Editor’s Picks

Looking at Type: A Pictorial Review of Four Type Reference Books

Type Reference Books Comparison

Photographed and Reviewed by Carolina de Bartolo How many type reference books do you need in your library? If you love looking at letters like I do, I’d say the more the merrier. Stock up! Sure, I’ve heard about that whole digital revolution thing, but when it comes to looking at great type, the higher [...]

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An interview with Andrew Shea on Designing for Social Change

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Identified as a “place to start” by renowned designer and social entrepreneur, William Drenttel, Designing for Social Change by Andrew Shea, is an insightful guidebook and designer’s co-pilot containing a compilation of case studies that illustrate project concepts, funding resources, processes, strategies, and outcomes. It is a go-to resource for any designer interested or engaged in [...]

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2012 Holiday Wish List

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Here at the Designers Review of Books we all have lengthy Amazon wish lists. While the holidays are a time of giving, they are also a good excuse to pick out one or two of the top books on our list and reward ourselves for another year of hard work, study and accomplishment. Listed below [...]

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Los Logos 6

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Gestalten recently released the sixth book in the infamous Los Logos series. This is actually the first of the series that I have had the pleasure of owning, and it definitely does not disappoint. After thumbing through it for several days and then making my way back through more thoroughly, I understand why the books [...]

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The Avant Garde Applied

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I have read a fair amount about avant garde design, as any self-respecting designer should, but I’ve never come across a text as thorough or well produced as The Avant Garde Applied (1890-1950). The book was created as a companion to an exhibition of the same name curated by the Fundación Juan March in Madrid, [...]

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Shaping Text

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Shaping Text by Jan Middendorp boldly and concisely describes itself right on its front cover. This book will show you how shaping text can help you grab, hold, direct and manipulate the reader’s attention. Within its pages you will find a wealth of information about reading behaviour, design strategies, typefaces, typesetting, technical challenges and possibilities [...]

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A Smart Guide to Utopia

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There’s a horrible cardboard car on a rubber band wrapped around this lovely book. Ewww. What’s that doing there? Never mind, I’ll chuck that and just get on with admiring an exquisitely designed thing. The sort of printed thing with so much attention to detail (well hello there yellow page edges) and physicality (and hello [...]

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An interview with David Sherwin on Creative Workshop and Success by Design

Creative Workshop

As part of a new series of interviews with authors, Andy Polaine interviews David Sherwin about the background to the writing of his successful and extremely useful book, Creative Workshop and the development of his new book, Success by Design to be published in November, 2012. David Sherwin has also reviewed several books for The [...]

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Mobile Web Design by Cameron Moll

Mobile Web Design by Cameron Moll

Mobile the user; not mobile, the device. Mobile is more than just being wireless. Mobility transcends freedom from wires; it suggests an entirely different user experience. This quote from Mobile Web Design by Cameron Moll sums up the essence of his book perfectly. When designing for mobile devices, designers and developers need to think about [...]

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Design Is a Job by Mike Monteiro

Design Is a Job by Mike Monteiro

You are not doing design, you are selling design, which is a valuable service. If you don’t want to charge for your services, you can pick up Design Is a Hobby on aisle three of Michael’s between the balsa wood and yarn. This quote from Design Is a Job is exactly the type of statement you [...]

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