Noisy Decent Graphics

SODB: Seventy-Nine Short Essays On Design

This is the best design book I've ever read.

This is the last Summer Of Design Books post. Have you enjoyed it? I have, although I've been disappointed that only Loic bothered posting anything! Especially as lots of people told me they were writing reviews and then didn't. Lazy buggers.

I'm also disappointed that I didn't manage to get through all the books I'd wanted to this summer. But hey, there are plenty more summers left.

Still, this is one book I did read. And I'm glad I did because it's brilliant. I made notes throughout and I'm gonna stick photos of those up here. That might not be much use to you. Which is tough, really. You should buy the book.

The problem with all the design books I've read feel like they've been written by wankers. They might not have been, but they feel like they have. Boring, self important people. Not the sort of people you'd want to be sat next to on a plane. You know the type.

This feels like it's been written by a mate. Or a really interesting bloke you met in a nice pub who happened to know a lot about graphic design.

Like the title says, it's 79 short essays about design. The key word there is short. Short is good in design books. It's more like a collection of blog posts.

It's humorous in places and laugh out loud funny in others. It's humble and personal but it covers the big debates of the day - Innovation is the New Black is a good example. It's been written with care and thought. It has plenty of head nodding familiar moments.

I couldn't put it down - and there's no other design book you can say that about is there?

Michael Johnson has written a more detailed, scholarly post about the book here. He even lists writing tips gleened from the book which are well worth a read and a bookmark.

You should buy it.

 

Summer of Design Books: The Golden Age of Magazine Illustration

Not written by me, written by you as part of the Summer Of Design Books series. I know it's not summer now. This is the penultimate one. Not that you lot bloody care, it was only Loic who ever wrote them!
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

This book focuses on what the author, Gilles de Bure, calls the golden age of illustration: the '60s and the '70s.
Is this so true? Seen from France, it seems illustration is still alive in the UK press, but I'm not sure.
Anyway, what is true is that this era saw the rise of a generation of brillant commercial artists, mostly around the Push Pin Studio, and the main interest of this book is to offer a nice panorama of pictures from often long gone magazines.

The is divided in a dozen of sections, each one dedicated to a social issue, like the american dream, war and violence, couple and sexuality, etc.
But the book ends with more monographic chapters, sometimes exciting (Paul Davis' theater posters or the ) sometimes too long for this book(Guy Pellaert's portraits).

What is amazing is to see the reflection of these days' occidental society in drawings and paintings. And not only in the subjects, but also in the style. I mean, no one draws like that anymore, right?

Turn the 200 pages of this book and you'll read a very precise story of these publishers, illustrators and designers, and there's a ggod reason for that: Gilles de Bure was there. He met almost all the people he names in his book, and some of them are still friends, allowing us to watch some rare original material (300 picture, yes sir!).

Unfortunatly, the main problem with that book is its layout: too much white space sometimes kills the picture, that's why you won't see plain pages here, only samples from these great illustrations.

With this book you can see how powerful drawings can be and how a wise publisher with a talented artist can answer any challenge.
Despite its coffee-table style, this book is a rare item: not just a compilation of smart artworks, but rather a demonstration of what can be done in the press field with some graphic ambition.

Gilles de Bure
Vilo International, 1999
ISBN-10: 2909450422
ISBN-13: 978-2909450421

PS1: Yes, the cover shown is in french, but the english version is available.
PS2: Ok, Summer's leaving, so do I…

Summer of Design Books: Étienne Robial

Not written by me, written by Bureau L'Imprimante (mostly) as part of the Summer Of Design Books series. You can write and post a review too, go here and follow the simple instructions.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

After graduated from the national school of fine arts in 1967(where he was awarded the first prize France with the highest possible score of  20/20) , Étienne Robial quickly became one of the first booksellers specialized in comics.

This activity, taken by chance, led the guy to become a publisher himself, and to be involved in the design process.
He had the opportunity to work for himself, and design hundreds of various books and collections, with a very close attention to fonts and to the quality of print.

He had parallel adventures in his love story with print, working on movie posters, other publishers, record companies, etc.
but the main turn in his career was when he was asked to think about the art direction for Canal +, a pay-TV channel broadcast in middle of the '80s.
This was for him the opportunity to invent the concept of screen idents.

