Graphic Design Solutions, Third Edition

Book Description

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Cutting-edge concepts, a beautifully illustrated text, and a dazzling array of award-winning design make the third edition of this standout best-seller one of the most highly acclaimed design texts in the world. Graphic Design Solutions continues to provide a clear and comprehensive introduction to graphic design and advertising design, with step-by-step visual solutions that readers can apply with confidence to their own design and advertising projects. A highly illustrative, straightforward assessment of developing winning graphic design solutions for a variety of media-including print, Web, television, and unconventional formats-helps designers think critically and creatively about their work while understanding the demands of the graphic design profession in today's world.

(Thomson Learning) Outlines step-by-step procedures readers can apply to solve design or advertising problems. Includes projects and exercises throughout. Contains more than 275 full-color illustrations. Provides web design, web logos, annual reports, branding, and portfolio projects. Previous edition: c1996. Softcover. DLC: Commercial art

About the Author

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Robin Landa is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Design at Kean University of New Jersey and a branding consultant and creative strategist with her own firm, RobinLanda.com. In addition to being a frequent speaker on the subjects of advertising, graphic design, branding, and creativity, Ms. Landa is an award-winning designer and author. She is the author of Advertising by Design, Designing Brand Experiences, and the best-selling Graphic Design Solutions.

Inside This Book

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First Sentence: Graphic design is America's most pervasive art form.

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): graphic design solution, designing with type, graphic design applications, visual hierarchy, twenty sketches, ten sketches, promotional design, kirshenbaum bond, typographic elements, graphic impact, design firm, spatial depth, visual weight, graphic space, typographic design

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): New York, San Francisco, Petrula Vrontikis, Presentation Present, Pentagram Design, Los Angeles, Creative Group, Kean University, Vrontikis Design Office, Museum of Modern Art, Tony Ciccolella, Paula Scher, Associates Inc, Jennifer Sterling Design, Martin Holloway Graphic Design, Morla Design, Stefan Sagmeister, Anne Klein, Geismar Inc, Jack Anderson, French Fries, Joyce Nesnadny, Louise Fili Ltd, Planet Design Company, Saks Fifth Avenue

Some Review

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Favorite Graphic Design Book

I just finished reading all but one or two chapters of this book for a class where this was the primary text. I have to say that this book goes everywhere with me and has become a favorite. Compared to the other text books I had this semester (and many others as well), this was a breath of fresh air.

The writing was never dry and it never dragged. What I read really stuck with me and I looked forward to my weekly reading. Also having the exercises at the end of most of the chapters is wonderful for a student for further learning that truly is self-paced. I plan on doing most, if not all of these exercises for further practice. I am definitely going to have to look into Landa's other titles as well.

By Sarah Merchant (Lebanon, ME United States)

Most Helpful Book on Graphic Design

This book is loaded with valuable (clearly stated) information and outstanding illustrations to demonstrate successful creative thinking and targeted solutions.

By Leo Lois (Pennsylvania)

Graphic Design External links

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"Graphic Design" from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Graphic Design Agency"

Exploring the Elements of Design

Book Description

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With the same straightforward approach and dynamic examples that made the first edition so popular, this fully revised second edition of Exploring The Elements of Design again presents the very latest in graphic design concepts side by side with some of the best contemporary design work.

Created by two leading designer-educators as a very practical and very visual introduction to the art of graphic design, this richly illustrated full-color book offers clear explanations of the fundamental principles, award-winning examples of professional work, and diagrams that clearly show how these principles operate in successful design solutions.

Coverage begins with primary design elements, moves on to the use of color, typography, and imagery, and concludes with an overview of the field of graphic design and related career options.

The revised second edition adds new and insightful material on creative thinking, visual problem-solving, and research strategies used to pursue effective design solutions plus Web and New Media applications to reflect the most current media design trends--all designed to prepare readers for success in every aspect of the ever-changing world of graphic design.

Book Info

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Text shows how design elements and design principles work together to create effective communication.

Begins with the primary design principles of unity, variety, hierarchy, and proportion.

Includes profiles of successful designers with samples from their portfolios. Color illustrations. Softcover. DLC: Graphic arts.

