Designers Books

A great book about a even greater designer,
don't over look this one.

I just marvel at the grace and dignity of George and his work. The story of his life is just as interesting as his life's work. I do home remodeling and occasionally have the chance to make a piece of custom furniture for a client. I find his accomplishments truly amazing.

This is a superb book on George Nakashima, written by his daughter. It is a good complement to "Sould of a tree" written by Nakashima himself. While "Sould of a tree" looked at the furniture, "Nature form & Spirit" starts with the life of Nakashima and how he came to design all his furniture and the houses. It is not a technical book, but it gives an interesting insight on the philosophy and thinking process behind the designs. Much more than a coffe table book, an inspiration for all woodworking lovers

My husband has been wanting this book for a long time; it was recommended to us by an old friend of Nakashima. We've always loved his work, that which is at the Metropolitan Museum and also the arboretum library in Minneapolis, completely furnished with Nakashima's work. The book was no disappointment; we loved it. Truly he understood "the soul of a tree."

This was a gift to our son. He was thrilled to receive it and will continue to enjoy it for many years to come. He is a wood worker and is interested in all sorts of books about wood working and wood workers.

This is a great book for anyone interested in Graphic Design. I purchsed this book for a Graphic Design class and read almost the entire book before the class started. It has very helpful information for dealing with print shops. It is easy to read and understand.

The non-designer title is actually a bit of a misnomer. Don't let this title dissuade you even if you have spent years in the industry (like myself). Unless you are very very knowledgable of the print-production process, this book will have a lot to teach you.

Don't let the hokey design of this book make you believe that it does not contain a wealth of knowledge...it does.

These ladies have put together a very clear, concise, comprehensive handbook for the non-pro publisher. They walk you through all the essentials of desktop publishing, and all your choices, pointing out the advantages and disadvantages of each.

Dwight M Stark

It`s good to have around but this book made on a Powermac 8500 (using Pagemaker!) does feel dated in every sense of the word..PDF - the professional print standard nowadays - is poorly covered. Just one page with useless basic information. The writers do not mention anything about Open Type fonts or Indesign. There's not much about dia scanners, sizes and resolutions either.
All in all there's a lot to learn here but the information given often stays a bit on the surface or is simply not up to date. Especially for people who have some experience in the field and are not living in the past..

I was a technical trainer for four years and was in charge of teaching classes such as color theory, digital printing, scanning etc. I really loved this book because it put everything together for me after about 10 months of scraping information from a lot of different sources. You can't go wrong with this book.

I'm a complete novice when it comes to graphic design tools but I am an IT professional and I must say I found this book very heavy going and didn't help me get to grips with Photoshop. I searched the web today and found a free tutorial site which explains a lot of the functions I need and enabled me for the first time to do "simple" things like feathering, merging two images etc. The book has too much text and is very off putting to the beginner. I'm sure the information is in there somewhere but to me it's a chore to find it. I bought the book on the basis of some of the other reviews here and really had high hopes. Unfortunately, it will now be consigned to the bottom drawer and I will use the website I found to learn Photoshop instead.

The only wonderful thing about this book is that it is well written and the Author did a good job explaining Photoshop.On the other hand whoever put the CD-Rom together;Has totally screwed up.Chapters/File Folders 1,and 2 and missing almost every file that is supose to be on the CD-Rom.To keep it short and sweet.The Author did a perfict job on the book.But the CD-Rom Is defective.SO far I tried to contact the Publishing Company and both Authors about the CD-Rom and still no responce.If you want a book with a useful CD-Rom.Look for another book.But if your looking for the perfict book and can live without a CD-Rom to practice the lessions on.Then I say this is the book to buy.I give it For stars because the Author writes a great book.But the Production screwed up the CD-Rom.I will end by saying I am still awaiting a e-mail from the Authors and Publishing company reguarding the CD-ROM.

I can't say enough about this wonderful book. It's the best one on this subject in print, and I have a dozen of them....

Finally I got my new tutorial CD, thanks to Mr. Robert Clarfield from Corialis!

