Weekend Ephemera
Every few weeks I head down to my neighborhood Borders to catch up on some of the latest design-related magazines and books. This morning I came across a few interesting titles some like-minded readers may find of interest.
First up is The Designer and the Grid, which helps fill a huge, important void in the instruction of grids in graphic design by providing historical perspective, case studies, and some brief instruction on how to set up grids using QuarkXPress.
Second, Abstract Design and How to Create It - a handy, small, brief paperback that teaches designers how to create tiling patterns for use in borders, decorative fabric, etc. The book was published before web design came on the scene, but the techniques easily apply.
Third, The Illustrator 10 Wow! Book. I'm completely self-taught with Illustrator, and the creation of vector graphics, and consider myself fairly well-versed with the software. The Wow! book however took me by surprise, for inside there are loads of great tips, techniques, and shortcuts I've either never tried or knew existed. If you use Illustrator, definitely worth looking into.
Fourth, Macromedia Flash MX Game Design Demystified - a very logical, thorough book that explores all facets of game design using Flash MX. The book's focus on game-related coding techniques makes the book unique in a landscape of seemingly similar titles.
And last but not least is Budget Living - a new (?) magazine that editorially fills the gap between the cheapo DIY content of Readymade and the very high-end interior design and lifestyle magazines. A little yuppie, and Target-esque, but not bad.
Comments
what do you think of david carson's "2nd sight" book? have you read it?
Posted by: robert at April 26, 2003 6:34 PM
Personally, I'm not all that interested in Carson. I read The End of Print, like plenty of other people, but his aesthetic sense has never really appealed to or inspired me.
Posted by: Todd Dominey at April 27, 2003 8:44 AM
Great books, todd...
i wich more famous people in the weblog comunity post their findings. It is always valuable to find some books that teach and inspire us. I have read your library section and already purchased "the art of looking sideways" wich is indeed a fine book.
Keep posting them, please!
Best regards,
B.
Posted by: Bruno Monteiro at April 27, 2003 1:36 PM
"budget Living" rocks. Much better than its dumb title would suggest.
Also look at "Dwell", sort of a modernist/ green architecture magazine that frequently focuses on reasonably cheap projects.
Posted by: Andrew at April 27, 2003 2:27 PM
I can't wait for zeldman's new book
Posted by: robert at April 27, 2003 2:43 PM
sweet! I wrote a little article on grid design, I wonder if it's the same kinda stuff. I hope more webdesigners get into using grids. It makes like easier on the coders!
Posted by: brandy at April 27, 2003 4:56 PM
From one graphic designer/new father/new homeowner to another, my favorite home mags are:
House Beautiful, UK Edition -- beautifully printed, with useful, practical ideas, plus 4 profiles of everyday people and what they did with their homes (as opposed to the unattainable mansions of Architectural Digest). Pricey, but worth it. (The US version stinks compared to the UK one.)
This Old House -- Norm Abram is my hero!
Real Simple -- for your wife, but you'd be surprised what a pretty good magazine it is...
Posted by: sean v. at April 30, 2003 1:49 AM
er... you go to Borders to find them but send the prospective buyers to Amazon? I've nothing at all against trying to make some money this way, but if you must do this use Powells or some other source which is not so blatantly anti-privacy. (Read the Amazon fine print lately? Scary stuff...)
Well, I suppose nobody's been busted for buying "The Illustrator 10 Wow! Book." ;)
(I'm not a big friend of Borders either for that matter but it seems a bit cheeky nonetheless.)
After all that criticism let me say your site design is lovely. I only read one book on grids (v. introductory level stuff) years ago but I remember the principles, still have the copy somewhere...
Posted by: gridlover at May 12, 2003 11:48 AM
