(Part 2) Best decorative art & design books according to redditors

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We found 1,776 Reddit comments discussing the best decorative art & design books. We ranked the 539 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the products ranked 21-40. You can also go back to the previous section.

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Subcategories:

Decorative art books
Furniture design books
Textile & costume design books
Design history & criticism books
Industrial & product design books
Interior & home design
Jewelry design books

Top Reddit comments about Design & Decorative Arts:

u/ElderKingpin · 26 pointsr/malefashionadvice

Excellent, let me nerd out for a second about suits. Also, that documentary is a GREAT starting point. Personally, it makes me want to become a tailor, and it makes me sad that tailoring is becoming a dying breed of old people who have no younger people to take up their mantle.

---

So, before you get into the process of suit making and all of that, and the art that is tailoring. I encourage you to read up on what makes a suit, a suit. But, I'll cut it down real simply for you and leave some links so that you can read up on in depth if it suits you (hodor).

Let's start with the most basic question. What is the foundation of the suit? Strangely, the foundation of the suit, is the shoulder. The drape of your suit and the cut of your suit starts from the shoulder and moves downward. So like we always say, if it doesn't fit on the shoulder, put it back on the rack. There are tons of different types of cuts for shoulders, and how it's padding, and how the sleeve is attached to the shoulder that is all unique to each cut, although it is becoming more homogenized (Personally, I'm an italian cut kinda guy, Neapolitan in specific). How do you like your shoulders? Straight across? Narrower? No padding at all? Extreme sloping? These are the questions you should consider when bespoking your suit, or purchasing your suit in general. How do you like your shoulder to sing?

Next, lets move onto the beauty that is the lapel roll, the flower of the suit, the thing that blooms, the detail that gives your suit depth. A detail that simply resonates with the rest of your suit, don't be flat (jos. a bank), the lapel roll is a piece of art of itself, and a good dry cleaner will not press the life out of the lapel. Of course, you could just do it yourself.

So now that we have touched the outside of the suit. Let's dig a little deeper, how about the inside of the suit? Perhaps as important as the shoulder, is your canvassing. Why is it important? Because canvas is what gives your suit a shape, it's the thing that slowly molds to your body, a quality suit will slowly mold to your body and drape better and better with each wear. A suit with the proper insides need's no hanger to give it shape (put it on a hanger). It almost wears itself (ignore the fact that they are trying to sell something).

Here is some more reading on canvassing

In closing, how about some master tailors talking about their art?

Rudolph Popradi

Martin Greenfield

Multiple tailors from naples discuss their life of tailoring

And now, some books.

A menswear book, a little more for the older gents and those more intersted in history. But very much a classic book that is highly praised for being all encompassing.

How about a book that teaches you to make your own garments?


And a machiavallian approach to the suit. Maybe not as highly praised, but more reading can't hurt that much.

Let's ask some people about their thoughts on the suit and it's changes through the years.

1, 2, 3, 4.

And let's touch on the tuxedo for a bit, probably a little pretentious (especially that esquire guy), but for some reason I like watching people dress up while giving their thoughts..

And finally, a series of videos on a class about suit construction (mainly for women).

Probably doesn't entirely answer your questions, but hey, suits are awesome. If I had enough money to wear a suit everyday for every situation (james bond) I would. If you have the opportunity to apprentice under a tailor, I highly suggest it, maybe you won't become a master tailor, and you most likely will not get paid, but it would be an awesome experience to be under a master craftsman.

u/Joka6 · 21 pointsr/funny

I remember this from a book I came across in my youth. it's in a book by Kenji Kawakami, The Big Bento Box of Unuseless Japanese Inventions also found a dead subreddit on this topic /r/Chindogu

u/MarkerBear · 16 pointsr/IWantToLearn

Artist here.

Start with a set of 6 basic prisma colored pencils- yellow, red, blue, green orange, purple. Maybe white. Art supply stores like (Utrecht, Blick, and Michael's) should sell them individually.

Start with the primaries, slowly building up color. Set up next to a window- a built-in frame- and make small shades of colors where you seem them. There's a tree? Don't outline the tree. Think about the light. Make a layer of yellow, make a lighter layer of blue over it. It's not quite green. Make another thin layer of yellow at the top, where the sun hits the leaves. Add another layer of blue in the shadow. The shadow could even have a layer of red- it lowers the intensity of the colors, makes them more muddy.

No outlines. Just make shapes of shaded color. Lightly. Build it up. Use a very loose grip on the pencil. You said you can draw normally. Use that technical skill.

Like Monet's Haystacks, it doesn't matter if you draw the same view out a window 100 times. What matters is that through practice, you learn how to see the variations of color and learn how to record them on paper with only the primaries, using layers to blend.

Take a look at the Impressionists use of color, especially Seurat^1 ^2 ^3 ^4 and Pissaro^1 ^2 ^3.

I'm not necessarily suggesting pointillism (I'm just bias)- use a technique you like, but make sure to not outline-draw color, shade a shape of color.

Now, if you really need it, add some green into your tree. Use orange and purple when you need them, add some highlights by erasing.

A fun practice would be drawing a boiled egg on a white background with a white light. It really tests your ability to see color.

For more color theory, check out Josef Albram's book, Interaction of Color.

u/DooDooBerries · 14 pointsr/IAmA

Have you ever read Unuseless Japanese Inventions? You remind me of this and it's probably why I enjoy your content so much.

u/Tim-Sanchez · 13 pointsr/gifs

This is from a Russian comedy show called KVN. However, it is based on a Japanese product, which I can't work out whether it is real.

u/michaellonger · 11 pointsr/typography

Not sure about websites, but these books are absolute must-reads for learning typography.

Thinking With Type

Designing With Type

The Elements of Typographic Style

u/quilford · 11 pointsr/design_critiques

I feel like you've been hammered here because of the amateurish nature of your work. Honestly though, I'm pretty sure that's why you came here, knowing that it wasn't up to par, and wanting to know how to change that. Here are some things that I would focus on if I were you:

Typography: By this, I don't mean using different typefaces, but rather the study of how to structure information in a legible manner. I work as a wireframer right now, and everything that I do is Arial. Because of that, I have a maniacal focus on size, leading, value, and block shapes to create a hierarchical system on a grid. A lot of it comes from practice, but I can also recommend some books, Thinking with Type, Designing with Type, Making and Breaking the Grid, and The Mac is Not a Typewriter. Typography is one of the most requested skills by design directors because it is hard and can be very bland, but it is absolutely vital for successful work.

Balance and Rhythm: When you are designing pieces, one of the important things to consider is the structure of negative and positive space. This structure influences the way that the piece is read, and the way that people move through the information. You seem to rely on center aligning things a lot, which is dangerous because it creates no action or movement. This topic isn't as advanced as typography so it's harder to give specific resources, but you can find information on this in any basic design text. I enjoyed Alex White's fundamentals book.

Style and Illustration: The type is amateurish, but what makes the work feel dated is the illustration style. When digital illustration was younger and the tools were rougher, the sort of illustration that I see in your portfolio was very common. The most recent trend has been "Flat", but honestly, anything that can complement or hide the digital nature of its creation can work. If you really would like illustration to be a continued part of your work, I would find some tutorials to really strengthen your Illustrator and Photoshop skills, perhaps stuff from Skillshare or Lynda, or even just internet tutorials.

In General: So to be blunt, you do have a long way to go, I'm not going to sugar coat that. That being said, you do have 2 things extremely in your favor right now.

  1. You produce a lot of work. You're getting practice.

  2. You know something is wrong. You're looking for a way to improve.

    Ira Glass has a really incredible short piece about creative work that describes the place where you are caught right now. Your taste is not aligning with your skills. You have taken the first step in the right direction, so now you need to go study more and keep seeking critique (Not criticism). Whether that is on design_critiques, or from a colleague or friend doesn't matter. Find a place where someone who is better than you can tell you what isn't working and challenge your status quo.

    Good luck, and keep at it!
u/Glynn_a · 10 pointsr/graphic_design

Not quite on the same par, but a bloody good book none the less https://www.amazon.co.uk/Neuro-Design-Neuromarketing-Engagement-Profitability/dp/0749478888 or i’d recommend this one https://www.amazon.co.uk/Design-Everyday-Things-revised-expanded/dp/0262525674 (probably closer to what you are looking for)

u/Oleaster · 10 pointsr/graphic_design

Buy yourself this book. It's cheap and has exercises to work though. First year graphic design education (2-dimensional and color theory) is basically straight from this book.

u/Lancer383 · 10 pointsr/design_critiques

It is far too complex - a good logo should be readable / understandable when very small, and this has far too much detail and gradients for that to work. Just pare things way down to the point where the logo mark itself would work at the size of a postage stamp with limited colors.

Check out this book as well - http://www.amazon.com/Logo-Design-Love-Creating-Identities/dp/0321660765

u/Psy_Kira · 9 pointsr/graphic_design

Oh boy, history of graphic design was my favorite thing in college and during my thesis research. It puts so much into perspective once you go trough all the little things in history. Here are some books i would recommend:
[Graphic Design, Referenced – by Bryony Gomez-Palacio] (https://www.amazon.com/Graphic-Design-Referenced-Language-Applications/dp/1592537421/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1467706816&sr=8-1&keywords=graphic+design+referenced)

The Elements of Typographic Style – by Robert Bringhurst
The Fundamentals of Graphic Design Paperback – by Paul Harris
Design Elements, 2nd Edition by Timothy Samara
Thinking with Type – Ellen Lupton

From history, great stuff on: Bauhaus, Dada, Brodovitch,Helvetika (there's even a great documentary on Helvetica), Gestalt principles, Whitespace... You could try and get some textbooks on these topics or just google.
(protip: type into google name of the book and finish the search with filetype:pdf there are many books that you can get free pdfs that way)

u/justjokingnotreally · 9 pointsr/ArtistLounge

The Graphic Artists Guild publishes the Handbook: Pricing and Ethical Guidelines. You should find a copy.

u/kukulaj · 8 pointsr/Calligraphy

Nice find! I found those nibs to be rather sharp, so it takes some practice to get the hang of them, but you can get some very nice calligraphy with them!

The book I started with was: https://www.amazon.com/Write-Now-Complete-Program-Handwriting/dp/0876781180/ but there is a lot more to explore with edged pen calligraphy! A whole other approach is https://www.amazon.com/Medieval-Calligraphy-Technique-Lettering-Typography/dp/0486261425/ ... have fun and don't get too frustrated, just go slow! It takes some practice!

I have a friend who is a really talented calligrapher and these are the pens he uses!

u/Coronos · 8 pointsr/funny

There's an actual book with random, but-seemingly-useful inventions made from Japan. Here is said book. I see it in the bookstore a lot.

u/[deleted] · 7 pointsr/design_critiques

Hey, u/ycamedia!

While it's very kind of you to do free work for someone, if you would like to work towards doing freelance work professionally, I recommend you purchase a copy of the Graphic Artists Guild Pricing and Ethical Guidelines, at least until you're able to get a handle on what you should be charging for your time and services. While I understand a hesitation to charge for your work if you currently aren't confident in your professional ability, you should leave it up to your client whether or not the cost is worth it to them. Again, it's very kind of you, but you would be surprised how that kindness might be taken advantage of further on in your career, even unintentionally on occasion.

​

That being said, let's talk about your logo! This is my first time commenting on this subreddit, so forgive me if my formatting isn't quite up to sub standards.

​

To start, it's good, in practice, to try and design a logo in 1-color, black or white, to get the form down, and then working with colors later. If a logo is memorable and eye-catching while only using one color, it'll be a much stronger piece once you've added the colors in. If we were to reduce your logo down to one color, can you see how you might lose some of what makes it unique?

Next, the usage of Raster artwork in your logo – in modern design, this is generally considered a bad idea. The star imagery and the moon are going to lose a lot of clarity when enlarged, and generally bring down the quality of your concept.

