Product Description

This book is the most compact and lucid handbook available outlining the basic principles of layout, typography, colour usage and space. Being a creative designer is often about coming up with unique design solutions. Unfortunately, when the basic rules of design are ignored in an effort to be distinctive, design becomes useless. In language, a departure from the rules is only appreciated as great literature if recognition of the rules underlies the text. Graphic design is a 'visual language' and brilliance is recognised in designers whose work seems to break all the rules, yet communicates its messages clearly. This is a fun and accessible handbook that presents the fundamentals of design in lists, tips, brief text and examples. The chapters include Graphic Design: What It Is; What Are They and What Do They Do?, Choosing and Using Type and Breaking the Rules: When and Why to Challenge all the Rules of this Book.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #13779 in Books
• Published on: 2007-04-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

About the Author
Timothy Samara is a graphic designer and educator. His fifteen-year career includes a diverse project history, from branding systems and user interfaces to books, animation and architectural work. He is the author of Making and Breaking the Grid, Typography Workbook, Publication Workbook and Type Style Finder, all from Rockport Publishers. He lives in New York, USA.

Customer Reviews

An absolute must have for anyone with portfolio based work
Currently I am in the third year of my architecture degree where the porfolio and the exhibition are the most important aspects of the degree. I have struggled to find a book which gave me assistance on improviing the graphical communication of my work, until I found this one.

As anyone doing a design based degree will know, portfolios are not just a collection of work, they are a visual communication of an idea and an extension of the work.

This book has the ideal balance of examples (all neatly catagorised to help you understand what it is that makes them a good example) as well as informative text which acts as an aid rather than the main descriptive tool.

The categories are clearly headed and organised and allw for quick reference and understanding. Just flicking through and simply looking at the diagrams and pictures has already given me numerous ideas and understanding.

Offering a set of rules and guidelines this book helps to develop a personal awareness of HOW to create something visually pleasing and communicate clearly instead of teaching how others do it with no real understanding of the method involved.

I have not found a single book that sums up graphical communication as this one does. A vital tool in porfolio design I would HIGHLY recommend this book to anyone who needs to present a portfolio. The applications of this book would also extend and be extremely useful for anyone involved in visual communication.

Excellent value for money, a really smart and sleek book, and a must have on a designers shelf. BRILLIANT!