Designers Books

What a find! Great history, very informative and the photography is outstanding. Such a wonderful book on the Arts & Craft movement. I would imagine it's a must-read for interior design students.

If you appreciate anything to do with the Arts & Crafts movement, you'll really like this book -- even if you look only at the pictures. It's separated into sections on exteriors and gardens; interiors (architecture); decorative patterns (wallpapers and woven fabric); furniture; softer elements (curtains, rugs, carpets, etc.); finishing touches (ornament, tiles).

Each has plenty of detail: you see the overall effect (the entire wall of wallpaper) and the specific design (a zoom in on the wallpaper's design). Even if you care about only one element (you're into fabric for instance) you'll get plenty out of this book.

William Morris changed people's attitudes towards architecture and interior decoration when Victorian excess was at it's height. I love the use of wood in an Arts and Crafts house. For others who feel this way, this book is a treat. At the back are two useful sections: Where to See Arts and Crafts Homes and a listing of Specialist Supplies for anyone renovating an Arts and Crafts Home.
You might also want to read The William Morris Stained Glass Pattern Book and The Life and Works of William Morris. Take a look also at Craftsman Homes: Architecture and Furnishings of the American Arts and Crafts Movement.

Some of the best Free Form and Geometric Abstract stained glass art I have ever seen. If you are looking for something out of the ordinary in a stained glass designs, get this book you won't be disappointed.

This is the most amazing collection of stained glass work I have ever had the privilege of experiencing. Ms. Perlis is truly an exceptional and talented icon in the stained glass medium. I find the pieces incredibly original, the execution flawless, and the designs dynamic. This is not what one would normally expect to see in a book about stained glass. She has pushed the envelope for design and execution, and deserves high priae for her wonderful work.

The stained glass that goes whooshing this way and that.....like on the cover, is so cool! It reminds me of Lorado Taft's scupture....like his Wave of Life sort of thing with torso's....one of his pieces is in the Chicago Art Institute and Leslie Perlis's work can stand right beside it, yes!

I gave this book to a friend who has a wooden boat and he couldn't have been more thirlled. This truly makes a great gift!!!

Aage Nielsen was one of the premier yacht designers of the 20th century and at last we have a book that sets forth both his personal life and professional career in full detail. All of his significant designs are placed in historical context and described in his own exquisite drawings and photographs. Anyone interested in yacht design will enjoy this book thoroughly.

An excellent summary of life and times of one of the great naval architects of this century.

I enjoyed reading this book tremendously. It was such an eye opener, and more importantly, brought awareness to my day-to-day activities. This is not a typical diet book! The reader can make informed, smart lifestyle decisions through understanding and from Todd's suggestions. Not only was it informative and entertaining to read, it was motivating!

The problem with the conventional wisdom regarding losing weight is that if you exercise more and eat less you can reduce your weight -- and maintain the weight level that you want. The problem is that for most of us, conventional wisdom isn't all that wise! Todd Hoff lost more than 100 pounds and in the process discovered why losing weight is so difficult, why being overweight isn't a matter of 'fault', the science behind weight loss (and gain), and how to permanently control weight through creating the perfect and personalized diet for ourselves within the context of our lifestyles. Basically what Hoff has done in "Your Designer Diet: How To Stay On Any Diet For The Rest Of Your Life" is to lay out a program that we can customize to our own life circumstances, our own personal strengths, and which is compatible with our own schedules -- be they hectic or leisurely. Hoff's basic message\ is that we can be in control of our weight, we can learn how to stay on any diet, how to avoid threats to our dieting success, diverse and effective strategies for losing weight, and maintaining our weight loss through simple daily monitoring. Of special note is what "Your Designer Diet" has to say about 'Joyful Eating'. Invaluable, informed and informative, and thoroughly 'user-friendly', "Your Designer Diet" is an enthusiastically recommended reading for anyone having to deal with problems of excessive weight.

Absolutely love the book. "Your Designer Diet" is filled with original ideas, leading edge research results and humor!

Todd is frank about his personal experience. He truly practices what he believes in.

"Joyful eating" is my favorite in the book. If you are interested in
genuinely enjoy food ( and LIFE), jump to "Joyful eating" in chapter 14.

And do you know ?

1. Obesity can be caused by a virus?
2. How to weight proof your environment?
3. How to become a designer of your own diet?

Enjoy the book.