I agree with u/jottto96 that the lozenge shape seems to be holding back your text and is very restrictive. Your "Creative" is very close to clipping those edges, and that's not good. A lot of your alignment is slightly off, and even though it seems like a small thing, it's immediately noticeable to the eye. While asymmetry can be an interesting design element, it must be deliberate in execution, and work well with the design as a whole. Make sure your text, framing elements, and other smaller elements (i.e. the moon in No Sleep) line up in a way that makes it look visually flush, thought out, and intentional.

​

While we're on the subject of typography, there are a few things I think are important to remember – while it can be okay to have two typefaces in a logo, you need to be sure that they work well together. I'm still training my eye, but it looks like you're working with Myriad Pro for the "No Sleep," and another stock standard font I can't quite place with "Creative." They don't play well together, and the added red on creative over the busy, starry background is a bit of an eyesore. Try playing around with using the same font, but in different weights to see if that can create the contrast you're looking for. Also, avoid extending text horizontally or vertically in the way that you did. Typefaces are meticulously designed with line contrast in mind, and stretching text solely over the X or Y like you did kind of messes with the balance.

I'm going to assume that you probably don't have a lot of resources at your disposal, especially if this is one of your first works, and that's okay! Everyone starts somewhere, and it can be hard to build up a library of assets for use in design if you don't know where to look.

I recommend getting a Vector editing software and learning the ropes if you want to keep growing with design. If you don't have access to Adobe Illustrator, I've heard great things about Vectr, which is a free alternative. In terms of growing your asset library until you're comfortable enough to make your own, Creative Market has free assets available for download weekly, including some really nice typefaces, and Vecteezy has a pretty good library of free vector assets until you're comfortable creating your own. However, please remember to pay attention to attribution and licensing, as often times these assets are made by fellow designers just trying to make their own way. All in all, it takes a lot of guts to ask for a critique, so thank you for coming here and doing it! We're here to help each other out, so if you have any questions, feel free to ask and I'll help as much as I can, or my skill level allows.

u/eclectic-maniac · 7 pointsr/rawdenim

First of all, shoutouts to /u/rcsAlex for spearheading the feedback thread last night! It's awesome that the mods want to continue improving this community by asking what the people want.

I've been reading this book. It's pretty interesting, but I'm not too deep into it yet. And I got a blister on my middle finger from pulling weeds today :C

u/an_ennui · 7 pointsr/graphic_design

A Smile in the Mind - great introspective + examples on what makes a design witty or dull, and why the most memorable designs of all time all are witty on some level.

Meggs’ History of Graphic Design - you can read books theorizing about design in general, or you can read books showcasing great design. This is the latter, and is so dense every time I open it up I discover something new.

u/whisperingmoon · 7 pointsr/SubredditDrama

It's not an entirely unreasonable comparison.

Nowadays you can buy your own tarot cards in a hobby shop with a booklet about how to "skillfully read them." Special editions-- like [steampunk] (http://www.amazon.ca/The-Steampunk-Tarot-Barbara-Moore/dp/0738726389/ref=pd_sim_b_12?ie=UTF8&refRID=1GE2RA0ZY73T7VTV9K92) and [angel] (http://www.amazon.ca/Angel-Tarot-Cards-Doreen-Virtue/dp/1401937268/ref=pd_sim_b_7?ie=UTF8&refRID=1GE2RA0ZY73T7VTV9K92)-- are released every now and again. Like Magic Cards, most people roll their eyes when they see them come out, except for a small crew of highly devoted fans. Both have a lot of fairies.

Now, Pokemon on the other hand...

u/the_wondersmith · 6 pointsr/graphic_design

I liked logo design love a lot and although not specifically graphic design related, I found ogilvy on advertising inspiring

u/thestarschasethesun · 6 pointsr/tarot

"Modern" is a pretty broad category -- it would help to know more about what kind of art style you're looking for. For example, are you hoping for something that's more minimalist, or detailed? colorful, or monochrome? digitally drawn, or painted? focused on figures, or more inventive with imagery?

That said, here are some decks in a pretty wide variety of styles that come to mind when I think "modern art." I personally own the first six decks on this list and can vouch that I like them; the rest I don't own but I know other people like them.

u/TomHasIt · 6 pointsr/Calligraphy

For me, books. There are a lot of paleographers and calligraphers who have devoted a lot of time analyzing historical manuscripts and tracing the lineage.

Some good ones:

Historical Scripts by Stan Knight

Medieval Calligraphy by Marc Drogin

The Historical Source Book for Scribes by Michelle P. Brown and Patricia Lovett

Those are just a few. There are plenty more good ones! Also, getting into script analysis yourself can be very helpful. Start looking through the manuscript section of the sidebar and making your own observations. It can be quite illuminating.

u/mikeycdog · 5 pointsr/Design

Another good book that surveys typography and introduces lots of general concepts:
Thinking With Type

A book you may find useful for color theory - it is about the relationships between colors, and was originally a book that came with colored paper to follow along with. It helps with seeing these relationships, not what good color combinations would be (this is some more like Kuler)
Interaction of Color

u/thisfits · 5 pointsr/malefashionadvice

5'7" here. I've read a lot of these guides over the years, and this is easily one of the best. Well done.

On suits, I'm going to have to disagree with this:

> Unlike most people, you don’t want your suit jacket to cover your rear completely.

This works for short and slim (and young), but if you've got some, erm, shape to your rear, you'll want to cover it. Cropped jackets also won't fly in most workplaces that require suits.

I've actually been thinking about this a lot lately, and I think a better guide is something like this:

> Jackets should be just long enough to fall straight.

There's probably a better way to word it, but basically, you want the jacket to not flare out at the bottom.

I've also dug into the oft-repeated "rule" about short guys not wearing double-breasted suit jackets, and after going back to sources like The Suit, I've found there's an exception: unless you can have it custom-made.

Couple examples of short guys in double-breasted suits: 1 2

u/dwchapin · 5 pointsr/pics

If you like this sort of thing, you need this book: "A Smile in the Mind". Humor in graphic design. Mentions the FedEx logo, plus tons of other examples. An excellent coffee table book.

One of the other things they talk about is the (now redesigned) UPS logo. The old one had a package that formed the top of an old-style heraldic crest that formed the logo. It was there plain as day, but most people never saw it.

u/mysarahjane · 5 pointsr/graphic_design

Timothy Samara books are good for beginners - Making and Breaking the Grid was the book that finally helped me understand grid systems, while Design Elements: A Graphic Style Manual was my Freshman year design textbook. The Story of Graphic Design by Patrick Cramsie is also a great GD History book.

In terms of things that are less textbook and more actual books about graphic design, I enjoyed Just My Type a lot. Design Is A Job gives some great advice on the business side of being a designer - pitching to clients, dealing with contracts, etc. How to Think Like a Great Graphic Designer has some really interesting interviews with some of the best designers in our field.

And I would be terribly remiss if I didn't mention two of my absolute favorite novels, which happen to be about graphic design. The Cheese Monkeys and its sequel The Learners are fantastic stories about a design student and his experiences both in school and in his first job. Plus, they're written by Chip Kidd, who is an absolutely amazing designer (imho).

But, in case that wasn't enough, I'll also leave you with this link to a previous thread on this subreddit about great GD books.

Good luck and happy reading!

u/victor_e_bull · 4 pointsr/malefashionadvice

Well, the person I quoted--who explained that black is traditionally considered an inappropriate color for suits--is the author of The Suit: A Machiavellian Approach to Men's Style, which has been reviewed by the WSJ (where he has also been published), and he has also been interviewed by Forbes. As far as internet strangers go, he's a pretty authoritative one.

Ultimately, it's like any other "rule" or tradition. You can wear a suit jacket with a center vent, a tuxedo with notch lapels, or french cuffs without a jacket. I'm sure there are people who would find no problem with these things--including wearing a black suit. But as Manton said, "it is still against the rules." The fact that you've observed many people wearing black suits--even (perhaps especially) adults--is not surprising. This is a very common menswear misconception. But that doesn't mean that they're not still flouting tradition and committing a fashion faux pas. Many people wear square-toed shoes. I bet your career center wouldn't stop you at the door if you wore them to a job fair. That doesn't mean that they are appropriate as a matter of tradition or the "rules" of menswear. Same thing for brightly-colored matching vests at weddings.

With respect to your career center's advice, their goal is to make sure that the students don't embarrass themselves or the school by showing up to a career fair in seersucker (apologies if you're south of the Mason Dixon line). Unlike that robin's egg blue tux lurking in the back of the closet, a black suit won't offend anyone or get you dinged during an interview (unless your interviewer is a sartorial enthusiast), and black is such a common choice for a first suit that of course a career center making a list of acceptable suit colors is going to approve that. That has nothing to do with whether black is a correct choice as a matter of tradition or fashion.

You mentioned you've never before heard of this convention. Like I said, neither had I when I was in college. But spend a little time looking into this topic, and you'll find that it's fairly widely known and generally agreed upon--as far as fashion "rules" go. Not to toot my own karma horn, but there's a reason my post got upvoted 100 times and the posts recommending that OP buy a black suit ended up getting buried. It's not that I'm the first person to say any of those things, but rather that the tips I gave him--including not to wear black--are based on the prevailing rules of good menswear.

u/feriksen · 4 pointsr/TheRedPill

Casual:
Jeans: Jacob Cohen
Shirts: Emmanuel Berg, Hugo Boss
Blazers: Paul Smith, Hugo Boss
Sweaters: Emmanuel Berg (cashmere), Ralph Lauren (merino)
Pants: Hugo Boss
Jackets: Joop, Hugo Boss, Barbour, Burberry
Shoes: crocket & jones

Office/Work:
Shirts: Emmanuel Berg, Hugo Boss, but considering bespoke options
Blazers: Paul Smith, Hugo Boss
Suits: Corneliani M2M, but considering bespoke options
Pants: Hugo Boss
Coats: Joop, Burberry
Shoes: Crocket & Jones, Hugo Boss

Other stuff, like ties (rarely use them), or handkerchiefs, pretty much anything good, emmanuel berg, armani, boss, hermes.

cuff links: anything good.

Hair style: Fairly short, but with an old school cut (think Gatsby).

Note: I am 40,in decent physical shape, and due to the nature of my work, dressing well is kind of a requirement (consulting), so this looks natural on me. Oh, and live in Europe.

Edit:
I should perhaps add that I actually like male fashion in a timeless sense, and take a very hard look at the look I want to achieve (timelessness, natual, refined). For any man who wants to take their wardrobe to the "next level", I'd strongly recommend two books:

http://www.amazon.com/Dressing-Man-Mastering-Permanent-Fashion/dp/0060191449

and

http://www.amazon.com/The-Suit-Machiavellian-Approach-Style/dp/0060891866

They will both give you the basics of suits, materials, etc, with references to old-school male icons... think mad men on steroids... in the style department...

but never forget, style without substance is worthless.. fashion/style is not necessarily "peacocking", but it does help in attraction of course ;)


u/smoonster · 4 pointsr/web_design

Books that helped me get started with design:
Designing with Type

Making and Breaking the Grid

Most of these books discuss working with printed materials, but the principles are the same in the web.

u/whitesooty · 4 pointsr/italy

Ecco la mia lista/elenco disordinato.

Mi piacerebbe spiegare il perché su ogni libro letto ma sarebbe troppo lungo. Se sei interessato ad un feedback in particolare, fammi sapere in un commento.

In generale: in questo periodo si trova molta letteratura; io consiglio i classici, perché in giro c'è molta bullshit e ho elencato anche tutta una serie di libri per acquisire conoscenza su skills complementari (es. negoziazione, persuasione).

Ho elencato i libri di Codice Edizioni a parte perché uno dei pochi editori che pubblica saggi su argomenti contemporanei come tecnologia e media.

Una parola in più la spendo per i libri di Mari e Munari: sono dei classici che vanno letti. Punto.

