Commercials Books

It's odd that many friends of mine that visit D.C., dont bother seeing this spectacular building. This book does a fine job, through vivid, crisp images and historical text, to impress upon the reader the importance of this famous structure, as a fine architectural set piece and as the nations library. I always love the story of how Jefferson sold his book collection to the library for a ridiculous sum, to settle his always present debts, it was hardly a philanthropic jesture, but then with Jefferson it was always about him anyway, great man in many ways, but deep down a cold narcassist..anyway, getting back to the building, its essentially a copy of the paris opera of Napoleon III's Second Empire, with some changes, but definitly the opera house was the inspiration for this building, Garnier's estate should have demanded royalties it was so close, at any rate, very good book on a most deserving subject, I really cant imagine anyone being disappointed in this book, if they have any interest at all in this building.

As the illustrator of the Jefferson building's overview for the book (pp.276-277), I had the rare privilege of walking through many of the areas of the Jefferson building not open to the public. Entering the Great Hall for the first time, I was caught off guard by its extraordinary beauty. Being a native Washingtonian, I was surprised that such a lavishly decorated structure existed here in Washington, D.C. The overall impression of the interior is more that of the Paris Opera House, than a government building. This beautiful book, with its many photographic details of the interior, allows the reader to recreate that sense of awe that I experienced walking through the entrance. With Anne Day's vivid photos, and the Libary's wonderful history, this book should be a welcome addition to anyone's personal library. Once you see the book, I suspect you may modify your itinerary for your next trip to Washington. This gem of a building is definitely worth a visit.

-Doug Stern

I am not a Buddhist but I love this book. It's nothing less than a beautiful work of art.

--Guy P. Harrison, author of 50 Reasons People Give for Believing in a God

I also recommend:

Buddhism: The Illustrated Guide

DGV continues to publish some of the most beautiful, affordably priced illustrated books around. The cover illustration here is not misleading--each of the 88 pages here is devoted to Satogawa, whose work relies on the dramatic and surprising use of color, as well as the concomitant sensations of motion and stillness, centeredness and disturbance. There's even something of a nod to Jacques Louis David in the depiction of King Bimbisaara's suicide. The colors and poses are at once traditional and postmodern, drawing as much on the thangka as the comic book. The text is terse and didn't receive much in the way of editing, but it really doesn't matter here. This is all about the illustration, and Satogawa's work doesn't disappoint.

Informative, compelling and persuasive, this book is a must for designers of all disciplines.

This book is fantastic! It takes what could be a complex topic and makes it interesting and informative. The book is full of interesting facts, stories, and historical tidbits that capture your attention. Also, the graphic design is a work of art. This book would sit comfortable in a person's collection of art books as well as in a collection of engineering textbooks.

This is a book I look at over and over again. The photos are breathtaking and the text includes both the history and current information about each area. They did a good job of including photos of the house interiors and the beautiful Scottish landscape.

My son and I loved reading this book. The book is not only filled with breathtaking photography, but it covers a variety of details about everyday society and life.

This is the latest in a series of books that consist of collections of essays about the theory and practice of graphic design. The essays in the first two volumes were mostly from contemporary sources, particularly the AIGA Journal of Graphic Design. This third, retrospective volume is of even greater value in the sense that it gathers under one cover some of the most important historic writings on design from the late 19th century to the early 1980s, arranged chronologically. It contains over fifty hard-to-find articles by prominent figures in graphic design, among them William Morris, W.A. Dwiggins, El Lissitzky, Varvara Stepanova, Gyorgy Kepes, Alexander Rodchenko, Ladislav Sutnar, Beatrice Warde and Wolfgang Weingart. Graphic designers need to know where they came from, in order to better decide where to go. A substantial contribution to that effort, undoubtedly this is a book that should be on the reading lists of all designers, design students and teachers. (Copyright by Roy R. Behrens from Ballast Quarterly Review, Vol. 15, No. 1, Autumn 1999.)