Since then, he's been doing this for many various networks , Canal + remaining his main employer - and he's still there, holding the design commands with flying colours.

With his clients, he only shows one answer.
He's been working a lot, on many many different routes, but he chose to come up with only one.
The client may be a bit frustrated, but the solution he has to offer is often strong, balanced, and filled with possibilities.

Now with this book: it's a small, light and unexpensive collection, filled pictures (almost no text), but most important, it's the only book - as far as I know - with such a large panaorama of Mr Robial's work. And of course it comes with a disc featuring samples of his motion work.

Étienne Robial
Pyramyd editions, Design & Designers #028, Paris 2004
ISBN 2-910565-84-X

Summer of Design Books: Graphic Designers

Not written by me, written by you as part of the Summer Of Design Books series. You can write and post a review too, go here and follow the simple instructions.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

I found this pair of jewels in the window of an antique books store.
I had never seen this collection before, anyone here did?
It seems there's been 4 volumes devoted to each side of the Atlantic, and I guess it's a japanese project.
Printed in Tokyo, photocomposition in Neuchâtel, lay-out designed by gan hosoya in the early '70s.
The inside of each book is divided in 4 parts, each one containg a quick presentation of the designer (sometimes written by the guy himself)

followed by a series of works.

The text is in french, english and german, so if you spot any of these anywhere, just jump on'em.

I tried to sum up each portrait in one sentence and one spread, and it goes a little some like this:

Graphic Designers Europe vol.2

Giovanni Pintori built his own house, and could build a boat as easily.

Edward Bawden travels, paints, and teaches a lot.

Hans Hillman: “JUST WORK”

Herbert Leupin is from the old school, but so Swiss…

Graphic Designers USA vol.1

Louis danzinger prefers to do less work and continue to remain more directly involved in its production.

Herb Lubalin talks about the future of the design business (i.e. the '70s): focus on the 25-yeras old people if you want to sell.

Peter Max closed his commercial studio to build a new art form: Cosmic Art (it is supposed to have a calming effect on the nervous system).

Henry Wolf is glad that big business is now looking for the odd-ball thinker to show him off.

Graphic Designers
USA Vol.1
1971
Europe Vol.2
1972

Bijutsu Shuppan-sha, Tokyo
& Office du Livre, Fribourg

No ISBN

And by the way, if you're around here I can guess you like design books reviews, right? So let me suggest you this amazing blog I discovered while preparing this post.

Summer of Design Books: Book Imprimé

Not written by me, written by you as part of the Summer Of Design Books series. You can write and post a review too, go here and follow the simple instructions.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

1985: Straight outta Washington DC, Susanna Shannon starts working in France with Etienne Robial at the Futuropolis editions.
1985: My father brings home avant-garde comic books published by Futuropolis. I really enjoy these, and the lettering on most covers is fascinating.

1993: Design Dept., the design studio co-founded by Susanna Shannon publishes Irrégulomadaire n°3, totally dedicated to the BHV shop. The cover is print on green + black on a green paper.
1993: In a design magazine, I notice loads of spreads from different issues of a strange publication called Irregulomadaire.
I learn that designers can publish their own stuff, and also that publishing a magazine only from time to time is possible and is even quite cool
The design of the pages is awesome, it'll inspire me a lot in my art student's work.

1996: SS  designs a lot of stuff for labor unions, especially in two colours, and especially for the newborn Sud, wild and tough.
1996: I put black+yellow Sud stickers against the privatization of France Telecom in the streets of my neighbourhood.

1998: Irregulomadaire is now at its 5th issue, and Design Dept. has the idea to design and sell a diary.
1998: I ask (and get) Design Dept.'s diary for christmas. I learn that using the scanner as a camera is possible and is even quite cool.

2001: S.S. is called to re-design L'Expansion, an economics magazine.
2001: I now am a freelance illustrator. I work for L'Expansion's AD, Jean-Paul Van Der Elst,  he tells me he's now working with this american girl, she's nice, but, you know, americans are sometimes a bit wild.