LIBRI

UX

u/Dietzgen17 · 4 pointsr/sewing

If you like Japanese pattern book patterns, this blog reviews books and magazines. Here's a link to a Pinterest board on Japanese pattern book patterns. My favorite book is Stylish Dress Book: Wear with Freedom, by Yoshiko Tsukiori. It's the first in a series.

u/KAHR-Alpha · 4 pointsr/woodworking

Looks like no one has replied yet. I do not have what you seek unfortunately, but the one reference I have in invaluable: https://www.amazon.com/Illustrated-Cabinetmaking-Construct-Publishing-Subassemblies/dp/1565233697

It does not contain actual plans or guides, but a hundred furniture examples and how they were assembled.

Hopefully someone else will have a better reference for you.

u/NuckFut · 4 pointsr/graphic_design

The Bringhurst Bible

James Victore's book is amazing. It's a quick read but is packed with inspiration.

Envisioning Information is great for info design.

Megg's History of Graphic Design


The rest of these I haven't read yet, but here is a list of things I currently have on my amazon wish list:

Some People Can't Surf by Art Chantry

Saul Bass: A Life in Film and Design by Jennifer Bass

Seventy-Nine Short Essays on Design by Michael Bierut

Damn Good Advice by George Lois

How To Be A Graphic Designer Without Losing Your Soul by Adrian Shaughnessy

How To Think Like A Great Graphic Designer by Debbie Millman

The Design of Dissent by Milton Glaser and Mirko Ilic

Iron Fists: Branding the 20th Century Totalitarian State by Steven Heller

u/TheIceKween · 4 pointsr/graphic_design

A good place to start is the Graphic Artist's Guild Handbook. It's a great resource for pricing and they have a bunch of contract templates in the back.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1507206682/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_ntoPCbBP7VDP6

u/Molotov681 · 3 pointsr/tarot

Thank you so much for posting this! I had no idea about this deck. Thank you for the exposure.

For tarot, only the above mentioned Golden Thread tarot comes to mind, but there is this awesome Claire De Lune lenormand deck.

Possibly the Steampunk Tarot deck?

u/black-tie · 3 pointsr/Design

On typography:

u/focal_au · 3 pointsr/minimalism

I just finished reading Wabi-Sabi: for Artists, Designers, Poets & Philosophers where the author clearly summarises the similarities and difference between wabi sabi and modernist minimalism. It's a short but good read.

u/SquareBottle · 3 pointsr/Ethics

First, congratulations!

I'm a Design Studies grad student, so the ethics of objects is something that I might be able to help with. It sounds to me like you've got a flurry of concerns, and could use a compass to point you in the right direction.

Here's a miniature framework:

  1. What is the main goal for the object itself? What does it need to be/perform?
  2. What are the prohibitions? What cannot be done in the pursuit of such an object?

    Your answer might differ, but for me, the answer to #1 is something along the lines of, "Evoke the emotions you feel for each other." There is no blueprint for designing sentimental-on-the-shelf objects, but there is literature on how to design objects that encourage owners to make them sentimental. Emotional Design: Why We Love (or Hate) Everyday Things by Don Norman is respected and accessible. Engagement rings certainly aren't everyday objects, but I think it'll help reveal what qualities of the object will facilitate the intended emotional purpose of the object. My gut feeling is that for you and your significant other, a diamond would be a counterproductive choice because the diamond itself would evoke values that you know your partner finds abhorrent. A simpler example might be that if you know your partner is allergic to mint, then buying them mint ice cream can easily be hurtful because the object (mint ice cream) evokes negative emotions (not listening, or not caring).

    As for #2, it sounds like you already know some things that you find ethically intolerable. The solution must not be environmentally unfriendly, support unfair labor practices, or otherwise be unsustainable. I'm also sure that there are non-ethical considerations as well (budget, your partner hates the color red, etc).

    Once you've pinned down some clear goals and showstoppers, you can begin imagining and comparing possible solutions. What if you sourced the material components during a trip? What if you and your partner went to a workshop and made the rings for each other by hand? What if the rings didn't have a centerpiece gem at all? You can come up with a whole bunch of idea that will achieve the goals while avoiding the showstoppers, but first you have to identify the goals and showstoppers. You already skipped ahead to the generative phase, so after you get them written down, I think you'll be fine.

    And since this is /r/ethics, I'd absolutely encourage you to pick up a book like Normative Ethics by Shelly Kagan. Ethics is one of those fields where everybody thinks they're an expert because they're confident in their collection of opinions, but it really is helpful to get away from "Is it ethical?" and toward "Is it ethical according to utliatarianism/deontologicalism/virtue ethics/egoism/whatever?" Different ethical theories will give you different answers to any question, so asking "Is it ethical?" without defining an ethical theory is sort of a trick question in a forum devoted to the academic field of ethics. In the context of your original question, I think knowing which specific ethical theory you subscribe to will hell you pinpoint what are and aren't requirements for your solution.

    Good luck!
u/I_M_Stranger · 3 pointsr/typography

The choice of typefaces and the choice to use so many screams amatuer to me. I get that you tried to made each font "relate" to the word you were representing but it just doesn't work. The color choices are awful to me, they dont work together. Is an event planner your main job? Its what sticks out the most followed by community management. Also your content is not really saying anything. I guess you're trying to say you do all these things but I would certainly hope not all at once. From what I've heard, employers/clients will frown on someone claiming specialty is so many areas because it implies you're not really good at any of them just mediocre at a lot of them. The composition is filling, not activating the page. As a user/reader, it is way to much work to get to the intended message, that can be okay if the journey is stimulating and leads to an interesting or unexpected pay off but this doesn't, it's predictable and only surprising the surprisingly poor execution. I recommend Design Elements: A Graphic Style Manual.

u/offwithyourtv · 3 pointsr/userexperience

This probably isn't the most helpful answer, but any resources I might have used to learn the fundamentals myself are probably pretty outdated now. Honestly I'd just try to find highly rated books on Amazon that are reasonably priced. I haven't read this one for psych research methods, but looking through the table of contents, it covers a lot of what I'd expect (ethics, validity and reliability, study design and common methods) and according to the reviews it's clear, concise, and has good stats info in the appendix. I had a similar "handbook" style textbook in undergrad that I liked. For practicing stats, I'm personally more of a learn-by-doing kind of person, and there are some free courses out there like this one from Khan Academy that covers the basics fairly well.

But if you can, take courses in college as electives! Chances are you'll have a few to fill (or maybe audit some if you can't get credit), so go outside of HCDE's offerings to get some complementary skills in research or design. I usually find classrooms to be more engaging than trying to get through a textbook at home on my own, and especially for psych research methods, you'll probably have a project that gives you hands-on experience doing research with human subjects (most likely your peers). There are lots of free online courses out there as well if you aren't able to take them for credit.

You guys are making me miss school.

Getting specifically into UX self-study, in addition to a UX-specific research methods book (this is a newer version of one I read in school) I'd also go through the UX classics like Don Norman's The Design of Everyday Things and Emotional Design, Krug's Don't Make Me Think, and Casey's Set Phasers on Stun (this last one being more of a fun read than a practical one).

u/zenossuspension · 3 pointsr/rawdenim

I haven't vetted this book yet, but feel like it has relevance/potential.

u/Glyptyc · 3 pointsr/declutter

yeah it will change the way you physically see things, too. the decision making process of what items to start with, when you put them back, will be very telling. please update us on how it goes, i'd really like to hear!


and two links for you:

wabi sabi



arranging things: a rhetoric of object placement

u/rtime777 · 3 pointsr/Design

Read https://www.amazon.com/Emotional-Design-Love-Everyday-Things/dp/0465051367 it was recommended in the audiobook that talks about apple and how they approach design called Design Like Apple

u/nathaliew817 · 3 pointsr/minimalism

I recommend this book

It's also interesting to read about the Japanese tea ceremony, the wabi-cha

u/jereviendrai · 3 pointsr/sewing

If you are interested in more informal clothes, you may like Japanese pattern books. Japanese women tend to be smaller. The fit is also more forgiving.

Here's an example:

http://www.amazon.com/Stylish-Dress-Book-Wear-Freedom/dp/0804843155

u/Illustration-Station · 3 pointsr/ArtistLounge

You own the copyright, you can licence it out for a specific use like prints etc. You can still use the piece in your portfolio. The exception is if you give up/sell the copyright. Then it is no longer yours and the client can do as they wish with it. 'Work for hire' contracts normally ask for transfer of copyright. You can use it in your portfolio if they give you permission.

Always have a contract. Join the associationofillustrators (uk) or graphic arts guild in the usa for advice on this. The society of authors has info too.

Royalties are common in publishing, but not many other places as far as I know. It will depend on the contract. Book covers or one-off illustrations don't usually give royalties.

Try here for some basic info, it is a huge topic. https://www.writersandartists.co.uk/artists/advice/169/an-artists-toolkit/essential-information/copyright-law-for-artists

There is also these books, which might be helpful

https://www.amazon.com/Illustrators-Guide-Business-Practice-Association/dp/0955807603

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Graphic-Artists-Guild-Handbook-Guidelines/dp/1507206682/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_t_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=XR6V8TWF2JWQ74TSDPJD

I don't advise any artist use Fiverr. It's a race to the bottom, price wise. Bad for artists, bad for the industry (imho).

Good luck!

u/PM_ME_ONE_EYED_CATS · 3 pointsr/graphic_design

This is the million dollar question for creative professionals.

This book is usually recommended as a handbook for freelance pricing.

Everyone struggles with pricing it seems. I personally flex based on the client, but I won't go under my hourly rate for what I value myself on (based on previous experience and general self worth.)


So if I do a flat rate, I'll estimate how long I think it will cost, and pad it a little more. Also full disclosure, I'm shit at pricing :)

u/t2231 · 3 pointsr/woodworking

I really like Bill Hylton's Illustrated Cabinetmaking.

You might also benefit from Marc Spagnuolo's recent book Essential Joinery.

u/EarlyDecember · 3 pointsr/sewing

I love the books by Yoshiko Tsukiori, including:

Stylish Dress Book: Wear with Freedom

Sweet Dress Book: 23 Dresses of Pattern Arrangement

Amazon carries more by her and others.

Men's patterns are less common, but here are two:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/61669506/mens-coat-by-ryuichiro-shimazaki

https://www.amazon.com/Otoko-No-Shatsu-Hon/dp/4579111109/ref=pd_sbs_14_t_0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=BERT1MM1RQ2Q1PQ491P0

You will find many Japanese pattern books and magazines on Etsy and eBay. Pomadour24 on Etsy carries a lot.

This blog reviews books and magazines.

On this French-language blog, people post the things they've made. A number refers to the book and the style.

Some of the books are only in Japanese, but many people are able to follow the drawings. Lots of sites provide guidance. Some are in French. Increasing numbers are being translated into English.

If you're interested in pattern magazines, I assume you know that you have to trace the pattern. I love the sturdy pattern paper that Japanese pattern book patterns are printed on and the way they can be easily folded back up when you're done traciing. If you find some books you like they can be really economical to use.

u/funkme1ster · 3 pointsr/cabinetry

https://www.amazon.com/Illustrated-Cabinetmaking-Construct-Publishing-Subassemblies/dp/1565233697

This has blown-up diagrams of virtually every possible design of every piece of residential cabinetry.

If you don't own this book, you do yourself a disservice.

u/atn1988 · 3 pointsr/userexperience

What's worked for me really well was learning about the different roles that a UX oriented person can do. There are a lot of various hats you can wear under the UX umbrella like Interaction Designer, Information Architecture, User Research, and a few more from there.

I'd suggest doing your research, learning as much as you can whether that be reading the latest posts on blogs, reading books or even jumping on twitter and contacting some really great ux'ers out there right now.

I'm a designer that's slowly making the transition too, and this is what worked out really well for me, not saying it's going to be your answer but hopefully some of it helps!

I use www.uxmag.com to just read some articles and keep up to date on what people think within the field.

