Graphic Design Books

Another great resource book from the "Best of Brochure" series by Rockport. It features approximately 187 pages of high profile pieces from well-known design firms. The individual brochures are shown in a large format, with most being given a page to themselves. There are a variety of styles ranging from non-profit organizations to large corporate clients. A must-have reference book for any designer.

When I last went to Africa, to teach journalism, I brought this book along to provide inspiration to me and my students. It works. Because it provides the best in news design from around the world, readers can get a broad overview of the state of newspaper design with this volume.

I found this book extremely useful. What makes it so interesting is the fact that it's assembled with pages of newspaper desing around the world. Add this one to your collection.

Typography is an important -- and, in this day of non-professionals "designing" newsletters, books, etc. at their computers -- usually overlooked part of design. This beautiful book introduces you to typography and shows how subtle differences in typeface, leading, and so on, affect readability and elegance.

David Carter's Big Book of Color in Design is an important resource for both the design community as well as anyone
interested in making the most of their marketing dollars.

Although there are hundreds of graphic design books on the
market, and only a rare few really are genuinely useful and worth the cost of acquiring them.

The Big Book of Color in Design is different from similar
volumes in that it not only offers numerous palettes (or
combinations of colors that "work" together to project a
desired image, but the palettes are accompanied by large and
easy to learn from illustrations of completed projects
created with the palettes.

Because of the book's tight editing, large size, and quality
reproduction, you can see at a glance how colors relate to
image in theory as well as practice.

There's no "theory" here; just genuinely useful examples. Carter's formula works better than many "palette books"
because often only the palettes are shown, not projects
completed within them. Carter's mastery of color also comes
through in his choices which are both restrained and appropriate.

A single book can never compensate for the lack of a design
education, but Carter's book comes as close as any book can- -
and closer than most color books.

We can only look forward to a future book from Carter focusing exclusively on web color.

I always look forward to "The Big Book of Logos" series. This is a wonderful source to "go to" when our designers need inspiration for a new job. The images are large enough to see the details, that's important. Our firm has been in three out of five books. That tells us that there is some credibility with the Carter-Stephens team, not everyone gets in! Keep up the good work!

The reader is the beneficiary of this smart, deep collection of obsessive compulsive creators. I loved the witty writing and the deep well of art and commentary. I've given this book out as a gift to my clients as a way of opening their eyes and really seeing true design integrity. After looking at the world in black and white, color somehow seems like a cheap gimmick.

If, like me, you have painful misgivings about centers of power dominating our history, namely, religion, science and humanism, this is a book you must read. Clark teases a quite amazing concerted illuminative action from the work of such seemingly exclusive figures as Heidegger, Proust, Balanchine, Antonioni and Hawking.And in pressing their insights into concrete historical action, he introduces undreamed of realms of problematicness and joy.

If you looking for a good design book, I think you find it. I'm a Portuguese graphic designer, and this book reduced 50% of my work because it shows thousands of beautiful ideas so you can use in many kinds of works (flyers, bags, packaging, tags, books...). I don't have many books, but I already sow some, and this is the best I already saw. Don't waste time (because you will not waste money to), buy it!

You really know when a musical genre has arrived, when a book of cover artwork is published. Hip hop has been around for a couple of decades or more so Andrew Emery's colorful book is especially timely and can join the expanding shelf of titles devoted to great cover art.

As is usual with any book devoted to this marketing art there are plenty of the duds and forgettable designs but in the case of hip hop the very nature of the music produces some startling and vibrant graphics. Just turn over the first few pages and by page thirteen the socko 1983 album Wild Style jumps of the page, graffiti artist Zephyr created the beautiful lettering, page sixteen has a stunning 1984 Afrika Bambaataa cover based on a Marvel comic cover. The three hundred covers are arranged historically into ten chapters and the author writes about the various musicians and graphic artists who created so many of these covers, in particular George Dubose gets some good coverage.

I thought the chapter called Beat Biters was intriguing, as the music itself samples other sounds why not sample other covers as well, ten examples are shown including the 1991 cover from Young Black Strangers based on the 1963 'With the Beatles' album, a 1989 Tone Loc cover 'Loc'ed after Dark' was swiped from a 1963 Donald Byrd Blue Note LP designed by Reid Miles.

This book will interest graphic designers and fans of hip hop and all those who just want a record of the stuff they've missed.

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