An excellent text survey, Looking Closer 3 provides an anthology of classic writings on graphic design. This is a 'must' for any who would study the foundations of graphic design theory: it's the first to gather early critical writings from the turn of the century to modern times, grouping rare essays under one cover.

This book is an insightful collection of essays and manifestos which respond to First Things First 2000. The editors have done a marvelous job of including numerous viewpoints and introducing some new players to the field of critical writing on graphic design. It makes a great addition to the Looking Closer series and would be good reading for any serious graphic designer.

I read this book for a class. It has some fascinating insight into the world of graphic design. The compilation of essays is pertinent just as much today as they were when originally written(over the past 10-12 years).

In the world of Tolkien artwork, two artists sit at the top of the heap: Alan Lee and John Howe. These two artists have devoted a lot of ink to sketching scenes from J.R.R. Tolkien's masterworks, and in the "Lord of the Rings Poster Collection 2," we get to see some of Lee's best work.

"The Halls of Moria" is one of the most stirring pieces of artwork -- an enormous dark hall full of pillars and vaulted ceilings, with a beam of light shining over the Fellowship. "Tol Brandir" shows a tangle of leafless branches, mossy rocks and stone steps. And then there's the "Golden Hall," a beautiful landscape crowned by a hill, on top of which is Theoden's home. Lee's painted clouds look as if they are glowing.

"Orthanc" shifts the focus to grimmer subjects -- Saruman's stronghold is immense, menacing, vaguely insectile with its black shiny look. And, of course, it's surrounded by floodwater. "The Siege of Gondor" is tightly packed with grinning, creepy orcs with spears, and a few human warriors, one of whom is dead. And "Two Orcs" has a pair of suitably creepy-looking orcs, not doing much.

Of the two poster collections of Lee's work, the second is obviously superior. We get a range of subjects, from all three books, and it shows the different kinds of artwork that Lee can do. The posters themselves are lovely -- high quality paper, clear reproduction. As for the pictures themselves....

Alan Lee does "still work" the best -- even when his subjects are in motion, they look very quiet and almost dreamlike. There's a lot of detail poured into these, since even small twigs, cracks and stains make their way into his artwork. They also tend to have muted, faded colours, lots of soft greys, browns and greens. Some of them look like sepia photographs.

Looking at these beautiful posters, it's easy to see why Lee was one of the designers for the "Lord of the Rings" movies' exquisite sets. A wonderful collection of fantasy artwork.

This collection features six works of Alan Lee who, along with John Howe, was one of the principle conceptual artists for Peter Jackson's films based on J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings".

The six works featured in this collection are:

1. The Mines of Moria
2. Tol Brandir
3. The Golden Hall
4. Orthanc
5. The Siege of Gondor
6. Two Orcs in the Land of Shadow

The six works are large, stand alone posters on heavy stock contained within an attractive folder featuring "Orthanc" on the front cover. The prints--the originals were done in watercolor--have a black border with the name of the work and the artist at the bottom in small print.

These prints are an excellent addition to any Tolkien fan's collection.

This collection is worth it for the Crystal Palace alone, the great icon of the Industrial Revolution. The old engravings, photos and exquisite construction details allow you to finally get a sense of this great exposition hall, which was the first of its kind. The text provides a valuable background to Joseph Paxton and the era which saw many innovative changes in materials and construction methods.

But, that's not all, there are two more lost buildings that were instrumental in the development of the modern metal-frame building: the Palais des Machines and the Pennsylvania Station. The first was a daring display of ribbed metal trusses, spanning an enormous distance. Aesthetically, it is a more appealling building than the Crystal Palace as it has the character of the Art Nouveau era with its graceful curves and elegant details. The space is enormous with many wonderful period photos and evocative renderings of the ornamental details. But, again it is the construction details that will grab you as they show you the extent to which this building was impeccably detailed.

The Pennsylvania Station is one of the sad stories in American architectural history. One of the key works of McKim, Mead and White, it was torn down for no reason at all. It is a tour-de-force in Beaux-Artst design, but underneath it was a steel superstructure that brought together the ideas of Paxton and Ferdinand Dutert. It is not as nicely detailed in terms of drawings as are the first two buildings in this collection, but one is still able to sense its former grandeur.