The best learning that I've had so far though would be from books that I've had suggested to me from various UX designers within the industry right now:

Emotional Design


Project Guide To UX Design

If you want to keep chatting about it feel free to PM me and I'll help out as much as I can! :)

u/kongholiday · 3 pointsr/webdesign

I am the same way. I can't say that I've successfully made it (I'm getting better), but as I'm working on the same thing maybe I can point you toward some books that I found or were recommended to me. Not sure if these are exactly what you're looking for or not, they're both good introductions to graphic design (colors, layout, positioning, typography, etc.)

http://www.amazon.com/Design-Elements-Graphic-Style-Manual/dp/1592532616

http://www.amazon.com/Principles-Beautiful-Web-Design/dp/0975841963

I'm still looking for good material and such so I'd be anxious to see what others have to add.

u/sokkas-boomerang · 3 pointsr/graphic_design

I really liked this book, although I thought the title was misleading. If anything this book showed me that even the best designers have the same worries and go through the same process as I do. http://www.amazon.com/Think-Like-Great-Graphic-Designer/dp/1581154968

u/Altilana · 3 pointsr/painting

Working cools vs warms is a little complicated. I recommend buying some painting books and color theory books to really know what I'm talking about. Basically decide what is going to be the structure of your painting, value or warm/cool shifts. So lets say you decide value (basically you'll find a lot if values, strong darks and lights). Warm/ cool shifts in this context could mean: most of the shadows will feel cooler than the lights (or vise versa). The way you mix that would be: shadows made of violets, greens, blues + a slight neutralizer (the opposite color) or a shade like black, or grey and the lights with bright versions or the hue shifted to things like red, yellows, oranges. (Know that context determines whether a color feels warm or cool. blue can be warm if surrounded by certain neutrals etc etc) However, instead of painting the shadow of on an arm brown, paint it violet. Warm cool shifts work best when there is little value. So if the shadow is Waaaaay darker than the highlight, don't push the violet too much. But let's say you decided to have little value in a painting and wanted space to be formed through warm/cools then make the highlights from red tints and the shadow from violet with no change or little change in value. You see this type of painting Impressionism to contemporary work and prior to Impressionism most painting is value based (due to pigments and the color theories of the time). Extreme values make an easy read for a work, while warm/cools play tricks on the eye and are visually unstable, which makes a painting visually develop over time (stand in front of some Rothko works and you'll know what I mean). It really depends on what you're going for. Also paint from life. Photos flatten things out tremendously and you'll see a lot more color and dimension from actual observation.

Color theory book I recommend: The Elements of Color:

  1. A Treatise on the Color System of Johannes Itten Based on His Book the Art of Color
    http://amzn.com/0471289299

  2. Interaction of Color: Revised Edition
    http://amzn.com/0300018460

  3. Interaction of Color: Revised and Expanded Edition
    http://amzn.com/0300115954

    Painting technique book I also recommend:
    Portrait Painting Atelier: Old Master Techniques and Contemporary Applications
    http://amzn.com/082309927X

    Sorry I'm on mobile and 3:30am so I am a but too exhausted to make those clickable. I look forward to seeing more of your paintings :)

    A Cezanne portrait where his colors in the face do what I'm talking about (using color to make planar shifts or space) http://www.canvasreplicas.com/images/Paul%20Cezanne%20Self%20Portrait.jpg

    A Degas based on warm cool shifts: http://uploads3.wikipaintings.org/images/edgar-degas/the-pink-dancers-before-the-ballet-1884.jpg
u/bkanber · 3 pointsr/web_design

This book is really really great as an intro to design. It's very visual and lays out the fundamental design rules for you. Only once you understand the rules should you try to break them.

Color scheme designer is a little nicer than mudcube below. Figure out color schemes you like, "learn them", and add them to your arsenal.

Kuler is a community for people to upload and find color swatches, if you're not interested in making your own.

Google Web Fonts is great. There are better font sites out there, but google web fonts is free and really easy. Find a font you like and figure out "how to use it". It'll eventually become part of your arsenal, your toolset. I personally love Oswald, Josefin Slab, Bitter, and several others. I'll typically use a google web font for headers and such, but use a standard like Helvetica for body text.

Subtle Patterns for when you need to add texture to an otherwise boring background. I use this all the time.

Twitter Bootstrap to help you with grid layout and responsive design. It has its frustrations (it's a little annoying to add padding to elements, or to get rid of margins between columns, etc etc) but typically I start a design with Bootstrap and modify it as I need.

Get comfortable with things like CSS3 box shadows (very useful for adding subtle depth to designs) and CSS3 transitions (for subtle hover effects and the like)--the little things add a lot to the user experience.

At the end of the day, try to understand as best you can the different fundamental pieces: form (ie, grid), flow (ie, UI/UX), color, and typography. Choosing the right font and the right colors go a long way.

Finally, always start a design with a philosophy in mind. Is this design supposed to be "simple, elegant, and light"? "Dirty, grungy and rough?" "Usable, clear, concise?". Come up with a philosophy for your design and make sure every decision you make conforms to that philosophy. If your design philosophy is "simple" then the fonts you pick should be simple, your color scheme should be monochromatic, icons should be vector-arty, etc.

Good design feels "tight" because the designer did nothing by accident. Everything about the design, even things you might not consciously pick up on, were explicit decisions made by the designer. That coherence in the designer's mind translates to you and how you react to the design.

I'm an engineer that taught myself design, and the above is basically what it boils down to for me. I was able to do it because I spent years working with designers and implementing their work. Eventually it all just "clicked"; I guess my brain was quietly synthesizing all that information in the background. I'm now a pretty good designer, and if you want to PM me I'll show you some of the stuff I've done (I don't want to share it publicly because it's not all live yet).

Best of luck.

Edit: Don't Make Me Think, the book mentioned by shaft0 below is also very good. You should definitely learn about usability as well as graphic design--but since nobody had given you a thorough response about the graphic design portion yet I figured I'd tackle that part.

u/rellikiox · 2 pointsr/Overwatch

Don't know abuot him, but I don't work on those fields and learnt about affordances by reading The Design of Everyday Things. Author like too much giving names to things, but otherwise it's a pretty nifty book.

u/jezreeljay · 2 pointsr/graphic_design

I don't have anything specific for label design, but I've always liked A Smile in the Mind.

I'm not totally clear what you mean by sale/special edition book labels, but I see where you're going with signage—being attractive from a distance in an environment full of distraction. All-in-all though, I think general design principles stand. Other than being concise and direct, I don't know what else you can do on a label. Investigating finishes could be an option (foil, metallic ink, UV coat, etc), to give your label some pizzaz.

u/Ayendora · 2 pointsr/sewing

I personally don't think you are too old.

I used to sew for fun when I was 16, stopped after leaving school and began again at the age of 23/24. I have been steadily re-learning all of the techniques I was taught at school, and have been attending college courses on sewing and dressmaking too. I am now at the stage where I am working on my own project portfolio, but will happily admit that I am still learning lots of new things.

I will agree with /u/heliotropedit though. you do have to be completely 100% dedicated to learning everything you can.

You will end up spending hours and hours practicing the same techniques over and over again. You will want to quit at times and need to motivate yourself to carry on and push through to the end. You'll want to cry on occasions at how tired you are and how you feel that your work simply isn't good enough and how it never will be. You will see other people wearing beautifully crafted garments and feel angry at your own lack of skills. but when you finally break through and create a perfectly drafted and constructed garment, you will realise all of that time, pain, upset and sheer panic will have been 100% worth it.

But before you ever reach this point, you need to be completely certain that it is what you want to do, the tailoring profession is very difficult to break into and it takes true dedication and sacrifice and time (years) to make it.

NB a few good books to help:- (the first three books are good for beginners, the last 4 books are aimed at the more intermediate level sewers)

Easy Does It Dressmaking

The Sewing Book

The Dressmakers Handbook

Couture Sewing Techniques as recommended to me by /u/heliotropedit.

Couture Sewing: Tailoring Techniques

Classic Tailoring Techniques: Menswear

Classic Tailoring Techniques: Womenswear



u/CaseAKACutter · 2 pointsr/malefashion

There's also Metric Pattern Cutting for Menswear, which is a fairly straight forward list of basic menswear patterns. It kinda assumes you already know your way around things like cuffs and collars, but there's plenty of material on the internet to supplement it.

u/erikb42 · 2 pointsr/web_design

To be good at design in general, there's a few things you need to know.

  1. Basic 2d design and color theory: Elements of Colors + Interaction of Color

  2. Art and Deisgn history: Meggs' History of Graphic Design + Janson's History of Art

  3. Basics in grid systems and typography: Grid Systems

    Basically, there is no shortcut. You need to study the history and understand why things work or don't. A bit of psychology never hurt anyone either, even just a 101 class should be enough to get you started. Lastly, just remember this one thing, it will be the most important part in your career...CONCEPT IS KING. I cannot stress this enough, make sure everything you do has a big idea behind it. Something that lets you organize everything under it. I don't care how much UX/UI thought you have, how many ad units and SEO whatevers you did, without a great idea, its total shit and just fluff.
u/Dog_of_Flanders · 2 pointsr/sewing

I haven't sewn them, but I've bought:

Colette Patterns

Violet


Rooibos

Sewaholic Patterns


Granville Shirt

Stylish Dress Book


Dress E

u/wanderingm00se · 2 pointsr/IndustrialDesign

Rapid Viz is an extremely basic ID visualization book. Lots of great exercises for beginning drawers who want to express ideas. Once you get through that try PFD link here.
https://brownstudio12.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/rapid-viz_15-53.pdf

Once you get through that you could try something like this (https://www.amazon.ca/Drawing-Product-Designers-Portfolio-Skills/dp/1856697436) or some of Spencer Nugents ID sketching tutorials (https://vimeo.com/idsketching).

u/JoshShouldBeWorking · 2 pointsr/graphic_design
u/uncivlengr · 2 pointsr/DIY

There's no such thing as the "best coffee table", or any other piece of furniture. There are a huge variety of designs in furniture, and all have different preferred or required joinery, tools, hardware, storage, wood species, etc, and that's not even mentioning aesthetics.

If you want to know how furniture is designed, there are many resources available. I don't have a lot of books on design, but one I have that I enjoy is Illustrated Cabinetmaking. It provides 'typical' tables/chests/desks/etc designs, as opposed to specific designs. It explains how to size different parts of certain pieces - how tall a writing desk should be, how wide a dining table should be, etc.

Furniture design isn't copyrighted - you can copy a Maloof chair or a Krenov cabinet as closely to the original as you like, and most of the time the techniques and tools required aren't that difficult to figure out on your own, or from other resources.

u/kamolahy · 2 pointsr/JobFair

Good questions. Let me take them one by one.

I'll first say that the portfolio is the only truly important thing. When I first came out to NYC to work, I interviewed at 17 different companies/startups/studios. Not a single one even looked at or asked about the school I went to. We just talked at length about my projects. That being said, I think design school is important. Design is complicated. There's a lot to learn. I know people who swear by just going it your own way and not going to school. Those people don't see what they don't do well. They struggle with the fine details. They think their work is fine, but they haven't figured out why it could be better.

Design school taught me a lot. It taught me how to think differently. How to get thick skin and take critique. How to work with grids. How to manage type. All of these skills don't come from hard and fast rules. They come from ethereal concepts that you have to learn. They're much easily learned through someone who can mentor you. You can figure it out on your own, but it will take longer. The cap on your ability to grow in the industry will fall short. I've even interviewed people who had some nice work, but when I discussed with them their process or their theory, they didn't know what they were talking about. They learned how to copy good work, but not how to generate their own creative output.

If you want practice here's what I would do.

  1. Sketch. Even if you aren't good at it. I'm still not. Lot's of designers aren't. Sketching is about a quick method of generating ideas.

  2. Read and write. Design is about communication, not visuals. Visuals are important, but if they don't say anything, no one cares. Great designers often tend to be great writers/readers. Don't just read about design. Read about architecture. Read about theater. Read Science Fiction. Just read.

  3. Take pictures. Learn to frame a shot. learn how to compose something beautiful.

  4. Fill your well. Your greatest resource in design will be culture. Learn about things. Experience a full life. If your creative inspiration comes from a design website, you're doing it partially wrong (those things have their value, but they are a simple tool, not a means to good solutions). Dig deep into different things and become broadly experienced.

  5. Play with the software. If you're sketching, try the software too. Learn Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign. This leads to my next thing.

