of colors, often matching colors from one section with another. I found myself thinking "I would never have thought to put those colors together but, wow! they look great!")

It would be hard to over-endorse Designer's Guide to Color 4. This book is wonderful for anyone who works with color, from the fine art student trying to get a handle on color harmony, to the mom attempting to teach her pre-teen son how not to leave the house looking like a demented clown.

Whether you need a basic reference on tried-n-true color groupings or fresh new design ideas, this book will fit the bill. Thank you, Ikuyoshu Shibukawa!

This book is a treasure when searching for innovative color combinations. Just when I thought I had run out of ideas, I found this book. It helps you use color in ways that you would not have thought of using them. The listing of the CMYK color is useful for print and can be transposed with the use of any graphics program into the RGB color. It is a great reference for web as well as print designers.

I'm researching systems-development related topics at the moment and this book is one of the few I've encountered that gives an abundant amount of carefully considered information. Most books, it seems, can be summarized in a sentence or two. Dillon's work, on the other hand, is one of the most detailed--and purposeful--I've seen. I'd recommend this book not only to text designers but anyone interested in user-centered design. Its implications for users (who are often scanners, not readers!) are broad and significant, encompassing motivations (why people read, or why they visit websites and what they expect to get out of their experience) and navigation and wayfinding issues. Another useful component of the book is its discussion of using models and frameworks as a tool to faciliate structured research and development. Many thanks to Dillon for providing a first rate book on a pervasive, yet largely ignored topic. I look forward to seeing more of his work in the future.

This is by far the best analysis of reading of electronic text that I have seen. He provides an excellent insight as to what is, what might be, and what is not important for on-screen reading.

He does not limit text to just fiction/non-fiction categories, but instead discusses: WHY it is read professional/personal reasons, to learn or not, out of interest/need, etc. WHAT type of information it contains technical or non-technical, subject matter, general or specific, textual or graphic, etc. HOW it is read serially or non-serially, once or repeatedly, browsed or studied in depth, etc.

His book suggests to me that text should alter its format to the meet the users - Why, What, and How. Possible examples: switch to all caps when searching for words or phrases, turn off hyperlink indicators for linear reading, ...

He points out that there have been many studies on editing text, but few on reading text. A good fraction of the book deals with on-screen reading.

Screen reading was better with: high resolution characters, increased space between lines (leading), proportional font, limiting the number of characters on a line, and not splitting a sentence across a page boundary.

He indicates that users preferred on-screen reading over paper reading for some tasks when the screens had enough improvements.

Screen reading might be improved with: landmarks/navigation, serif fonts, full left/right justification, ...

Screen reading was no different than paper reading for: orientation of the media, flicker rate, screen dynamics, and visual angles (< 36 degrees).

For anyone who grew up in Europe over the last six decades (and in more recent years millions of newer fans in North America and Asia-Pacific), here's the definitive book on the deceptively simple art, menagerie of characters and captivating stories created by the inimitable talents of Dick Bruna. As a child, I couldn't imagine a day (let alone a bedtime) going by without following the tales of Snuffy, Miffy, Poppy, Boris and other unnamed but equally glorious characters that came from this very sweet, perceptive man's mind, talents and heart. All of these qualities are in abundant evidence here, for this is as much a fine art book and biography as it is a love story. Bruna amply acknowledges here how much he (and we, by extension, among his legions of fans) has benefited from the keen eye, advice, encouragement and adoration of his wife, Irene. This book is one of those gifts that keeps on giving!

Wonderful book documenting the life of Dick Bruna and showing many examples of his work, not just Miffy. It's just BEAUTIFUL!

On va en ligne, pour faire des photos, des graphiques, et des copies. Car l'ordinateur donne aux artistes les couleurs toujours voulues. Les images se copient fidelement, de l'ecran a l'imprimeuse. Les couleurs se montrent le mieux, surtout si le noir est le quatrieme encre d'impression et si les points sont elliptiques, sur les plaques, les papiers et les colorants de la haute qualite. Reussir a dessiner a l'aide de l'ordinateur, ca se voit par les exemples dans tout le livre. Quant a moi, ce sont tres bien faits les coups de brosse crayeux dans le portrait de la jeune fille, et les tetes et les terrains sculptes au style de l'ile de Paques.

DIGITAL COLOUR IN GRAPHIC DESIGN works when drawing, painting, photoediting, and 3-D print the way you want. Because scanners and monitors work colors differently than desktop printers and offset presses, mapping can pass colors correctly along calibrated color handlers. Color management and matching systems can bring about accurately printed screen images. The 16.7 million digital palette prints best from 21-inch non-interlaced monitors onto dye sublimation desktop printers and calibrated offset presses working with black as a fourth process ink for better shadow density and overall contrast, with elliptical instead of round dots, and with quality colorants, paper and plates. Ken Pender gives striking examples, such as chalk brush icicles to his ice maiden portrait of his daughter, impasto sweeping brushstrokes to a cloned Photo CD image, and Easter Island type carving and sculpting to a polyhedron head and terrain. So the author is interesting to read along with Veruschka Gotz's COLOR AND TYPE FOR THE SCREEN, Steven Heller and Daniel Drennan's THE DIGITAL DESIGNER, Michael Leary et al.'s WEB DESIGNER'S GUIDE TO TYPOGRAPHY, and Michael J. Sullivan's MAKE YOUR SCANNER A GREAT DESIGN AND PRODUCTION TOOL.