While I am interested in architecture in general, the Crystal Palace is the reason why I'm so interested in learning more about it. Truly a 19th century megaproject, mostly forgotten, except in books like these.

Think of this - it is a gigantic glass-and-iron building that's longer than Toronto's CN Tower is tall - using nearly a million square feet of glass, for all the walls and the cielings. It was also one of the first prefabricated modular buildings. Nothing of such a gigantic scale like that had been accomplished before that time - with a huge grand 3-storey tall hallway through the length of the building approximately 60 feet wide by 60 feet high stretching more than 1800 feet long.... Not only this, there was a huge arched transept in the centre that housed some large trees. Even more amazing, this building was built in a scant 4 months, a technical achievement of victorian times.

Although this books cover mainly architecture, it helps to remember that The Crystal Palace was built for a great purpose: the purpose of peace, as the first world's fair, to showcase all the nations' products, early technologies, and cultures. Some of the early "innovations" - such as Jacquard's automated loom - and Otis' safety elevator brake demoed in public - relates to today's technologies! Without the Internet, without the Telephone, and without many of the communications technologies - this world fair had a huge impact in communicating these innovations to other nations. It is not surprising that it helped accelerate the pace of inventions over the decades, at a time when communications is nowhere nearly as prevalent as today, and travel was a time consuming affair was often by sail, steam, or horse power. Despite these difficulties, the Great Exhibition of 1851 was a spetacular success, earned profit, and attracted huge numbers of people despite difficult travel. It is generally considered to be more successful than even all of the 20th century world's fair. All this in itself, makes the Crystal Palace building more fascinating. This is the definitive, original Crystal Palace - not the smaller copycats that popped up in other nations.

It is not easy to find books that relates to the Crystal Palace architecture still in print and available for purchase online.

Why would a southerner ever be fascinated by an "obscure" New York park? Because the Flatiron Building isn't obscure. One thing leads to another. Fascinating history, meticulously rendered. A minor treasure to be sure.

Since 9/11 all Americans have come to know their deep affection for their buildings and public spaces. Due to be published on that fated date, this book helps us to recognize our need to preserve and cherish Madison Square Park. Miriam Barman does an excellent job is this epic work.

Ashley Friedlein guide is a must-read for anybody managing a website or looking to start one up. It is a detailed exposition which explores concepts such as Change Management in a lucid and informative manner. Highly recommended.

This is the second book I've read by Mr. Friedlein that shows his extensive experience and ability to clearly impart realistic advice (his other book is "Web Project Management: Delivering Successful Commercial Web Sites", ISBN 1558606785).

What sets this book apart from others is the way he focuses on two critical aspects of web site maintenance, (1) change management, and (2) content management. Whereas there are a number of books that address content management, this is the first I've read that goes into detail about change management. Many books mix the two, and fail to emphasize the criticality of change management on site reliability and availability. These two parts of the book alone warrant reading it.

There are two additional parts of the book that provide unique insights into critical success factors of web site management and evolution, which are customer relationship management, and site measurement. Whereas the first two parts deal with behind-the-scenes maintenance, these deal with business aspects, which do need to continuously evolve if a commercial site is to provide revenue in a highly competitive environment.

The part on customer relationship management starts with a primer on CRM to assure that readers understand a much-hyped topic. It then goes into how to achieve success factors by addressing understanding your users, personalization, community building, and customer service.

Site measurement, the final part of the book, is also detailed and filled with advice. Topics include: an overview titled, "Promises and Challenges of Web Site Measurement" and chapters on evolution of E-intelligence, measurement approaches and techniques, and reporting and analysis. This part of the book wraps up with chapters on how to improve a web site and tackling a web site measurement project.

Like his first book (cited above and which I highly recommend), this one is essential reading for anyone working with commercial web sites. The author, in my opinion, is one of the most savvy experts who has unique insights in all aspects of web site project and management. This book is yet another achievement and contribution to the body of knowledge by Mr. Friedlein.