  6. Find good work and copy it. Literally. Don't copy to give to a client. Just copy in the privacy of your own studio space. You learn to play the guitar by first playing songs by bands you love. Do the same with design. Copy their work and try to learn their techniques.

    Regarding whether I practice, I do. Side projects are a big part of what we do. Client work is always constrained by their needs. Side projects are a good way to push your creativity. Working with constraints is good and important, but balance it with side projects. Design an app. Make a children's book. Do whatever it is that seems interesting to you.

    I still struggle with whether my work is good or not. You'll never get over expecting more than you can deliver. If you like the challenge of that and can live with yourself, you'll be a good designer. A good part of knowing what's good is learning to see. Study masters. Find out what makes good work tick. This is a hard question for sure. This is part of why I tell people to go do design school.

    Design books I recommend... this is hard. A few to get started...

    Steal Like an Artist is good for a newly creative

    The Creative Habit is amazing for people who think creativity is magic... it demystifies that notion and explains how Creativity is about practice and routine. Very smart book.

    DeBono's Thinking Course is heavy reading but very good in learning how to think creatively. It's a must, in my opinion.

    Grid Systems is bland but essential. Learn it. By one of the great masters.

    Art & Visual Perception is also mega heavy, but will teach you how to understand how good creative work is composed and why it works. Very interesting if you can take it.

    A Smile in the Mind is a great book that shows how wit and messaging in design makes for powerful and memorable work. It's a good primer on how designers work concept into their visuals. It's about discovery and the bliss that comes from that (that's why our honey bottles were so successful... discovery is everything).

    Also check out www.designersandbooks.com. It's a long running list of great books that are recommended by designers much more skilled than I am. These are the greats.

    Hope this all helps.
u/Elidor · 2 pointsr/graphic_design

http://www.amazon.com/Design-Elements-Graphic-Style-Manual/dp/1592532616/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1303080776&sr=1-1

Good luck in your future projects. In the meantime, you might try looking at your piece with your photographer's eye.

u/leewb · 2 pointsr/Vaporwave

Creative writing on Twitter? GTFO

There was this book I used to have called UNUSELESS or something. I'm curious if people bothered by these transient characters would likewise despise cheeky inventions. "WHY NOT MAKE GREAT PRODUCTS EVERYBODY LOVES????"

u/epicviking · 2 pointsr/malefashionadvice

http://www.amazon.com/Suit-Machiavellian-Approach-Mens-Style/dp/0060891866

If you've ever been on SF you might be familiar with power user Manton. This is his book. It is pretty good. reads like an ego trip, but definitely provides a lot of insight into tailoring styles and techniques and suits in general. I would strongly suggest this book if you are better than everyone else.

u/fngk · 2 pointsr/design_critiques

Design Elements: Graphic Style Manual is a great book to have. It helps to remind you about general practice and design sense that you might forget about.

Caffeine for the Creative Mind: 250 Exercises to Wake Up Your Brain: is not a focus on methodology, but can help to just get your brain out of a rut.

u/josephnicklo · 2 pointsr/graphic_design

Uncategorized:

Thoughts On Design: Paul Rand


Saul Bass: A Life in Film and Design

How to Be a Graphic Designer without Losing Your Soul

100 Ideas that Changed Graphic Design

Paul Rand

Paul Rand: Conversations with Students

Seventy-nine Short Essays on Design

Bauhaus

The Vignelli Canon

Vignelli From A to Z

Dieter Rams: As Little Design as Possible

It's Not How Good You Are, Its How Good You Want to Be: The World's Best Selling Book

Damn Good Advice (For People with Talent!)

Josef Muller-Brockmann: Pioneer of Swiss Graphic Design

Popular Lies About Graphic Design

100 Ideas that Changed Art

100 Diagrams That Changed the World

Basics Design 08: Design Thinking

Swiss Graphic Design: The Origins and Growth of an International Style, 1920-1965

Lella and Massimo Vignelli (Design is One)

The Accidental Creative: How to Be Brilliant at a Moment's Notice

History of the Poster

How to Think Like a Great Graphic Designer

The Design of Dissent: Socially and Politically Driven Graphics

George Lois: On His Creation of the Big Idea

Milton Glaser: Graphic Design

Sagmeister: Made You Look

Victore or, Who Died and Made You Boss?

Things I have learned in my life so far

Covering the '60s: George Lois, the Esquire Era

Whatever You Think, Think the Opposite

Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative

[Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration]
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/0812993012/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=VEJ64Y4T0U6J&coliid=I1WMMNNLTRBQ9G)

Graphic Design Thinking (Design Briefs)

I Used to Be a Design Student: 50 Graphic Designers Then and Now

The Form of the Book: Essays on the Morality of Good Design

Creative Workshop: 80 Challenges to Sharpen Your Design Skills

Information Graphics: A Comprehensive Illustrated Reference

Semiology of Graphics: Diagrams, Networks, Maps

The Visual Display of Quantitative Information

Envisioning Information

The elements of dynamic symmetry

The elements of content strategy

Corporate Diversity: Swiss graphic design and advertising

Book Design: a comprehensive guide

Meggs' History of Graphic Design

u/dearestteddybear · 2 pointsr/SketchDaily

I recently bought a book called Graphic Artists Guild Handbook: Pricing & Ethical Guidelines, 15th Edition and it has pretty good information about pricing and other stuff. So far it's pretty good but it may be a bit pricy(depends where you're from obviously), but if you're interested in starting out selling your art, I highly recommend it. It's a bit technical so it's no bed-side reading!


Kendyll Hillegas has also great information about selling your art and about some general stuff also, so check her out also!

u/pixel_mover · 2 pointsr/graphic_design

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0823014134/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_m6MPyb1RTHSF2


You buy that book. And you read every page. Twice. Then you trace your name over and over in different fonts until your hands feel like they're going to fall off. Then you read the book again. Then you trace again until your hand blisters. You learn to use indesign. And about paragraph styles and character styles and rules. Hidden characters and soft breaks and hard breaks and en vs. em dashes and points and drop caps and tabs. And then you pick a book in the public domain, and you rag the whole damn text manually. Full page. Five column.

And when you've done that, you've put yourself through type I at an art school level. And you'll never look at letterforms the same again.

It's so, so worth it.

u/mr-nichtus · 2 pointsr/casualiama

Although it can be a drag, a lot of it does come down to practicing ad nauseam. I do readings absolutely all the time, perhaps especially for friends and family, and sometimes it's unpleasant stuff, but more often than not it's letting them know that things will be okay. And if I can break bad news more gently, that's definitely a good thing!

that said... I do have a couple little tips.

  • find a deck with memorable pictures that relate to the message.
  • every time you do a reading, try to remember what the cards mean before you look.

    While some of the cards (Major arcana I'm looking at you) can be pretty arbitrary, the right illustrations help enormously.

    A great inexpensive deck (though very odd) is the Steampunk Tarot. The pictures are very helpful and attractive. It's SFW, which is helpful when you're practicing with god knows who. And they are made a little smaller and thinner so it's easier to mix them up and handle them casually.

    final note: as much as I love a good novelty tarot deck, they're next to impossible to practice with or even use normally.
u/CptJaunLucRicard · 2 pointsr/announcements

> Am I to infer that companies mostly care about it for PR reasons?

Legal, actually. If your work is an education, or heathcare, or any number of other things, the ADA can require you to be accessible. But, most consumer websites are pretty bad about accessibility. I consider usability and accessibility to be distinct, definitely similar, but usability is about patterns and accessibility is.. well, also about patterns, but has a lot more of a code component to it.

In theory, a website who's content is contained in well structured HTML should be fairly accessible by default, at least by technologies like screen readers. You run into trouble in style, things like colors in particular. Use colors to convey meaning in a way where the meaning is lost on a black and white color scheme? Inaccessible. Use text colors on backgrounds that don't have a high enough contrast ratio for things like buttons? Inaccessible. Those are the kinds of things someone who designs for some kinds of fields have to deal with, but the folks at Reddit don't really have to concern themselves with. If they do, it's out of PR, or ethics.

The 90/5/5 rule isn't a hard and fast one, but within the subject of accessibility it is just a reapplication. You might say accessibility targets the 90 percent of users in the middle of some imaginary impairment spectrum. The point of the 90/5/5 rule is really more philosophic than mathamatic: It is basically saying you will never design a system that works for literally everyone. Never.

On this second point, one thing I have to point out immediately is that usability studies are primarily industry-driven. Usability standards and research academically was big in the 1980s, but the academic side of HCI has moved on from "quaint" notions like usability. It is the industry, no academia, that drives that now. The sources I posted for instance, are industry sources, one of them, Nielson-Norman Group, gets paid ungodly sums of money to do usability audits of commercial websites.

The truth is people's preferences are not based on usability, they're based on affect. There's a great, groundbreaking book on this that if you're truly interested in you should read, called Emotional Design: Why we Love or Hate Everyday Things. The author, Don Norman, is the "Norman" in Nielson-Norman Group. Here's a big takeaway, if someone loves or hates software, or any tool, is often not based on how usable it is. People don't make those kinds of decisions on logic, they make them on emotion.

Good UX work should include the affective nature of design. It isn't pure science, it shouldn't treat people like robots, and it should acknowledge that people's preferences are non-scientific and should be accounted for in an emotional way. But, that's not usability. Usability is the more scientific side of UX, the part the measures how well something works. Probably the reason I've gotten so much flak for daring to stand up for any aspect of the reddit redesign is that I'm defending it's usability, which has nothing to do with its likeability. A distinction that is second nature to me, because I'm a professional in this field, but obviously is not to others.

My point is, and has been from the beginning, the new reddit design is not unusable. In fact, it likely is more usable than the original reddit design. People hating it is not based on its usability.

u/tandem7 · 2 pointsr/Random_Acts_Of_Amazon

It's the Steampunk Tarot - /u/rarelyserious actually gifted it to me :) I love it a lot so far, this is the first time I've really had the chance to use it.

u/rage-quit · 2 pointsr/design_critiques

Honestly. Grab some books from Amazon. (you can pick them up fairly cheaply 2nd hand)

Logo Design Love - First edition is the same as the 2nd edition, except you can pick it up for a quid.

Brand Thinking and Other Noble Pursuits

A Smile In The Mind

Thinking with Type

LDL and A Smile are two books I still find myself going back and reading through + referencing even after 5 years as a professional.

They're most branding based, but the fundamentals they speak about absolutely translate to other facets of design.

u/Jardun · 2 pointsr/Design

I seem to get asked this a lot, but here is my list, posted here:

http://www.reddit.com/r/graphic_design/comments/1uq58s/good_graphic_design_books_for_a_beginner/ceklj3y



> These are all books that I absolutly love, and bought for either personal use or to accompany different courses while I was getting my BFA in GD. I have seen some of them both are brick and mortar book stores, and college book stores. If you get a chance to see them in person before buying, leaf through them to get a feel.
>
> Megg's History of Graphic Design, absolutely essential to understanding where graphic design comes from historically. IMO the best GD history book on the market, at least the most encompassing. One of my favorites, was very helpful writing different papers and researching historical styles.
>
>
Graphic Design School. Another great book, focuses more on design process and stuff like that. This one more walks you though being a designer. Gives tutorials on different things too, which is useful.
>
> Graphic Design Referenced is a really great book that is a bit of a hybrid. This book describes a lot of design terms, styles, and general knowledge while referring to historical and modern examples.
>
> Those three for me are really essential books for new graphic designers, I learned more from those three than I can express. Below are a few more books I really like, but might be a bit more advanced than someone just getting started might want.
>
>
Another book I have used a lot, and almost included with those three is above. Thinking with Type. Really great intro into typography.
>
> More advanced even.
>
> How to be a Graphic Designer without Losing Your Soul
>
>
A Graphic Design Student's Guide to Freelance
>
> Hope this helps!
>

Keep in mind this is just a starting point. There are tons upon tons of inspiration books out there for graphic design stuff, not to mention educational books on all sorts of specialties. I love graphic design books, the hard physical copy of them. When I'm stuck on a project I like to flip through them, read a bit, and then revisit my work again.

