swissmiss

The Vignelli Canon

Massimo Vignelli has published an amazing 96 page book on better understanding typography in graphic design. Wonderful! The book is available for free online in PDF format. Thank you Massimo!

(via aisleone)

A Practical Guide to Designing for the Web

“A Practical Guide to Designing for the Web aims to teach you techniques for designing your website using the principles of graphic design. Featuring five sections, each covering a core aspect of graphic design: Getting Started, Research, Typography, Colour, and Layout. Learn solid graphic design theory that you can simply apply to your designs, making the difference from a good design to a great one.”

Mark Boulton’s Five Simple Steps: A Practical Guide to Designing for the Web is available in PDF format for £12.

(via AisleOne)

Forget All The Rules You Ever Learned About Graphic Design

Forget All The Rules You Ever Learned About Graphic Design by Bob Gill.

Books need hugs too

Hug by Thomas Keeley.

You Can't Go To School Naked!

You Can't Go To School Naked! is Ella's favorite book these days. It's a lovely story and I don't mind reading it over and over. If you have a little one around the age of 3, you should check it out. Story by Dianne Billstrom and Illustrated by Don Kilpatrick.

For my German Readers: zehnseiten.de

zehnseiten.de (german only) is a fantastic site where you can enjoy videos of german authors reading ten pages out of their book. Brilliant! (thank you christian)

Best of Restaurant Graphics

An entire book filled with Restaurant Graphics? I want! I want!

Savings Book

Savings Book: Cleverly conceal your savings or anything important with this bank disquised as a book. The top features a slot for bills or coins and slides open for easy access to savings. Made of maple wood with a cloth binding. Love it!

Book Cover Archive

An Archive of over 800+ book covers and 180+ book cover designers? I just found heaven. BookCoverArchive.com

Designing Universal Knowledge: The World as Flatland - Report 1

Knowledge is power. If one possesses a collection of the ‘universal knowledge’ of the world, one has ultimate power. Establishing comprehensive, global collections of knowledge already fascinated mankind thousands of years ago. Today, modern communication and information technologies offer quick and prompt collecting, high memory capacities and wide-ranging access. In addition, globalization and the Internet advance a mentality which moves away from the local and regional towards the international and universal. The author examines collections of knowledge such as archives, encyclopedias, data collections, and libraries that make knowledge accessible worldwide.

Who is collecting the world’s knowledge?
How are knowledge archives structured and designed?
Who determines the access to this knowledge?
What knowledge entails power?

Designing Universal Knowledge: The World as Flatland, by Gerlinde Schuller

A book recommendation for my german readers:

Below is a video of a book my fabulous friend Nadja of Brainstore recommended I should read: Dinge Geregelt Kriegen

My 3 favorite books to give this holiday season:

Wisdom by much admired photographer Andrew Zuckerman.

ABC3D. (I just got my copy two days ago and I am at awe. I seriously do not understand how they were able to keep the price this low. I would have been willing to pay double. This is a must-have!)

The Incredible Book Eating Boy

Coolest Typographic Holiday Gift of 2008: ABC3D

Want to impress a font lover this holiday season? Get him/her a copy of ABC3D and prepare to be amazed. It's a pop-up book and a work of art. Hat tip off to Marion Bataille.

Postcard

Postcard is an international showcase of contemporary postcard design featuring the work of more than 100 artists, illustrators, photographers and designers. The book comes with 20 specially-commissioned free postcards that sit snugly in the pockets of the cover. The book has been designed and compiled by FL@33. Yay for this gem of a book and the *fantastic* cover!

"booksetting"

Book as a block, block as a type = booksetting

PSFK Good Ideas in 2009 Report

Already acting as major trends advisors the team at PSFK has channeled their trends expertise into a new book Good Ideas In 2009 available on Blurb.com.

The 80 page book features 9 Good Ideas and manifestations of them. The book is intended for a business audience - for advertising and branding professionals, for innovation and R&D staff, marketing managers and business strategists. A sample of the book can be found online here.

The Designers Review of Books

The Designers Review of Books is a brand new site reviewing design books. It's run by Andy Polaine, an interaction designer, journalist and lecturer.

(via subtraction)

Hank Finds Inspiration

Hank Finds Inspiration, written and illustrated by Craig Frazier! LOVE!