2006: S.S. is called to re-design Les Inrockuptibles, a magazine about culture.
2006: I'm so fed up with the editorial content of this magazine, I don't even notice the qualities of the design.

2007: Invited at the 18th International Poster and Graphic Arts Festival of Chaumont, I am lucky enough to meet up with Catherine. She's Susanna's assistant for a while now, she learned the design job from her and we talk until late about the right way to work, the printers, the photographers, etc. The wine flows.
A few weeks later she sends me this big red book, and I realise how much S.S. has been close to me all these years, how her design was a part of my environment, and its influence on my own work.
I have not met her yet, but as we seem to get closer year after year, I guess It may happen around 2010.
And one more spread for the road:

Book Imprimé
Déballage de design graphique

Susanna Shannon
pictures by Loren Leport

Irrégulomadaire + école des beaux-arts de Rennes 2006, Paris

ISBN 2 908373 56 4

Summer of Design Books: Vignelli: From A to Z

Not written by me, written by you as part of the Summer Of Design Books series. You can write and post a review too, go here and follow the simple instructions.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

For holiday reading this year I took away Vignelli: From A to Z. To be honest, I didn't know much about Massimo Vignelli before reading this: there was the Subway Map of course, Helvetica and the Michael Bierut connection. Now, I feel I know lots and while I can't say I totally agree with everything the great man has to say in his book, I really feel I've learned useful stuff and been reminded of many vital aspect of being a designer; things I perhaps already knew but lacked the elegance and insight of Vignelli to be able to express as clearly.

The book is a collection of short essays, cunningly ordered to follow the 21 letters of the Italian alphabet and there's something of value to be gleamed from almost every one of them.

So what I've done is attempt to extract just that, something of value, from each essay. Not necessarily the only useful or interesting thing and possibly not even the most important you may feel if you read it yourself; certainly, great benefit would be gained from taking the plunge rather than relying on my sorry attempt to summarize.

But here goes anyway, helpful or unhelpful: extracts, thoughts, observations or misunderstandings taken from Vignell: From A to Z...

A) Ambiguity:
Fun to play with, it can enrich work and instill "a sense of timelessness"...but handle it with care.

B) Books:
"The task of the designer is to transform an ordinary object into an extraordinary experience."

C) Chromotype:
Vignelli's term used to represent "identification by the consistent use of colour connected to all graphic aspects of a company's communication media". Also: Phonotype for sound (think Intel Inside) and Morphotype for a form identifier (as in the shell for...well, you know what).

D) Discipline:
"...what makes us responsible towards ourselves...our clients...the society in which we live."

E) Education:
"The best education is generated by an insatiable passion to learn more..."

F) Furniture:
Here he mentions his theory of "Identity and Diversity" in which a limited number of elements can be arranged and rearranged while a clear and recognisable identity is retained.

G) Garments:
Applying a modernist/reductionist approach Vignelli designed a range of cloths to suit his own needs. Some still look cool,elegant and timeless; others look like they're costumes for a 70s sci-fi film. In the context in which I read the book, our rainy holiday in Donegal, this bit highlighted just what a superb but underrated garment the pack-a-mac is; a great and unfashionable example of form and function. 

H) Helvetica:
I didn't know that Vignelli was, literally, the man responsible for Helvetica reaching the US.

H) History:
"...artefacts generated without knowledge [of history] ultimately express their ignorance, shallowness and fundamental uselessness."

I) Interiors:
"The real challenge is to design a space in a way that will create an impact and remain forever ingrained in the mind..."

L) Lighting:
"To control light is to darkness, as well as articulate and manipulate emotions, objects, spaces, feelings, life."

M) Magazines:
"Magazine design means organising information in the clearest way possible; to achieveimpact, memorability; to involve the reader...to establish a relationship...a bond."

N) Newspapers:
To design a newspaper means to organise in such a way that it will facilitate the make-up of each issue, its production...and then (see Magazine).

O) Objects:
"To design objects is to play with light."

P) Packaging:
"If protection is the primary function of packaging, deception has been more often the motivation...packaging can sell once, but only a good product will ensure continuous sales."

Q) Quality or Quantity:
"The moral imperative should be to reduce the ugliness around us...and replace it with decent, unselfish design."