Here are the books currently in my amazon wishlist, so I can't vouch for them, but I do plan on eventually owning them.

Wish List:

u/dinosaur_disco · 2 pointsr/ProductPorn

This is from the inventor of Chindogu himself, Kenji Kawakami.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0393326764/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_HpRWBbBWYE87H

I've seen a few iterations with this cover. I'd like to get in touch with Kenji and show him some of my ideas

u/Cawendaw · 2 pointsr/Calligraphy

I think I know what you mean. For broad edge, I'd suggest Michelle Brown's A Guide To Western Historical Manuscripts. I'm not sure what the answer is for pointed pen.

Brown's book is meant for paleographers (historians who read old manuscripts) not calligraphers, so it won't have anything like a ductus or comments on how to do the scripts inside. What it does have is a crap ton of scripts, laid out in high-quality full-page photos from the original manuscripts in a nice large format.

If you want instructions for how to do said scripts, I'd recommend The Historical Source Book for Scribes, by Brown (again) and Patricia Lovett, an accomplished calligrapher. This won't have quite the breadth you're after (it only has 14 scripts vs. 55 in Guide to Western historical manuscripts), but I think it's a valuable starting point to learning scripts from just a manuscript, as I talk about at length here (that comment also has some links to online libraries with extensive digitization projects; it takes some work to get what you want out of them, but once you do the selection and image quality is miles better than any book).

If you can't find an affordable copy of "historical source book" (the price seems to fluctuate wildly), Drogin's Medieval Calligraphy is not as good, but still a good starting point. And it's super cheap.

Also, I wouldn't recommend Harris' The Calligrapher's Bible. It's overdone in some areas and underdone in others, as I talk about here.

Sorry to link to my own replies so much, but I have a lot to say on this topic and I only have so much time to type :)

u/unl33t · 2 pointsr/Calligraphy

My pleasure, and happy to help.

I highly recommend this book for starting out. There's also the free Art of Calligraphy linked in the wiki, but for Uncial, this one is a little better imho.

u/DXimenes · 2 pointsr/RPGdesign

I'm delighted to see this kind of topic here, as flow is one of my main design goals when designing anything. I might go so far as say it is part of my core game design philosophy.

That said, there are several subjects that other users have covered very well here, that I think you should look into, but...

>I realized that RPGs very rarely, if ever, come into a state of flow.

I think the thing to look out for here, is that RPGs are a complex activity, highly idiosyncratic and, because of that, flow can happen within different aspects of it.

A flow in narrative immersion is what I aim for but, as players tend to focus on different parts of the activity, it is perfectly possible to create a game focused on achieving flow through, i.e. combat strategy and knowledge of the system on a reflective level¹.

To achieve flow, therefore, you need, I believe, certain things to be in agreement:

  1. The players need to relate to RPGs roughly in the same manner. While it is possible to, with time, adapt the playstyle of the group to something that satisfies players individually, it is hard to concile, for example, a power player with a player that focuses more on roleplaying and narrative, depending on how extreme their behaviours are;

  2. The system needs to agree with the group's overall sentiment. A freeform narrative type of system might get in the way of a group seeking more tactical, rules-heavy combat, and will detract from the kind of flow the group is seeking, while a rules-heavy system with miniatures and grids and tables might inconvenience players that are more interested in the roleplay aspect of RPGs.

    ¹ I'd recommend you reading Norman's Emotional Design, as it has some pretty direct parallels to concepts used by the SRK Model that /u/Brokugan mentioned.
u/illustrator8660 · 2 pointsr/freelance

Do you have access to this book (Graphic Artist's Guild Handbook: Pricing and Ethical Guidelines)? If not, I highly recommend getting a copy. It sets the industry standard as far as pricing for illustration work and is how I begin pricing for all of my projects. It'll give ranges as well, but I find it to be greatly useful.

Tips beyond using this book - take into account the amount of time the project will take you, the size of the illustrations (half page, full spread?), whether you want to include an advance against royalties (this is usually done for children's books) and what rights you are granting them.

Also, since it is a fairly large project, I would recommend laying out a partial payment schedule in your contract - something like 50% after sketches, 50% within 30 days of delivery of final art.

Hope this helps!

u/RogueStudio · 2 pointsr/findapath

Sup. A previous poster had some useful points (make sure your portfolio is the best it can be), but, I'll offer some knowledge without the need to stress about the competition or talk about 'settling'. Beating yourself up is not conductive to creativity, I'm sure you've found out already.

Having graduated from a major art school (RCAD) - art degrees are certainly more a curiosity than a direct translation to the work force - although congrats! I'm sure a lot is a blur to you right now. The last month of my senior year certainly was, and the month after, after days at a time sleeping in computer labs getting our senior thesis shows done, and then in my case, moving back home across country. Sleep, take a bit of time to recharge your battery, so long as your parents are cool with that.

Your portfolio is okay to get freelance work - you may be a little hard up to find a studio job - unless you can convince the right person you can translate your style to their pipeline. I don't really see stuff that would automatically peg you into a position of need like UI/UX (software development), tech art, or VFX. From personal experience, softer skills like design/concept art/illustration have a long list of candidates, and jobs in those areas aren't always priced well for 1st world candidates. If you haven't been good at pricing your contracts, make sure you get a hold of a pricing guide for industry standards. I see so many freelancers underpricing themselves out of desperation, it's not funny. Don't be one of those folk, it only leads to more of the same clients (cheap ones).

Right now: Get your portfolio into as many hands as possible, most places have art directors/recruiters who are relatively friendly. If you're right out of college (6mo-2 years), you may still be able to get internships at places, at the very least, you'll get some feedback as where to improve. You may have to travel to conventions to meet people who can then introduce you to recruiters/art directors. If people at your alma mater can get you in touch with people, don't be shy on hitting them up for help. Networking is key in this field, since there are a heap ton of candidates.

No matter where you go- establish a social media platform for your work, if you don't have one (if you do, you need a link somewhere on your portfolio, and vice versa). At the very least, Instagram, I tend to get the most views from there, but I also have Twitter and a somewhat neglected Facebook page (lol) . I've also heard decent stuff about ArtStation, although the folk there tend to skew towards concept art more than anything else. Post frequently, people enjoy feeling like being a part of an artist's 'life', and recruiters will check those pages to gage soft skills and process work. YouTube can be good for tutorial/process videos. People will give you feedback through these outlets, and may lead you to further ventures like merchandise, commissions, picking up new skills like webdesign/programming languages, or a personal project like a webcomic, illustrated novel, etc.

(Reddit has some decent subs like /r/SketchDaily that are fun to play around with, too...)

Be flexible. So long as the gig is fairly priced with an equal contract (ie termination clauses, proper copyright negotiation, etc), the small client job is just as good as working at a big studio. If you have skills in graphic design or front-end web design, or are willing to pick it up, it may help.

As for the day job - There is no shame at taking a day job, a lot of us have had to do it. At one time when I lived in Boston (having moved there from my smaller hometown on the west coast to start my career), I was working 60 hr work weeks at a position not requiring my degree, then, after shoving food in my mouth for supper, was either networking at gamedev / artist meetups, or going home to work on my portfolio/freelance. Weekends were more freelance work, with maybe some errands and the occasional event for gamedev or comics, or a local convention. Rinse, repeat for a few years, until I decided to move back home to save money.

There's no shame at staying at home if it keeps your costs low, either. I'm in my late 20s and after moving back, still live with my parental unit. On the other hand, I don't absolutely hate my life, I have a lovely pair of cats who keep me company, I'm finishing up a manuscript to submit to literary agents, applying to grad schools, and I just got back from research work with said parental unit (who works in higher education) in New Zealand. Mostly because my COL and lifestyle is flexible enough to allow things like that. Keep your art number one, and you won't allow yourself to get stuck in a day job, unless you find something else that you truly enjoy (teaching, a related field, etc!) That goes for any sort of career- many of my friends who don't directly do art, have branched out into related stuff like teaching, or found another field they liked more. Some of them started families. None of it is the wrong thing to do, just, do what makes you happy and keep your options open. Be prepared for a lot of people to convince you that you're wrong, just because of their perspective, but, not all of that critique is constructive, is it?

Tl;dr: Get your portfolio into many hands as possible, be aware of your rights as a creative professional. Be flexible with gigs you pick up, establish a social media profile to engage the right audiences, and if you have to pick up a day job or move back home, so long as you keep your eyes on the career you want, eventually things click together. It takes a lot of work, time, and mental strength to not give up in the creative fields. Good luck.

u/acousticGiraffe · 2 pointsr/UI_Design

Hmm, off the top of my head...

u/Matthew_McHiniNini · 2 pointsr/AskMen

No worries! ID doesn't just belong to the art worlds a lot of technical schools teach it to. Being artistically talented is one thing but it's not everything.

Besides! Everything that I know about drawing like an industrial designer was pretty much introduced and taught to me with this book.

https://www.amazon.com/Drawing-Product-Designers-Portfolio-Skills/dp/1856697436

That said it does help to have a degree to do product design, but with any skills related to drawing or making things by hand and you could easily find yourself at a general firm! Nothing corporate but screw corporate.

u/spirit_spine · 2 pointsr/Design
u/classicrando · 2 pointsr/exmormon

> I'll never meet a guy that will love me back. There's no one that's remotely interested in me. I'm too awkward. Even if I did find a guy, he'd probably leave me anyway.

I lived in SF for a long time and I can tell you that people of all stripes and levels of awkwardness find love, I saw it all the time.

The people at Pixar say things get better:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4a4MR8oI_B8

As for your parents, people find comfort in having scapegoats and people who are followers tend to listen to leaders who are happy to supply scapegoats - in the past (US) it was the Irish, Italians, Chinese, Polish, etc nowadays for rednecks it is the immigrants, for flag wavers it is ISIS, for Mormons it is the gays. One way to think of these people is morally immature and easily lead astray by the authority figures they rely on to tune their moral compass. You have to be the bigger man. In this case, yes they are torturing you but it is because they think it is what they are supposed to do. Success is your best revenge.

As far as jobs or education here is a secret - being a middle manager or something is not necessarily more rewarding than being a barista. Honor and fulfillment come from how you conduct your life and how you treat others. Chop wood, carry water there is much to be said for humility and simplicity. You can learn more for free from the best schools in the world on iTunes University than you could at BYU.
https://diyscholar.wordpress.com/guide-to-itunesu/

"Do not let yourself be guided by the authority of the sacred texts, nor by simple logic, nor by appearance or opinion, nor even by the teachings of your master; when you know in yourself that something is bad, then give it up, and accept the good and follow it." -Buddha

You are stuck in a place where people live in a very small bubble and they all believe it is real, it is not and there are many amazing and fulfilling things out there that you should try out before you kill yourself. Here are just three books with alternative ideas about spirituality, philosophy and jobs - you can stop living live exclusively from the POV of the Mormon bubble without letting anyone else know that you are doing it - for now while you are still in prison, once you are out you can be your own man.

http://www.amazon.com/Chop-Wood-Carry-Water-Fulfillment/dp/0874772095
http://www.amazon.com/Wabi-Sabi-Artists-Designers-Poets-Philosophers/dp/0981484603
http://www.amazon.com/Vagabonding-Uncommon-Guide-Long-Term-Travel/dp/0812992180

u/GLukyn · 2 pointsr/fountainpens

Something I've taken a liking to is medieval style calligraphy. Check out Marc Drogin's book on the subject. There are a good number of different hands which span hundreds of years, and great fun to practice. Plus you get all the interesting historical tidbits and visuals.

My favorites are Gothic Littera Bastarda and Insular Majuscule

u/Peterb77 · 2 pointsr/woodworking

I think this is pretty close to what you're looking for.