About the Author

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Poppy Evans is an award-winning writer, graphic designer, and Assistant Professor in Communication Arts at The Art Academy of Cincinnati.

She is an AIGA board member for the Cincinnati Chapter, a former managing editor for HOW magazine, and the author of Exploring Publication Design.

Mark Thomas is Professor and Chair of the Communication Arts Department at the Art Academy of Cincinnati, where he has been teaching for 20 years.

Mark has developed courses in design research methods, illustration, and design systems as well as a thesis program for communication arts.

He is a graphic designer, illustrator, and published author who has designed numerous exhibitions, catalogues, and posters for graphic designers, fine artists, and illustrators.

An award winning designer for educational board game design, he holds a U.S. Patent for an educational color demonstration device and method for teaching color theory.

Some Review

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An excellent text book

This book was a text book for my college course Intro to Graphic Design. I loved the book. It's easy to understand and provides a lot of great references, instruction and detail. I learned alot about design from this text. This book provides a good, solid introduction to graphic design.

By Rose, (Loveland, CO United States)

Great book about design

This book give you a solid base to be a good designer, inside it you can read about theories and principles of design with a lot of real-world pratical solutions.
The book covers the principles of scale, balance, repetition and proximity; the elements of shape, line, size, color, texture, imagery and typography. At the end of each chapter you have a real-world project to do and a list of questions about the chapter.

By Robin Benson

Design External links

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"Design" from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Graphic Design" from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Graphic Design Agency"

Swiss Graphic Design

Book Description

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Swiss graphic design and "the Swiss Style" are crucial elements in the history of modernism.

During the 1920s and ’30s, skills traditionally associated with Swiss industry, particularly pharmaceuticals and mechanical engineering, were matched by those of the country’s graphic designers, who produced their advertising and technical literature.

These pioneering graphic artists saw design as part of industrial production and searched for anonymous, objective visual communication.

They chose photographic images rather than illustration, and typefaces that were industrial-looking rather than those designed for books.

Written by noted design authority Richard Hollis, this lavishly illustrated volume looks at the uniquely clear graphic language developed by such Swiss designers as Theo Ballmer, Max Bill, Adrian Frutiger, Karl Gerstner, Armin Hoffman, Ernst Keller, Herbert Matter, Josef Müller-Brockmann, and Jan Tschichold.

The style of these artists received worldwide admiration for its formal discipline: images and text were organized by geometrical grids. Adopted internationally, the grid and sans serif typefaces such as Helvetica became the classic emblems of Swiss graphic design.

Showcasing design work across a range of media, including posters, magazines, exhibition displays, brochures, advertisements, books, and film, this essential book shows how many of the Swiss designers’ modernist elements remain an indispensable part of today’s graphic language.

About the Author

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Richard Hollis is a graphic designer and scholar of design.

His previous books include Graphic Design: A Concise History (2002).

Some Review

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To go boldly with Helvetica

The 'Swiss style' comes alive in this fascinating and very comprehensive study. If you design for print and ever wondered how some everyday graphic principles and typefaces originated the answer is in these pages. The story begins in twenties central Europe with a merging of modern art, the Bauhaus, Russian constructivism, craft printing techniques, photography and strong cultural attitudes in German speaking Zurich. All of these influences produced a graphic language of simplicity and directness that spread across Switzerland and one would expect nothing less from a country associated with order and precision.

Interesting as the text is I was particularly impressed with the several hundred illustrations (all with extensive captions) and as this is a book about a visual style and basically a printed one the choice of posters, examples of typography and many spreads from brochures, magazines, books all work well to complement the words.

I was interested in the several pages devoted to the magazine 'Neue Grafik' (New Graphic Design) which was the flagship publication of the Zurich modernists. It only ran for seventeen issues (from 1958 to a double issue seventeen and eighteen in 1965) but was really the only opportunity for designers outside Switzerland to see what was going on. Strangely, despite the design aiming for clarity, reading the issues was a bit of a chore. Three languages were set in each edition in one typeface and one size with paragraphs stretching sometimes to hundreds of words with no par indents or line space. However each spread looked fresh and lively thanks to the publication's grid.