This is a "must-have" for any beginner like myself. In comparison with other books I have purchased to date, this is definitely the best! Although some of the earlier editions had a problem with the tutorial files, (I got one) the problem was corrected by sending me a new CD. I have a lot of respect in the way they were willing to solve my problem and for the quick service in which the replacement was sent. If anyone else needs any help in this regard, contact Mr. Robert Clarfield at Coriolis. robert.clarfield@coriolis.com

"A Primer of Drug Action" is quite amazing and reads very easily! What I find so fascinating is how up-to-date the info is. To give an example, in the analgesic section about NSAIDs, the author tells of the new skin patch for diclofenac that came out this year (2008). The eleventh edition began being printed in 2008! Also I enjoy the fact that much of the information provided has references stated at the end of the sentences. The information about the drugs is very clear and not too oversimplified. I recommend this for anyone who enjoys pharmacology and especially for those who lack upper-level life science knowledge.

I was very pleased with the fast service and delivery. I need this book for school and didn't have to wait for it so it didn't hold up my work.

This book is easy to understand for most people with a college education. Even those who have not had previous experience with the subject matter and vocabulary can catch up by reading methodically.

What I like best about this book is its balanced approach to its subject matter: drugs. Sometimes books on drugs can be very biased, but this one tells it like it is, more or less.

My copy of the ninth edition is falling apart because I have used it for reference so much. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in busting myths about drugs.

The seller was very honest about the condition of the book and shipped promptly.

This book is an excellent synthesis of pharmacology and research based comments on drug pharmacology. To the point, not a bunch of extra gobbeltigook text to wade through like in Uppers, Downers and Allarounders. I work in the addiction field and this book covers the topic well in terms of neurochemistry as well as effects of drugs and their effects and legitmate uses, as well as some history on them. It also covers pharmacological treatment of drug addictions, again something that I use in my field. I use this book as a reference in my work. The references cited in the book are extensive and they are noted (numerically) after each statement in the text, which I prefer. I have often looked up the references for more information, although usually this text provides the information I need without a bunch of parenthetical B.S.

The reason I did not rate this book 5 stars is because I have a paperback version and the binding fell apart. I feel a paperback should not fall apart unless I got it used at a garage sale. So I am looking to see if they have a hard bound version of this book.

A comprehensive, quick, one-stop source of information for designers on design styles, who designed what, when and how in relation to Typography. An indespensible book for designers and students of design. Ideal for cross-referencing for research work and design projects.

This book, for the price, is a must-have for any graphic designer's library. It's great to skim through for inspiration or to look up individual designers' biographies.

Warning: Handling this book can cause bodily injury. Consult a doctor if you have previously had joint or muscle problems. Part of the size and weight of this book is due to the English/German/French translation, which triples the text area. This is a custom typical of Continental European art&design publications, whose readership usually knows no other language than their native one (note--I'm from Italy and I speak from experience). Personally, I would have preferred a book 30% smaller and lighter, with more actual information inside. Oh, and about the content: the "Who's Who" section, which represents the bulk of the book, does not mention D. B. Updike or Francis Meynell! Here we have a problem of defining the field. If you are interested in graphics design, this book is definitely for you. If you care about TYPOGRAPHY, defined as the art of designing and manufacturing printed pages, well, go read something else.

I teach university level Graphic Design and Typography and brought my copy into class, like I do many books, hoping to inspire my students. If anyone has ever taught young college students, inspiration doesn't always come as we expect. Most of the time they give a half willing glance with little comment. However, when I brought this book into class, showed them the contents, and then noted the price, their interests immediately grew. It is an extremely large book and full of examples or overviews of everyone throughout history who has made contributions into design and type. It is not meant to be an exhaustive book on the subject and there were some designers and artists which possibly needed or deserved more exposure. However, it sparked enough interest in my students that before the class was over I had five students signing their name for me to order them a copy.

Once those interested received their copies, I heard them speaking among themselves and one particular young man, who seldom has anything positive to say, said to his friend. "It's an awesome book dude. You should come over sometime and look at it."

I recommend this book for anyone needing a little inspiration. It touches the tip of the ice berg, but sometimes that is all it takes!

As a professor of Visual Communication, I recommend this book to all of my design students and collegues for several reasons:

a) it is an excellent reference for finding information on typographers, influential institutions and design movements.

b) it is hard to find a page in this book that doesn't ask to be looked at closer-the entire book is in full color, with examples of posters, magazines, parchments... anything with type that is influential. The examples chosen are excellent and well placed. Many books only have black and white examples with just a few in color. It is hard to visually understand a design without its full dressing. This book shows works in their original glory.

c) the price is very modest for what you get in return.

