The Art of Looking Sideways

by Alan Fletcher
published by Phaidon Press Inc.
Buy it at Amazon.com.

Review by Todd Dominey |

The Art of Looking Sideways is an instruction manual of sorts for adults to deconstruct their preconceived belief systems of reality. Readers are encouraged to look, see, explore, turn upside down, rip apart, and to ultimately rebuild that which everyday people believe to be true through a series of word plays, found quotations, paradoxes, and unusual truths.

The book challenges, enlightens, entertains, and ultimately inspires. It’s absolutely not a book of gee-whiz optical illusions, a la psychedelic “Mind’s Eye” pointillism or perception bending Escher, but rather a playful, witty scrapbook of collected thoughts, newsprint clippings, poetry, photographs, illustrations, and assorted junk found on globe trotting vacations by the book’s compiler.

The design of the book itself is a work of art. No two pages are the same. Each idea, or question, is presented with it’s own lyrical typeface and placement to further convey the essence of the topic at hand. At my count, there are well over 1,000 different original works of typography and layout — a stunning feat in and of itself.

“Sideways” is quite simply a fringe experience that is impossible to label, describe, or place in a particular section of a bookstore. As a designer, I felt more inspired, more aware, more energized after just a handful of pages than I can remember feeling in years of buying design and art related books.

It’s big, heavy, and worth its weight in gold. A classic.

" The Art of Looking Sideways "
by Alan Fletcher
Sale Price: $27.97 / Used Price: $29.08
(Prices updated September 4, 2003 04:18 PM )
Buy it at Amazon.com