A Room With A View

A Room With A View is a record of the rooms Andrew Hetherington has stayed in over the last four years. Each room is photographed using the same process, in as much as is allowed; keeping the lighting and framing consistent in order to let the individual personalities of the spaces present themselves equally. No special requests are made and he always takes the room he is assigned. The interior shots are always taken first and feature the window with the curtains drawn. The bed is included in the frame whenever possible to give a sense of the space. Ideally, he tries to photograph each room immediately upon entry, capturing the layout, furniture and effects precisely as he first sees them.

I had the pleasure to meet Andrew this morning at CreativeMornings and he handed me one of his A Room With A View Books. This encounter/the book officially made me day. Check out the book over at Blurb. So happy to know that this is work in flux. Can't wait to get my hands on the next issues.

Show Me How

Show Me How is one part how-to guide, one part graphic art showpiece, and one part pure inspiration. In a series of 500 nearly wordless, highly informative step-by-step procedurals, readers learn how to do hundreds of useful (and fascinating and important and sometimes downright bizarre) tasks, including: Perform CPR, dance the tango, pack a suitcase, win a bar bet, play the blues, make authentic sushi rolls, fight a shark . . . and 493 more essentials of modern life. My respect to the team who took on the crazy task of illustrating this entire book. Hat tip. Some of the instructions sure made me laugh! A fantastic holiday gift!

Show Me How: 500 Things You Should Know Instructions for Life From the Everyday to the Exotic

The Great Paper Caper

The The Great Paper Caper, is the latest masterpiece by Oliver Jeffers. You can pre-order it over at Amazon right now. When Oliver was visiting in my studio a few weeks ago, he let me have flip through the book. I can't wait to get my own copy and read it to our little Ella.

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs

Jennifer mentioned Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs as one of her favorite books from childhood. I knew that if Jennifer loved I would love it as well, so, I ordered the book. I read it to our little Ella tonight and it's hilarious. It made me laugh out loud and the illustration style really made me look. The story is simply brilliant:

The tiny town of Chewandswallow was very much like any other tiny town except for its weather which came three times a day, at breakfast, lunch and dinner. But it never rained rain and it never snowed snow and it never blew just wind. It rained things like soup and juice. It snowed things like mashed potatoes. And sometimes the wind blew in storms of hamburgers. Life for the townspeople was delicious until the weather took a turn for the worse.

Have you read it yet? Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs

Scrapbooks, An American History

In Scrapbooks, Jessica Helfand compiled a gorgeous visual history of American scrapbooks and their evolution over two hundred years. Jessica, a graphic designer and scrapbook collector, examines the evolution of scrapbooks from the nineteenth century to the present, concentrating particularly on the first half of the twentieth century. She includes color photographs from more than 200 scrapbooks; some made by private individuals and others by the famous, including: Zelda Fitzgerald, Lillian Hellman, Anne Sexton, Hilda Doolittle and Carl Van Vechten. Scrapbooks, while generally made by amateurs, represent a striking and authoritative form of visual autobiography. Jessica finds when viewed collectively they offer a unique perspective on the changing pulses of American cultural life.

Scrapbooks: An American History 242 pages, 425 photographs printed in full color.

Judge a book by its cover...

Judge a book by its cover and then see if it matches the amazon rating.

(via chrisglass)

The Creative Family

"Between work and school, music lessons, and sports practice, there is less and less time to connect as a family. Those few moments together are often spent making meals, doing homework, or watching TV. In this inspiring book, Amanda Soule, a young mother of three, presents simple ways to use arts and crafts and other forms of creativity to deepen family connections. Read more about The Creative Family
over at urbanpreschool.

The Creative FamilyHow to Encourage Imagination and Nurture Family Connections, by Amanda Blake Soule

inspired reading

Goodness blog asked a group of outstanding graphic designers to recommend a book that they have found particularly inspiring or meaningful to their development as a creative person, but is not a graphic design book. View the answers here.

I met Andrew Zuckerman. Thank you internet!

I had one of these 'thank you internet moments' last night when I had the opportunity to finally meet much admired photographer, Andrew Zuckerman. The occasion? The launch of his a-m-a-z-i-n-g Wisdom Book book and film. This gem of a book will be under many of my friend's and family member's christmas trees this year!

Andrew, it was a pleasure meeting you and your wife!

Type Addicted

Carl just pointed me to Type Addicted. Instant favorite!

Sizes May Vary | A Workbook for Graphic Design

Sizes May Vary references the varying standardized formats and systems used within graphic design. Part sketchbook, part reference book and part notebook – it is a space for composing and visualizing layouts, sketching and developing ideas, taking reference and making note. Sizes May Vary | A Workbook for Graphic Design

(via coudal)

Oliver Jeffers...