I just got this calendar and it totally rocks, I'm glad someone is finally speaking for all of us nerds!!!

Thanks Nerdcore, you should totally do more stuff!!! Can't wait to see what you come up with next!

I'll keep this short: every year the passes, the Nerdcore calendar only gets better. Hell, it's not like any other calendar. It's big (12x18 inches), it's printed on quality paper, and even after the year passes, it's still worth holding onto. The 'Nerdy Holidays' are the coolest part -- lots of interesting dates from major movie releases to comic book anniversaries to, one of my personal favorites, the day Marty went back to the future. The guys who made these are really, real dorks. I'd recommend this has a gift to every, single one of your geeky friends... or just buy a whole bunch for them.

This book represents one of the very few studies of one of the masters of American advertising and graphic design. Brodovitch served as mentor to such photographic luminaries as Irving Penn and Richard Avedon, and his distinctive and very modernistic style of layout and use of the grid are exemplary. He was integral to magazine design in the middle of this century, and yet has fallen into relative unknown. Unreasonably so. Any student of graphic design, its design or current practice, would do well to own this book. In this age of busy, frantic graphic pages, Brodovitch's work reflects a serene, yet knife-edged clarity.

Alexy Brodovitch is one of the best art directors of the 20th Century. This book is worth every penny because it really allows you to see his work in the same scale that he created it at. Thus when you are looking at a magazine spread from the master, you are seeing it full size - and not as a little pretty icon that decorates too many design annuals. In addition there are examples of his raw layouts, which really let you see a genius at work. This book is a must for any fan of graphic design, photography and fashion.

Un saludo afectuoso, desde la Ciudad de San Salvador, El Salvador

Respetable, señores deseo adquirir los siguientes Libros de Ilustraciòn (un ejemplar por cada uno):

* "American Showcase Illustration: Volume 23, 5 stars". * "American Showcase: Artists' Representatives and Illustrators & Designers (American Showcase Illustration, Vol 24". * "Title American Showcase: Illustration (21st Ed, 5 Stars)".

Deseo, que me envien factura pro-forma, por la compra de lo anterior descrito, en el cual deberà de incluir todo los gastos de envìo, reqerido para obtenerlos en nuestras oficina.

Favor de dirigirlo a siguiente direcciòn:

Jorge Antonio Garay Asociaciòn Demografica Salvadoreña 25 Av. Norte No. 583, San Salvador, El Salvador, C.A. Tel.: (503) 225-0588 Fax.: (503) 225-0506 E-Mail: jorge_garay@ads.org.sv

For an illustrator starting out, or one well-seasoned, this book offers so much inspiration and insight. Being in the art field is difficult enough, so having this great source of information is such an asset-It gives you an idea of what kind of work is out there, competition you are up against, and ideas on techniques and style. Although it isn't a "how to" book, the fact that it has thousands of pages of fellow illustrators and graphic designers best work is enough to make anyone learn something new from viewing it. I highly recommend this book as a tool for any illustrator or designer.

The design of the book is like a handful of other contemporary "Encyclopedias" -- it approaches the subject matter from different perspectives in different formats which relate to one another. As such, it does not present material in a linear historical fashion as a whole.

To explain, let me provide a summary TOC. Note that the standard format for text is 3 columns of densely packed text. If printed in a standard format with 1 column and a larger font, the book size would likely double in size:
1. Preface -- which explains the motivation and difficulties in the project.
2. Introduction -- 6 pages. A history of American typography.
3. Chronology of Type related events -- 33 pages of calendarized information from 1600 to 2000 -- designers, foundries, etc.
4. Comparative American/European Type Chronology -- 4 pages detailing the creation/usage of fonts on both continents by year.
5. Type Designs in Alphabetical Order -- 2 pages listing all fonts in the book in alpha order (located under their designer).
6. 218 pages of designer biographies with significant typefaces, comment, and examples of use.
7. 8 pages of American type foundry history by company.
8. Glossary of Typographical Terms, 30 pages.
9. Bibliography
10. Index -- 17 pages -- 4 column.

When one considers history of typography, the American impact doesn't immediately come to mind. The history of sources for typography extend millenia earlier than the Western presence in the Americas. And, in the 20th century, the Jugendstihl and Bauhaus creation of a simpler typeface of sans serif and use of type in design stand as monumental events more recently.