You will wear out this book-buy two!

how can i review this book when i ordered it last june 9 on an overnight delivery and now it's a month later and i still have not seen a cover or a page of this book...this is the first time i've used amazon.com and frankly i am disappointed coz i've heard such good things about shopping online specially with amazon.com....so consider this a review of amazon.com...they do not deliver...therefore on a scale of 1 - 5 stars...a dismal 1

Utilizing their fascination for traditional rural fashions, the designing dream team of Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana has captured the fashion world by storm. Since their company's inception in 1982 to the present, Dolce & Gabbana has made Italian fashion look so wearable.

This book, which celebrates their first 10 years in business, is a collection of past ad campaigns and a plethora of celebrities that normally would make a coffee-table book about fashion appealing. With a foreword by Isabella Rossellini, and appearances by many top name fashion models, Dolce & Gabbana's vision of incorporating Sicilian (Dolce is orginally from Palermo, Sicily) & rural styles is genius. Their tribute to Madonna, who gave them the brand-name notoriety they deserve, is great (Dolce & Gabbana got big press for designing the outfits for Madonna's "Girlie Show" tour). Their recent work with Whitney Houston on her world tour was also spectaclar as these gentleman know how to make a woman look and feel like one.

I am so happy that Dolce & Gabanna, wo are my all-time favorite designers have been in the fashion business for over a decade already. I hope to see a followup of this book very soon, whenever they reach their 20th anniversary. An excellent tribute to a talented duo.

Great pictures of famous people in their D&G clothes. Advertisements with Linda Evangelista (great!) and Madonna, Demi Moore and many others. A must have!

I consider Dolce & Gabbana to be among the very best designers of our time- very much in the same class as the late Gianni Versace, a fellow Italian designer.

The photography in this book is very, very good most of the time. My favorite pictures are from a Fall 1995 ad campaign that featured my favorite, Linda Evangelista. Here she is, with her trademark Sassoon angled bob, one of her best looks ever. Another favorite set are of Nadja Auermann and Kate Moss, from a 1992 campaign. So over the top!

Also included are some celebrities, like Demi Moore and Madonna, who had D&G design her Girlie Show costumes.

You don't have to be a fashionista to appreciate this folio. I think this book would look great on ANYONE's coffee table.

Utilizing their fascination for traditional rural fashions, the designing dream team of Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana has captured the fashion world by storm. Since their company's inception in 1982 to the present, Dolce & Gabbana has made Italian fashion look so wearable.

This book, which celebrates their first 10 years in business, is a collection of past ad campaigns and a plethora of celebrities that normally would make a coffee-table book about fashion appealing. With a foreword by Isabella Rossellini, and appearances by many top name fashion models, Dolce & Gabbana's vision of incorporating Sicilian (Dolce is orginally from Palermo, Sicily) & rural styles is genius. Their tribute to Madonna, who gave them the brand-name notoriety they deserve, is great (Dolce & Gabbana got big press for designing the outfits for Madonna's "Girlie Show" tour). Their recent work with Whitney Houston on her world tour was also spectaclar as these gentleman know how to make a woman look and feel like one.

I am so happy that Dolce & Gabanna, wo are my all-time favorite designers have been in the fashion business for over a decade already. I hope to see a followup of this book very soon, whenever they reach their 20th anniversary. An excellent tribute to a talented duo.

If you want to get your work out there to be published, this is the book for you. It is a must have for any kind of artist. I was amazed to find all the listings they offer in here. Each listing is detailed into type of work, contact info, and the book is indexed real well. It is categorized and also you can look people up by their name as well. Another great feature of this book is there is a glossary in the back if you are unfamiliar with any terms used in it. This book will be so valuable to me. If you are serious about getting published but you don't know where to even start, get this book. Very important tool.