I think it is worth commenting on the book's production. Designed by the author it uses a two column grid but nicely many pages just have one column of text and the space for the other text column is divided into two and used for illustrations and captions. The many variations of these column elements really make the pages sparkle and I think many publication designers could learn something by studying how the text and graphics blend together throughout the book.

Richard Hollis is to be congratulated on writing and designing a book that will surely be regarded as the definitive study about the origins of the Swiss Style.

By Robin Benson

Graphic Design External links

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"Graphic Design" from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Graphic Design Agency"

Meggs' History of Graphic Design

Book Description

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Now in its Fourth Edition, this unrivaled, seminal work continues its long tradition of providing balanced insight and thorough historical background.

Under the new authorial leadership of Alston Purvis, this authoritative book offers more than 450 new images, along with expansive coverage of such topics as Italian, Russian, and Dutch design.

It reveals a saga of creative innovators, breakthrough technologies, and important design innovations.

Book Info

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Presents hundreds of full-color images & new material in many areas, including alphabets, Japanese & Dutch graphics, & the computer revolution which has impacted all aspects of contemporary design & communications.

DLC: Graphic design (Typography) - History. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

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The late PHILIP B. MEGGS was a designer, educator, and author.
He was School of the Arts Research Professor, Communication Arts and Design Department, at Virginia Commonwealth University; visiting faculty at Syracuse University and the National College of Art and Design in Dublin, Ireland; and contributing editor to Print magazine.

He authored more than a dozen books and 150 articles and papers on design and typography, including a section on graphic design in Encyclopedia Britannica.

He was inducted into the Art Directors Hall of Fame and received its Educator's Award for lifetime achievement and significantly shaping the future of the fields of graphic design education and writing.

ALSTON W. PURVIS is Associate Professor of Graphic Design at Boston University.

During his career, he has worked as an instructor at The Cooper Union and at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts at The Hague.

His photographs have been exhibited in Amsterdam, London, New York, and Paris.

He is the author of Dutch Graphic Design, 1918–1945 (Wiley) and H.N. Werkman; and coauthor of Graphic Design 20th Century; A Century of Posters; and Wendingen: A Journal of Arts 1918–1932.

From the Inside Flap

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Under the new authorial leadership of Alston W. Purvis, Meggs' History of Graphic Design, Fourth Edition offers hundreds of full-color images supported by the latest information, including a new chapter on modern type design.

With more than 1,000 illustrations, lucid text, and interpretive captions, this Fourth Edition reveals a saga of creative innovators, breakthrough technologies, and important design innovations.

Graphic design is a vital component of each culture and period in human history, and this Fourth Edition was carefully reviewed and updated to best represent the work of particular time periods and designers.

This edition's historic account is an extraordinary panorama of people and events, including:

• The Invention of Writing and Alphabets


• Medieval Manuscript Books


• The Origins of Printing and Typography


• Renaissance Graphic Design


• The Arts and Crafts Movement


• Victorian and Art Nouveau Graphics


• Modern Art and Its Impact on Design


• Visual Identity and Conceptual Images


• Postmodern Design


• The Computer Graphics Revolution

A History of Graphic Design, Fourth Edition surpasses in detail and breadth the content, design, and color reproduction of previous editions.

Professionals, students, and everyone who works with or loves the world of graphic design will quickly find this reference tool is an invaluable visual survey that they will turn to again and again.

Some Review

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Wonderful Book

This book is a great comprehensive history of graphic communication from the cave paintings till today. I'm using it as textbook for one of my classes in college and it is wonderful. It is also beautifully designed.

By Rebeca A. Collazo, (New York City)

History Of Grahpics

I found that this book is well illustrated and more focused on the history of graphics rather than the technique. I purchased this as a school text book requirement but will be keeping the book for my own personal enjoyment. Book is larger than expected and dates from early cave paintins and their symbolic and graphic relevance through some of the early wood and block prints up to Warhol and current used of design and typography.

By M. Diggins, (D.C.)

Grapgic Design External links

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"Graphic Design" from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Graphic Design Agency"