R) Responsibility:
"Responsibility is not only an ethical attitude but an approach that stands for quality and is economically sound as well."

S) Structure:
In graphic design, "...without [structure] the content is loose and in that randomness, the message is lost."

S) Style:
Style = Intellectual elegance

T) Typography:
Structure comes first. Typeface comes second.

U) Universities:
"University training will provide...the proper cultural level to give depth to [a designers] work...to make...the responsible designers that society needs."

V) Vignelli Associates:
In this last bit Vignelli gives a brief overview of his studio and takes the opportunity to commend and thank his most notable empoyees.

The Summer of Design Books: Print Liberation

Not written by me, written by you as part of the Summer Of Design Books series. You can write and post a review too, go here and follow the simple instructions.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

This time in SDB, no history of design, no theory of design, no beautiful forgotten design.
So what's let left to talk about, you may wonder.
Well, what about screen print technique?
Plenty of DIY here, and I know you like it.

You may have noticed that there's a tradition of screen print shops in the US. Creating posters mostly for touring rock bands, these local designers produce an amount of fresh graphics.
This book will teach you how during the great depression the government sponsored (amongst others) artists and printmakers in a program that allowed to them to publicize concerts, plays and community events, and also made artwork accessible to the people.
But it's not the main topic of this book.

Written by the Philadelphia-based duo Print Liberation, it will teach you how to print, wich tools you need, how to build your studio, and even how to be successful.

No need for a lot of money to start (they say 40$ and a bathroom) and a lot of step by steps in pictures, covering a large range of situations: print on t-shirts, print on the walls, print on thick objects, etc.

Very helpful if you want to make it through this technique, or even if you just wanna dream that one day you'll do it (as I do).

Print Liberation
The Screen Printing Primer

Nick Paparone & Jamie Dillon
with Luren Jenison

North Light Books 2008, Cincinnati

ISBN 1600610722

Summer of Design Books: The Story of Graphic Design in France

Not written by me, written by you as part of the Summer Of Design Books series. You can write and post a review too, go here and follow the simple instructions.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

I've read this book in the french version, but the english one should be (and looks) the same, so here we go.

You all know that the Didots used to be pionneers at the XVIIIth century, and you also know how gorgeous M/M 's work can be.
But what happened in between?

It's time to discover french's specific timeline and masterpieces, and how after the golden years (until 1880) the avant-garde had to fight to be heard (and seen) and how 20 years after the WW2 the swiss style and the modernity will make it through the design schools.

But wait, here are the '70s and in the whole western world, this modern thing is getting boring, turning into the so-called international style.

So, how will designers working in France manage to jump into a New Typography train that's 40 years old, while postmodernism is making its way everywhere?

Michel Wlassikoff, graphic design historian, will tell it to you - and much more, as his book starts in 1500 and ends in 2005.

Plenty of pictures here, with the finest exemples and high quality reproductions.
You guessed it: what we have here is the ultimate book for graphic design in France.

The Story of Graphic Design in France
Michel Wlassikoff

Gingko Press

Summer of Design Books: Typography

Not written by me, written by you as part of the Summer Of Design Books series. You can write and post a review too, go here and follow the simple instructions.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Typography
Friedrich Friedl
Nicolaus Ott
bernard Stein

It's some kind of an international book, because it is written in eglish, french & german, but strangely (as I could see online) it's not the UK version who owns the best cover design. I don't know what's happening with her majesty's secret services, but anyway, here's how this book works: 3 parts when / who / how

So you start reading the chronology and travel through times, from this DR/David Carson era we all know, to the more exotic Mesopotamia/Sumer era.
It's a good way to put you in the mood, it's not too long, like 60 pages (with a lot of small pictures, and three languages in the same page, remember?) and you'll meet Fluxus, Constructivism, Baroque, Rome, and many more. Each style has its own spread, so you can just pick up the information you need in in an easy way.

Now you know - or you remember, depending on your age - what's this all about, and you can come into what's the real matter of this book: the Who section.