Illustrated Cabinetmaking:

It's very well received and maybe will even inspire you to make some sawdust of your own...

u/occasionallurker · 2 pointsr/Design
u/dongen · 2 pointsr/Calligraphy

Have a look at Marc Drogin's book. Rolf Harris' book is freely available and also provides an example.

u/minusidea · 2 pointsr/Design

That's poor planning in the beginning of the process. I highly recommend Logo Design Love by David Airey. After I read it I took 1 or 2 processes away from it that I hadn't used before and it helped a bit.

u/anotherisanother · 2 pointsr/woodworking

This book has hundreds of pages of exploded drawing of all kinds of furniture. It doesn't have detailed measurements, but for an advanced woodworker, that's okay because you would probably size it to suit your needs.

Newer paperback:
Illustrated Cabinetmaking: How to Design and Construct Furniture That Works (American Woodworker)

Original hardback edition:
Illustrated Cabinetmaking (Reader's Digest Woodworking)

u/fabricwench · 2 pointsr/sewing

You need to create a block for men's knit shirt first, then use that as the basis for a raglan t-shirt. If you really want to draft patterns from scratch, Aldrich's Metric Pattern Cutting for Menswear is a good way to go. I checked the ToC of the 5th edition and it does include a raglan t-shirt.

u/jennmannequin · 2 pointsr/Witch

This is the one I have. It is very easy to read and has done me well
The Steampunk Tarot https://www.amazon.com/dp/0738726389/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_E0G0Db47MZMJA

u/Exeter33 · 2 pointsr/woodworking

"Illustrated Cabinet Making", Bill Hylton

Show all common woodworking joints, and how all types of furniture is put together. It does not tell you how to make each joint. It's up to you to put these patterns to good use.

http://www.amazon.com/Illustrated-Cabinetmaking-Design-Construct-Furniture/dp/1565233697

u/extraminimal · 2 pointsr/typography

Zero experience?

If you have no experience in typography or design, I recommend learning typography as a starting point. Letterpress printing is a fascinating pursuit on its own, but you'll get much more out of it if you prepare yourself with a strong foundation in typography.

The cool thing about learning typography as it's more often practiced today is there's plenty of carryover from the metal type of a letterpress. Terms like leading and uppercase have meanings that transcend the physical medium, but relate to the history of applying typography with metal type. That's the best way to look at letterpress printing — it's a specific form of applied typography.

To learn how to use a letterpress without learning general typography is to learn penmanship without knowing a written language.

To get started, I recommend reading an introductory typography book:

http://www.amazon.com/Designing-Type-5th-Edition-Typography/dp/0823014134/

Practice a bit, then make your way through Bringhurst:


http://www.amazon.com/The-Elements-Typographic-Style-Anniversary/dp/0881792128/

Much of Bringhurst will be review, but you won't fully appreciate it without already having a basic comprehensive understanding.

Any learning you can do before touching a machine should be done. I recommend this path because working with a letterpress is time consuming and potentially expensive. If you jump straight into producing letterpress work without a typographic background, it will be of poor quality. You can learn the basics much faster digitally, while also gaining the eye that will help you when you move into letterpress printing.

u/_Turul_ · 2 pointsr/graphic_design

This PDF will give you a pretty basic understanding of print design, and creating a portfolio, and it's free!
http://www.portfoliohandbook.com/PortfolioHandbook_UCID12.pdf


i've grabbed a stack off my shelf, i'll list a few here

[Thinking with type] (http://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Type-2nd-revised-expanded/dp/1568989695) (Typography)

[Layout Workbook] (http://www.amazon.com/Layout-Workbook-Real-World-Building-Graphic/dp/1592533523/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1374116370&sr=1-1&keywords=layout+workbook+a+real-world+guide+to+building+pages+in+graphic+design) (Typography & Page Layouts)

[Production for Graphic Designers] (http://www.amazon.com/Layout-Workbook-Real-World-Building-Graphic/dp/1592533523/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1374116370&sr=1-1&keywords=layout+workbook+a+real-world+guide+to+building+pages+in+graphic+design)
(This one is more technical, Printing, Final Art Production, Etc.)

[Designing with Type] (http://www.amazon.com/Designing-Type-5th-Essential-Typography/dp/0823014134/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1374116474&sr=1-1&keywords=designing+with+type) (Typography)

[Type & Image] (http://www.amazon.com/Type-Image-Language-Graphic-Design/dp/0471284920/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1374116510&sr=1-1&keywords=type+and+image) (Combining Typography & Imagery)

[Color & Type for the Screen] (http://www.amazon.com/Color-Type-Screen-CD-ROM-Digital/dp/2880463297/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1374116649&sr=1-1&keywords=color+and+type+for+the+screen) (Web Typography)

[The Element of User Experience] (http://www.amazon.com/Elements-User-Experience-User-Centered-Design/dp/0321683684/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1374116686&sr=1-1&keywords=elements+of+user+experience+by+jesse+garrett) (User Experience/Web Design)

[Don't Make Me Think] (http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Make-Me-Think-Usability/dp/0321344758/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1374116719&sr=1-1&keywords=dont+make+me+think) (User Experience/Web Design)

There are also a ton of threads here on Reddit about Design books alone, and there is still the rest of the internet!
These are most of the books I got from my first two years at well respected design program, some are more helpful than others. But it doesn't hurt to read!

Also if you really want to give this a shot, work your ass off! Know that there is someone out there that is willing to (and probably is) working harder at it than you! Design is just like any other field of business, you gotta put in the work to get what you want.

u/unclefishbits · 2 pointsr/funny

Oh my gosh, I can help. This is a wonderful "art" in Japan... the art of the useless invention.

---------

From the land of the rising sun, strangely practical and utterly eccentric inventions for a life of ease—and hilarity.

In Japan Kenji Kawakami is famous for his tireless promotion of Chindogu: the art of the unuseless idea. Meant to solve problems of modern life, these bizarre and logic-defying gadgets and gizmos are actually entirely impractical. Addicts of the unuseless will love this collection of 200 Chindogu, including the Drymobile (your laundry dries as you drive), the Solar-Powered Torch (never runs low on batteries), Duster Slippers for Cats (now the most boring job around the house becomes hours of fun...for your cat!), Walk 'n' Wash Ankle-attachable Laundry Tanks (a perfect solution for the problems of inadequate exercise and hygiene), and many, many more... These hilarious inventions have taken Japan by storm. Every one of the 200 items in The Big Bento Box of Unuseless Japanese Inventions has actually been manufactured to the highest standards, fully tested by pioneering members of the Japanese public, and documented in their unuselessness with 442 color photographs. 442 color photographs

this book is AWESOME:
http://www.amazon.com/Big-Bento-Unuseless-Japanese-Inventions/dp/0393326764

so fun. and my first helpful reddit comment ever.

u/gmz_88 · 2 pointsr/IndustrialDesign

You need to draw through. That means drawing every side of the cube, even if you don't see that corner.

None of your lines are straight. Practice one movement of your arm that results in a perfectly straight line. it's hard to make yourself learn this but practice is important. once you have that one perfectly straight stroke just rotate your paper around and do the same motion every time.

You also need to work on your perspective.

these are some great books to start with: 1-2-3.

u/piejesudomine · 2 pointsr/Calligraphy

Why thank you! Absolutely I can tell you the ink I used, the red is Diamine Red Dragon and the Black is Higgins Eternal.

The minuscules are from Marc Drogin's book Medieval Calligraphy, its history and technique, the hand he calls Gothic Littera Bastarda and the majuscules are from the David Harris book in the wiki.

u/donthatemecuzisuck · 1 pointr/Logo_Critique

As someone living in New Mexico, can we NOT keep doing this overdone and cliche New Mexico Zia symbol. PLEASE? Every. Single. Business.

Also, the Zia symbol actually belongs to the tribe. If you read LogoDesignLove it talks about this.

u/SweetWetRain · 1 pointr/tarot

You Capricorn would love this....if you aren’t an experienced reader, the pics make it easy to read as you’re starting out.
tarot deck

u/CharlieL29 · 1 pointr/Design

I actually had to buy both books mentioned above as well as Designing with Type which is pretty good.

It's probably more of a beginner's book to typography (history of type, anatomy, terms and definitions, ect.), but I've enjoyed using it. Elements of Typographic Style and Thinking with Type are a little more advanced imo. All good books to have.

u/bvlax2005 · 1 pointr/graphic_design

What kind of background do you have in graphic design?
Any formal or informal education?
Do you have any work to showcase?
What are your ultimate goals?

Its easier to help you out if we know more about where you are right now. Regardless, one of the books I've found useful is this:
http://www.amazon.com/Graphic-Design-Referenced-Language-Applications/dp/1592537421/ref=sr_1_1_bnp_1_pap?ie=UTF8&qid=1370562672&sr=8-1&keywords=graphic+design+referenced

It is pretty much an almanac of all things design related.

u/getthejpeg · 1 pointr/Israel

http://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Type-2nd-revised-expanded/dp/1568989695/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1320103677&sr=8-3

http://www.amazon.com/Interaction-Color-Expanded-Josef-Albers/dp/0300115954/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1320104020&sr=8-1


http://www.amazon.com/Power-Center-Composition-Visual-Anniversary/dp/0520261267/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1320103713&sr=8-1 (this one can be a bit esoteric but if you stick with it, its good)

There are also roughly 6 elements to keep in mind when making compositions and you will have to read more about them and seek out examples. they vary depending on where you look but this has some: http://www.wiu.edu/art/courses/handouts/princdesign.html

This also has some good material: http://photoinf.com/General/Robert_Berdan/Composition_and_the_Elements_of_Visual_Design.htm

None of those links are perfect, and they are not quite the way I learned it either, but you should just do exercises to work on them. For example, In a 5x5 square, do compositions using just 10 dots of the same size. Make each composition represent a word such as unity, variety, movement, stillness, and others like that. Thats just a quick example.

u/bearetic · 1 pointr/Design

As for design basics, I got this book after graduating, and have kept and bought some other books on typography and grids and such, not exactly burying myself in them, though I do read them as often as I can force myself to. Maybe one magazine for now, as well. I don't want it to be my entire life, I just want to be good enough to have a job, as bad as that sounds. I know I have to put some extra effort in, though.

u/Chacalaka · 1 pointr/IWantToLearn

learn the following programs: illustrator and photoshop. Optional; dream weaver and flash. Go to Amazon.com and buy graphic design books. I'd recommend this one. Then do some freelancing and build a good portfolio.

u/d_zed · 1 pointr/Design

Extensive study that has been done on color theory. Johannes Itten is a Bauhauser and wrote about this. So did Joseph Albers. We are using both of these books in the color theory class I'm taking at Parsons school of Design this summer.

u/Chrisalexandra · 1 pointr/graphic_design

I came here to say imposter syndrome as well, but seems like you already have some great advice above, so instead I'll recommend a book. Check out How to Think Like a Graphic Designer by Debbie Millman. It's filled with interviews of renowned designers, and you get to read about some of their personal struggles...yes, even these big name designers that seem to have everything figured out! Best of luck and work hard. You'll be fine!

u/Vegatheist · 1 pointr/rawdenim

I've only ever seen this book mentioned here.

u/Apex413 · 1 pointr/IAmA

Logo Design Love - Every problem you stated is covered in this book. As far as the AMA part, how did you get into freelance graphic design?

u/wedonotagree · 1 pointr/graphic_design

I'll check these out! this book also touches on some of this. I don't particularly love the title but it's a great quick read!

u/Onyx_Mirage · 1 pointr/Psychic

I have never been more delighted with a deck and book combo than with Barbara Moore's steampunk tarot.
It's engaging, playful-yet-perfectly-serious, and has some very insightful and intuitive descriptions for t cards. It's easy to start simple and then dive deep with this deck.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0738726389/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_oayIDbM7XYCDJ

u/2017herewecome · 1 pointr/sewing

I would also ask in the Sewing Patterns Review forum. Woven fabrics are preferred for beginners.

I would look for something with a fitted bodice and a gathered skirt. Fitting the bodice will be challenge enough.