Am a successful full-time freelancer for past 14 years, selling illustrations consistently to Fortune 100 companies. Every year, I mail out at least 50 sample packages to various listings in this book, and in ten years, have NEVER received a paying job.
The occasional postcard acknowledging receipt perhaps, but that's about it. One sample package sent to a company in a neighboring state not listed in the book got me a year's worth of work. That place was discovered by me on my own with no help from them. I suppose you could infer that maybe it's me or my approach or sample package. Yet, time and again, the exact same cover letter and materials sent to places I've discovered by myself have yielded work. I think the companies listed here, with the possible exception of the magazines paying $15 for a gag cartoon, aren't really in the market for work or if they are, it's very rare. I mean, $200 spent sending work to every greeting card company that was applicable to my work and not a SINGLE postcard or reply?! I once sent a sample package to a publisher, received a "no thanks" letter from them and then ONE week later, my agent called with work from the same publisher. This leads me to believe that they pay no attention to submissions that have originated by people reading this book. Again, efforts on my own have had much better results. If others have found this book useful, good luck to them, but anyone looking to make more than $20 an illustration, don't bother. Spend the money on phone calls and postage.

An invaluable resource for any artist who wants to be a part of the current marketplace, this book is also good for fine artists, to increase their income and gain visibility.
Aside from the thousands of listings, there are many articles, as well as interviews with people who have gained success in their field, that are informative and useful. I especially appreciate "Crash Course in Copyright", which simplifies a complex subject, and makes it understandable; it is a must to read before signing any contract.

Everyone will have favorite chapters that apply to their specific talents; I have 3 which are heavily underlined and often read.
The listings, or "Markets" are:
1. Greeting Cards, Gifts & Products
2. Magazines
3. Posters & Prints
4. Book Publishers
5. Galleries
6. Syndicates & Cartoon Features
7. Stock Illustration & Clip Art Firms
8. Advertising, Design & Related Markets
9. Record Labels
There are also listings of Artist's Reps, Web sites, and a glossary of art-related terms.

Many listings have web site addresses, which enable one to see if the "look" the company projects is a right match for your style, before mailing samples; also the contact person, and what type of work they are looking for, method and range of payment, and much more.
This is a book I buy yearly, as every issue has new listings, updates, and deletions, and I consider it a worthy investment.
One of the listings in the "Book Publishers" section is Artist's & Graphic Designer's Market: When you have collected enough freelance work from companies in the listings in this book, send them the printed pages, photographs or tear sheets, and your work might get selected as one of the numerous illustrations that are used as examples in the book.

Perfect transaction. Prompt secure shipping. Would definitely buy from again.

If you're looking to market your illustration or design work, particularly, this book is the ultimate resource. I've been buying it for years and have to say it is always up-to-date and a real time saver for me. I don't think I could remain in today's competitive freelance market if I didn't have the help of a book like this doing the lion's share of the market research for me. BRAVO, again, to Mary Cox, editor, for another fine edition of this invaluable resource.

This is the book you need if you are looking for a complete -and at the same time- condensed history of 20th century fashion and its most important designers.
It is very interesting and well written, besides... it has amazing pictures! Great value for your money ;)

VOGUE was launched in New York on December 17, 1892. This outstanding book chronicles more than just a century of fashion. Written with in-depth focus, this gorgeous book hits on the pulse of the attitudes, societal values, and social elegance that the designer's portrayed, as well as how American culture was reinvented decade after decade. This is one outstanding book, and shows just how far we've come. Special thanks to Linda Watson for an outstanding job in bringing the 20th century to life. Simply FANTASTIC!

i used this book to help me with a research paper on fashions reflections of society's morals. i loved the format and it was so useful. i learned so much and appreciated the truthfulness.

This is a very small book. It's about the size of a paperback novel. The first half is a very brief history of western fashion, focusing on each decade of the 20th century. The second half contains very brief biographies of many fashion designers. How brief? Sometimes there are 5 on a single small page. There are very few photos. I would have liked to have seen one or two photos of every designer's work. Instead there's maybe one photo for every fifth designer. The book is good for a quick lookup of "Who? Never heard of them before." It's not great if you really want to know about someone's work.

Vogue Twentieth Century Fashion - 100 Years of Style by Decade and Designer is another superb book, which we recommend. Written by Linda Watson it is very informative and also has the status of a coffee table book. The book contains the biographies of 245 international fashion designers and couturiers. It starts off with a description about the various fashion decades of the 20th Century. Entertaining are the quotes from old Vogue magazines about the latest fashion trends. The oldest Vogue, which is quoted is from 19 August 1909. Needless to say that there are many pictures and photos on each page.