It's a big dictionnary about the people and the institutions relevant to type. You can't remember where Armin Hofmann was studying when he was 19? In Zürich of course (p.285). How many prizes did Hern Lubalin won? Don't look no further, it's "over 500” (p.355). And what has the Stiftung Bauhaus Dessau to do with the original Bauhaus? I'll let you read by yourself, it's on page 495.
And there's even a font index at the end!

And now that you're filled with all this science, it's time to put your hands in action, or at least to tell the workers what they'll have to do for you.
And they shall not try to cheat you, because the last part (When) is all about tools. The chisel won't have any secrets to you, nor the hand-ax. And if you ever wonder how a pen or a computer could be useful in this job, you'll find out in this short section.

More seriously, you'll notice that the laguages are always set in the same place of the spread (french on right and left, german on top, english at the bottom) with the pictures in the middle. I would say this is a very helpful use of the page space.

So, as you may have understood, this a book filled with various informations, but it's really easy to find its way to anything you're looking for. Is it so common? I'm not quite sure.
I recommend this book, a very useful tool (and not only to beginners) always next to my hand, with The Story of Graphic Design in France, but that's a story for another time.
Thanks for reading my crap english.

Typography, when whow, how
Friedrich Friedl
Nicolaus Ott
bernard Stein

Köneman 1998, Köln
isbn 3 89508 473 5

Michael Bieruit: The Yale Architecture Posters

Not written by me, written by you as part of the Summer Of Design Books series. You can write and post a review too, go here and follow the simple instructions.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

I am not good at writing reviews, cos I tend to gush a lot with excessive use of exclamation marks.
but will try n do my best here.

this a a book i nicked from a paper supplier which represent mohawk.
what impresses me most is the posters in it are so timeless and simple.
i guess this is like porn to graphic designer (well, at least to me)
its just so bold and striking and only using black and white.

are they even selling this book? think only 5000 were printed.
pics are from here:
http://blackwhitebliss.blogspot.com/2007/01/michael-bierut-yale-school-of.html

Summer of Design Books: Designed Maps

Not written by me, written by you as part of the Summer Of Design Books series. You can write and post a review too, go here and follow the simple instructions.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Designed Maps
Cynthia Brewer

i've become a bit of a fan of maps. since i did some travel around europe last year i realised that there's a definite art to developing that little valuable set of codes and indicators that will (when it comes to tourist maps) be mauled like it's a baby's dummy (or pacifier for those NYC peeps). so when i walked into my trust RMIT library and saw this on the 'just released' shelf, i thought i'd check it. why not.

and actually it's pretty cool! it's for GIS Users, which I'm not. and it is probably the geekiest thing i have ever thought was cool (aside from twitter). But i did enjoy checking out the difference between an infrastructure map, topographical map, tourist map and geo-political map. i know, it's kind of obvious, but when they're all together, and when each of those ones has a variety of scale, colour, type, etc, it's quite an interesting lesson in design and visual heirarchy:

Book deets:
Title:  Designed maps : a sourcebook for GIS users / Cynthia A. Brewer.
Author:  Brewer, Cynthia A., 1960-
Item ID:  31259009136388
Call #:  526.0285 B758
Publisher:       ESRI Press.

OK, so it may not be the next hit wonder on the 'must read' list, but if you're into design, urban design, drawing, mapping, place - whatever, then it's an interestingl little book to check out.

cross-posted at she sees red

Summer of Design Books (Again)

Let's try again shall we?

Log on to Typepad and using the username [email protected] and the password summer you'll be able to post a book review on this blog. It will wait in limbo until I've approved it and then it will go live. Any book you want, as long as it's about design

Part of the Summer Of Design Books series.

Summer of Design Books

I've got loads of design books that I ought to read. Like, properly read. Not just skim through them or leave them by the side of the bed or in the bathroom. Actually read them.

So I'm going to do that this summer. And then I'm going to give a brief report on this blog. It won't be a review, it's just be a few notes on what I've garnered from the book.

Would you like to join in? Great. Log on to Typepad and using the username summerof and the password designbooks you'll be able to post a report on this blog. It will wait in limbo until I've approved it and then it will go live. Any book you want, as long as it's about design. Or should that be Design. Anyway.

UPDATE: I think Typepad have changed it so that guest authors have to log in with an email address and not a neat username. But hold on a minute, I'm on the case.