I officially have a new favorite kid's book author: Oliver Jeffers. My wonderful office mate Jennifer brought in a stack of his books and they keep me from focusing on work... (Must read. Must flip through pages. Must read again!) Lost and Found totally has me smile. Ella, being a huge penguin lover, would love the story. Also, "How To Catch A Star" looks fantastic. And the "The Incredible Book Eating Boy", you simply can't top. I just put Oliver Jeffers' on my list of people I'd like to have 'coffee with someday'. What a talent!

Wisdom by Andrew Zuckerman

Lucky me, I got my hands on an advance copy of Wisdom by much admired photographer Andrew Zuckerman.

Inspired by the idea that wisdom is the greatest gift one generation can give to another Andrew interviewed, photographed and filmed 50 of the world’s great writers, actors, artists, designers, politicians, musicians and religious and business leaders of our time. He posed seven questions to each of his subjects—all over 65 years of age—and their candid responses offer uniquely inspirational and often surprising insights. The book is beautifully photographed and accompanied by a documentary DVD.

I haven't been as captivated and touched by a book in a very long time. This will be my christmas gift of 2008!

After reading most of it last night, I put the book down and told G that this is e-x-a-c-t-l-y the kind of work I want to be doing sometime down the road. Wisdom is beautiful on so many levels. It is deep and touching. Make sure to watch the 'Making of' on the wisdombook.org

Andrew, hat tip off to you. You did it again. (Anyone remember Creatures?)

Wisdom: 50 Unique and Original Portraits (Hardcover)

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A field Guide to Weeds

A Field Guide to Weeds masquerades as a 19th century pocket guide, but a guide in which the weeds themselves have taken over.

(via spoon-tamago)

The Incredible Book Eating Boy

Henry loves books--eating them, that is. The more books he eats, the smarter he becomes, prompting him to devour them at an alarming rate. Henry imagines that if he keeps eating at his current pace, he could eventually become the smartest person on earth. Unfortunately, he starts to get sick from eating so many books, and everything he has learned becomes all jumbled up. The Incredible Book Eating Boy

Discovered through fabulous Jennifer and her daughter P.

Thought Leadership by Design

Thought Leadership by Design is a concise, timeless volume of contemporary quotes on the powerful, evolving nature of Design and its vital influence on society, business, technology, education, and most importantly: Everyday life.

Thought Leadership by Design, by Nate Burgos

Silhouettes By Frank Chimero

Frank Chimero thought it'd be fun to make a small book comparing his silhouette to a bunch of other famous ones. Once he had chosen some famous silhouettes, he realized, "Oh geez, all these guys are geniuses. I'm just an idiot." So that's what the book became about. It puts him in bouts against Dylan, Duchamp and Hitchcock, and contrasts their profiles through diagrams. He thinks he never really stood a chance, did he? Silhouettes.

The Happiest Book in the world

In one way or another we are all looking for happiness. Some people even say that man's sole purpose for existence is to hunt down and capture this intangible and elusive treasure. In 2006 researchers at The University of Leicester concluded that Denmark is the happiest country in the world - this was good enough for me. In March 2008 I made the decision to visit happiness, and embarked upon a pilgrimage to find it. My experiences are presented in this book.

The Happiest Book in the world. Only one copy exists. Boohooo!

(thank you kate)

ABC3D Written & Illustrated by Marion Bataille

Thanks for reminding me of this one, Craig. I can't wait to get my hands on one of these!

We-think: The Power of Mass Creativity

In "We Think: Mass Innovation, Not Mass Production", British innovation and creativity guru Charles Leadbeater makes the case, based on countless well-documented examples from all over the world, that innovation in the era of the Web has become a collective, collaborative effort. "You are what you share", he writes. Walking his talk, he shares part of the final book and the full first draft on his website.

If you're intruiged, like I was, you can buy the book here. Also, he's blogging and discussing the book at HereComesEverybody.org.

UPDATE: Herecomeseverybody.org is the blog of Clay Shirky who has a book of the same name. Both interesting people and talk/write about the same
subject, but are very much two different people. Thank you for the clarification, Eliot.

(via lunch over IP)

Johannes Itten: Die Farbe

Johannes Itten: Die Farbe, designed by Max Bill, 1944

Alfred Roth, The New Architecture

Alfred Roth, The New Architecture

(thank you nate)