At almost 88 years old and still working, it is no wonder Albert Hadley is referred to as the Dean of American Interior Design. For those wanting to learn how to add some style to their interiors, this book is a "must have". A biography which includes his early years and the later famous collaboration with business partner Sister Parish, is followed by discussions of some of his projects during his long career, including those recent to the publication date. Documentary photos are included along with his own delightful sketches and designs for wallpaper and fabrics. Unfortunately, it appears that no photos of interiors were taken expressly for this book so the quality of some images will not meet the expectations of some readers. Never-the-less, something can be learned from each picture for those who are willing to study them. There is an index and a listing of the books, magazine and newspaper articles mentioning Hadley's work. The interior design profession has been greatly improved by the numbers who have been his student at Parsons School of Design and the decorators and architects who have trained as employees of the legendary firm, Parish-Hadley. Now some of the knowledge of the Master is available for the readers of this book.

This was a great book. The pictures are wonderful and it makes an excellent coffee table book. The pictures of Brooke Astor's library alone, are worth buying the book. It is nicely written and I liked the fact that Hadley himself collaborated on this book. It gives a nice insight on one of America's best decorators. Perfect book for giving as a gift to anyone who is interested in Hadley or just a fan of Interior Decorating.

Very fast shipping for Xmas time. Happy with book. It was a gift and the person I gave it to loved it.

Not only does Adam Lewis' biography of Albert Hadley allow us to take a retrospective look at the great man's life and career, he allows us do this on the most part through Hadley's own words. "Albert Hadley: The story of America's preeminent interior designer" is an important work about the dean of American decorating, and undoubtedly one of the greatest designers in the world today. Having studied under Van Day Treux at NY Parsons school and then going on to work for the top firms of the day - Mc Millen and then with Sister Parish before their eventual partnership of Parish-Hadley, Albert Hadley's clients were America' wealthy and elite. He has created some of the most famous, stylish, chic and absolutely timeless interiors, and the photographs of these will make this book a monograph in my library that I will refer to and study meticulously time and time again.

Great written history however the visual presentation of his work is poorly represented.

My 4 year old twins love this book, and it made trips to the art museum even more enjoyable becasue we have really gotten into the paintings like Anna does. A great journey.

It's a pretty good book because it shows lots of artists and what they painted. You can see the paintings and they are really good looking. Some are splatters; some are good paintings. And you can see what the artists did. Some of the artists were painting still lifes; some were painting splatters. They look as though the real artists painted them.

Anna is in an art museum and needs to go to the bathroom. While she looks, she ends up meeting famous artists. I learned how you can get lost in painting and how to paint different ways. My mom wishes that women artists had been included. Excellent book, with color illustrations and will be of interest to 2nd through the 4th graders. Recommended reading for teachers and parents, also.

Not only are the illustrations in this book fantastic, but the tale itself, as it incorporates a variety of artists, provides a fun, accessible entrance into the world of art that will help children feel comfortable with and begin to enjoy visual art. The fact that each page does not provide detailed information about the works and the artists does not detract from the quality of the book because it, in fact, provides a great opportunity for the adult reading with the child to discuss the art and the artists. This is a great book and comes highly reccomended.

Although you will not find any wicked witches, wolves or cauldrons in this book, the view of a girl child's world presented by the author and illustrator frighten me as much as any Grimm tale that I have left to mildew in the garage.
As the book starts, Anna is invited to share the day with her uncle at his job- in the art museum. The first thing that man does is to annihilate her, he does not welcome her to share his day, he allows her to witness it, as if through a one way mirror. She is admonished from the start to be virtually invisible. When invisible Anna's bladder threatens to leave a visible puddle on the floor, her pleas for help are unheard. Wetting yourself and being unheard, could well be the two most frightening daily traumas a child must face.
Once this terror of a backdrop ruse is hung, we are led on a frantic tour of a male dominated euro-centric art history, as if over saturated Anna, or any person worried on her behalf is going to manage to absorb one ounce of art history. While readers are sitting with their legs and fingers crossed, sympathetic mothers might begin hoping that Anna will encounter a woman who would surely pay attention and help her- but our hopes sink lower and lower as each turn of the page reveals yet another self centered masculine artist.
I am both a mother and an artist, and I would like to see this book re-written to include women artists, and non- europeans shoulder to shoulder with the men, and I would like to see Anna's needs respected and met. The illustrations are indeed lovely, but sadly the story line is too tragic to ignore.