Americans, more pragmatic, didn't have the overhang of reading German blackletter at every opportunity. We had a simpler style -- actually styles which changed by technology. As Consuegra identifies, the end of the 19th century saw a regularization of fonts into font families and standard sizes which also made printing more cost effective.

The mid 30's saw many emigrees land here in the states, top designers who continued to innovate on this soil.

The desktop printing industry further beginning in the 1980s at Adobe and Apple further transformed the creation and distribution of type.

So, many of the fonts and designers in the book will be familiar, from their revivals of older fonts as well as new creations. Bernhard Fashion, Bodoni, Broadway, Brush, Cartoon, Adobe Caslon, Century Schoolbook, Cheltenham, Apple Chicago, Cooper, Davida, Franklin Gothic, Adobe Garamond, Apple Geneva, Goudy Old Style, FB Grotesque, Hobo, Janson, ITC Korinna, Lithos, Lucida, Lydian, New GOthic, Park Avenue, Souvenir, Stencil, ITC Tiffany, Trajan, and HTF Ziggurat are just a handful of the types appearing in the book.

You won't find Times New Roman, or Arial here...

What intrigues is the biography and larger historical setting of individual designers. These illuminate the personal design interests as well as the technical challenges posed with their state of the art.

Of particular interest is the use of specific fonts in documents of the time -- advertisements, posters and the like. Some notable type designers were designers in a larger sense -- material presented echoes and sometimes symbolizes its time.

A few quibbles. There may be some factual errors -- I noted one regarding the Apple II being the platform for the first desktop publishing -- actually it was the Macintosh. The author's style can, on occasion, be a tad opaque.

I don't know that someone will find a "fix" for a specific project in reading the book. But, as I select type and design with it, I understand better how I can do that well.

This is an engaging, distinctive work born from the author's heart without anything comparable on the market that I'm aware of. It is a work to enjoy, admire and learn from.

David Consuegra was known as the patriarch of graphic design in Colombia, an one of the most praised in Latin America; this book is by no means the best example of his masterly as designer. A meticulous research of American graphic design with superb examples. A guide to good designers.

This is a picture book for architects to illustrate various treatments, hundreds of various treatments for surfaces. Surfaces includes walls, facades, ornaments & moldings, columns & posts, windows, dorways, ceilings & roofs, floors & pavement. The concept is to show what has been done by others which can help in filling out their ideas about projects. And it is useful in showing or asking clients for their comments on proposed treatments.

All in all there are some sixteen hundred photographs in the 350 or so pages of the book. The overall design of a building is the first thing that is noticed, but the surface treatment isn't far beyond. And unlike the design, the surfaces from the floor to the ceiling are covered in paint, carpets, drapes, dozens of different treatments. All in all, the surface finishing may be the most expensive part of the building.

This is a reference book that belongs in any architectural library.

Judy A. Juracek's ARCHITECTURAL SURFACES: DETAILS FOR ARTISTS, ARCHITECTS AND DESIGNERS comes with a cd-rom and provides students and professional practitioners alike with a new addition to the 'Surfaces' series. Hundreds of different architectural features are portrayed in well over a thousand color photos which capture details and provide a subject organization for quick, easy reference. Professionals and students alike will appreciate the illustrated glossary of technical terms, and the wealth of illustration packs four to six good-sized photos on almost every page.

This is a great read, even for those who know nothing about the exploits of Dr Gerry Bull. Dr Bull was a flawed genius - a passionate and driven ballistics visionary responsible for the design of many of the worlds deadliest artillery cannons, and yet he was politically naive, inspirational to his colleagues, and a practical joker. He provoked both deep loyalty in his friends and deep hatred in his enemies. The latter would lead to his assassination. He died during his work on Project Babylon - a cannon several hundred metres long!

This book delivers on many fronts: it is well researched and provides in depth information about the superguns that Dr Bull hoped could send small satelites into space, it also delves into his personal life, and takes the reader into the shady and nervous underworld of illegal arms dealings that Gerald Bull wound up in by circumstance.

William Lowther has written with great passion and produced a book that will captivate you and make you want to tell Dr Bull's story to everyone you meet.

This is a fascinating look at the life of a true genius whose path took him, inevitably, to Saddam's door. His dream of producing a gun capable of putting a satellite into orbit was twisted into a weapon for the Iraqi regime. Reads like an espionage novel, although it slows down a bit when talking about the businesses and fronts used to get the weapon's parts into Iraq. Otherwise, a really good read!