Japanese pattern book patterns are a favorite of mine and fairly simple, but I'm not sure that they flatter hourglass figures. Some American women find they don't provide a sufficiently wide range of sizes. One of my favorites is Stylish Dress Book: Wear with Freedom by Yoshiko Tsukiori.

u/allnothere · 1 pointr/graphic_design

Check out this book..

https://www.amazon.com/Graphic-Artists-Guild-Handbook-Guidelines/dp/1507206682?SubscriptionId=AKIAILSHYYTFIVPWUY6Q&tag=duckduckgo-d-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=1507206682

there are alot if versions. But any copy should give you a good idea where to start. I also agree with starting at a price and going down. Good luck!

u/theirisnetwork · 1 pointr/graphic_design

>Obviously I know that I need a super polished site that I either built myself or on a platform like Wix or Squarespace, but that won’t be done for a few more months. Life has been a little rough on me lately.

As a stopgap, start posting stuff on free platforms like Behance, CargoCollective or dribbble.

Even if it's just a work dump, it's good protocol to have a portfolio online. If you haven't already, also make sure to keep your resume up online as well (you can host it publicly on Dropbox for free) and have your LinkedIn updated.

>Is this contract-level work, or should I not bother having him sign a contract?

EVERYTHING that involves pay should have a contract. Find a template online for freelance, and also in the future buy this book which'll help you get a better sense of things.

>How do I bill him, and through what methods should I have him pay me?

If you have an account, PayPal does a good job of doing invoicing and keeping track of things like hours and accountability for payment. But if you want to do it yourself, there's also some other digital options out there. But as I said before, it's important to have a paper trail, get everything in writing and have things to reference.

>Do I need to worry about taxes or anything like that?

Depends on how big the amount is, but if it's usually under ~$500 I wouldn't worry about this (though other users keep me honest on this)

>How many revisions are typical for a logo design, and do I factor color into my price?

This is on you and based on your client's budget. Obviously more revisions and feedback require additional work, which will cost them more money. Same with color: coming up with options and getting to a final decision requires both work on your end and a meeting to get feedback and work off of.

u/Teh-Voice-of-Reason · 1 pointr/tarot

The name of this deck is The Steampunk Tarot and it was made by Barbara Moore and Aly Fell.

What makes this deck unique is that it's a Steampunk deck.

More information about it can be found here: http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/steampunk-fell/

You can purchase it here: https://www.amazon.com/Steampunk-Tarot-Barbara-Moore/dp/0738726389

And here is the Major Arcana in a zip file: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1O1EjrQf-zD1o7H0ce3Ed_mWrV5RrHIC0/view?usp=sharing

u/hulahulagirl · 1 pointr/suggestmeabook

Graphic Design Referenced is a really great, heavily footnoted and cross-referenced history that connects the big ideas of each era. It's not focused on marketing so much, but will at least show the more successful campaigns (IBM, etc.). Look at this book in person if you can to appreciate it.

u/Bullywug · 1 pointr/DnD

For lockpicking, /r/lockpicking has a good beginner's guide. I like SouthOrd lock picks, and you really just need a couple to get started. A hook, shallow hook, half-diamond, some kind of rake (city or bogato), and a tension wrench will let you pick most padlocks and house locks you see (never pick a lock you depend on, never pick without permission).

For calligraphy, I normally do traditional nibs, but I've been getting a lot of mileage out of my Pilot Parallel pens lately, and they'd be great for a beginner. The 2.4 and 3.8 mm nibs would be good for learning. Get a good quality paper like Rhodia so the ink doesn't feather and a straight edge, and you're good to go.

I looked around online for a while at calligraphy tutorials on-line for you, and I didn't see anything that compared to what I have in books so you'll probably want a book to get you started. Since this is /r/dnd, I'm going to recommend Medieval Calligraphy. It has a really broad range of medieval styles and really helpful advice for learning and doing nice finished pieces.

u/biscuitsong · 1 pointr/tarot

What about the Steampunk Tarot? (There are a couple but this is the one I mean: The Steampunk Tarot https://www.amazon.com/dp/0738726389/)

Maybe also check out the Modern Spellcaster’s Tarot, Pagan Otherworlds, and Darkness of Light Tarot. These aren’t in the same digital art style but they might appeal to you.

Before buying anything, I’d recommend searching on YouTube for deck flip throughs (if you don’t already do that) so that you know you’ll like the whole deck.

Edited to add: Decks by Kim Huggens also look similar to Ciro Marchetti so you might want to look at those too!

Edited to add: Another one to check out is Ellis Deck: https://ellistrations.bigcartel.com/product/ellis-deck-5th-edition Very heavily RWS-based (though not a clone) but the illustrations are truly unique. The colors look pretty bright in photos, but the real-life colors are more muted.

u/catalot · 1 pointr/sewing

New Complete Guide to Sewing for general sewing techniques.

For tailoring men's clothes, Classic Tailoring Techniques (and women's.)

For pattern drafting, Winnifred Aldrich has a great line of books.
There's also Fundamentals of Men's Fashion Design, casual and tailored. As well as Patternmaking for Fashion Design.

For corsets, Waisted Efforts and The Basics of Corset Building are good.

For making shirts, Shirtmaking.

For learning to sew stretch/knit fabrics, Sew U: Home Stretch is pretty good.

And for just having a bunch of fun with patterns, the Pattern Magic series is plain awesome. I think there's three of them out now.

Edit: thought of more!

The Art of Manipulating Fabric is great. And www.threadsmagazine.com as well as the corresponding print publication.

u/maksbarzo · 1 pointr/design_critiques

I agree about your photography and 3D designs. With a bit of work, you can turn these, or any other artwork into different design pieces. Simple things like CD covers, business cards, posters, can quickly beef up your portfolio.

Consider adding Typography to your extra curricular studies. A lot of your stuff that you think isn't portfolio worthy, might be after some thoughtful typesetting. Thinking with Type and Designing with Type are old standbys that are easily available.

u/dr1fter · 1 pointr/IWantToLearn

I just started learning about design myself in an effort to get my software and webpages looking a bit more professional. I'd recommend starting with traditional graphic design theory -- there's some fundamentals you really need regardless of medium. I started picking up the basics from Timothy Samara's Design Elements: A Graphic Style Manual and it's been very educational so far.

u/Fran · 1 pointr/books

I've never seen the movie objectified, but I love this book:

Robin Williams, The Non-Designer's Design Book

edit: After a quick look at IMDB, you may want to try a Donald Norman book like:

u/esbenab · 1 pointr/compsci

#2 You pretty much can have a go at any open source project. Alternatively try writing to someone non technical, like a partner or parent. Try to be concise.

#3 try to google the language + TDD you are working with as it will give you some examples. ex: Python TDD or Java TDD, also ask in the rellavant subreddits

#4 read "The design of everyday things", its easily read, concise and will most likely change your view of software development. Hold it up against chusk3's suggestion, you'll see that those successful OSS projects largly adhere to the tenants of The design of every day things.

u/twocats · 1 pointr/Romania

Mi-a placut mult Confessions, dar suna foarte bine Introvert Power, o sa citesc musai, am vazut ca a ajutat Confessions, dar omul cam tinde sa uite daca nu face un obicei din ce invata :)

Din pacate, ai dreptate ca e formatul limitat, trebuie cautat bine, cele care sunt disponibile in format kindle se vad si ok si n-au neaparata nevoie de culoare: Logo Design Love a fost excelent, o baza buna a fost White space is not your enemy, cu ceva greutate am citit pdf-ul The fundamentals of graphic design si acum citesc The creative process illustrated - desi, ce-i drept, e clar mai mult despre creativitate, dar la fel mi-a facut placere sa citesc Hey, Whipple, squeeze this.

Altceva de design cu imagini si explicatii, mai comprehensiv, clar nu merge pe kindle. Si daca ai recomandari pentru mine legate de design, pentru kindle or not, nici nu stii cat mi-ar placea sa ascult!

u/LeEspion · 1 pointr/sewing

>the crotch. If you turn a pair of pants inside out and look at the crotch, you'll notice it sort of curves. You'll have to follow that curve, whereas the outside seam would just be straight.

OP if you do attempt to alter in this fashion I highly suggest that you seek out a book or two on tailoring techniques.

Classic Tailoring Techniques: A Construction Guide for Men's Wear (F.I.T. Collection) By Roberto Cabrera Buyitonamazon

Classic Tailoring Techniques: A Construction Guide for Women's Wear (F.I.T. Collection) By Roberto Cabrera Buyitonamazon

Also the Cutter & Tailor forums is another excellent resource for menswear

u/ellera · 1 pointr/graphic_design

Course book list from my first year of graphic design, I found them all really helpful and interesting, especially the first one. It explains not just how to make things look good, but WHY certain things look good and some things look like crap.

Design Elements: A Graphic Style Manual

Understanding Color: An Introduction for Designers

Thinking with Type: A Critical Guide for Designers, Writers, Editors, & Students

There's another really small, short book that is on the process of design, or rather "how to produce creative ideas." I can't remember the title, but I'll find my copy when I get home. PM me if you have any questions!

u/alias_enki · 1 pointr/Carpentry

Illustrated Cabinetmaking details quite a bit of furniture construction. It touches on joinery, the where and why. It covers beds, chests, kitchen cabinets (wall hanging and bases) and many more. The plans are not detailed. Most are simply a blown-up or cutaway drawing of the piece itself but the author included source information.

u/Berkut22 · 1 pointr/DIY

I recommend a book called Illustrated Cabinetmaking

Covers this exact question, and a whole bunch of other stuff.

The Amazon preview doesn't do it justice. The first section of the book is all about the theory of crafting with wood, compensating for the way wood expands and contracts, and using specific joints to account for it.

u/PM_me_ur_art_work · 1 pointr/design_critiques

There are the books I was recommended:


1 2 3 4 5 6 7.

u/Sandfloor · 1 pointr/graphic_design

I am in almost the same situation.
I have also been looking for books for motivation, inspiration and so on.
Here are some stuff that keep getting recommended as well as other books that I think are interesting judging by their description and reviews (note: I haven't read anything yet I am just sharing my searching results from the past 2 or 3 days):

For creative problems

u/KimT2au · 1 pointr/sewing

Menswear is not an area that is specifically covered by itself very often. However, most of the techniques are the same as for womenswear; except for trouser construction I think.

My absolutely favourite book is this one. Yes, it is aimed at women but the techniques of putting together shirts and shorts will be the same. What I particularly like about the book is that has exceptionally clear explanations of how to do things and the colour photos (not drawings) are all clearly labelled so you know exactly what you are supposed to be looking at.

All the big pattern companies have menswear sections and they can be found here and here. When you reach the point where you feel comfortable drafting your own patterns, Winifred Aldrich has a reliable book. It is not imaginative, nor on the cutting edge of fashion but it will help you produce good fitting patterns that you can adjust and change as you see fit.

This site is set up for costumers but it contains a wealth of useful sewing information.

As for the best place to buy supplies, you are probably best to let us know what city you live in.

Good luck and don't forget to post photos.

u/Werdxberd · 1 pointr/woodworking
u/UpBraider · 1 pointr/malefashionadvice

Unless you're wearing shirts with very wide spread collars and long collar points, you should be fine. Some of the most conservative sources will say you should only wear button-down collars without a tie, but general consensus seems to be that any type of collar looks fine without a tie and with the top button undone, as long as it isn't so widely-spread so as to hang strangely.

u/Moomasterq · 1 pointr/funny

If my memory is correct this is from this book:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0393326764

Its Actually interesting and some of them could be put to use.

u/sinewavex · 0 pointsr/graphic_design

I'll try to give you a fair answer.
In order to answer your question, I must specify that there isn't a single point of view about what graphic design is. There's people who do work that's based on computer softwares for the 90%, such as photomanipulations or 3d work and still call themselves graphic designers because in the end what they did will be slapped on a poster.
There's people who consider graphic design as something based on pure creativity and artistic ability. Open an issue of Computer Arts or just look at their website, and you'll know what I'm talking about. Alas, those people keep calling themselves graphic designers, but they're not.

Graphic Design is a problem-solving discipline, not a mean of artistic expression. A graphic designer creates identity programs, packaging, books, things that require skills in organizing information and conveying a message in the simplest way possibile. So, to answer your questions:

How artistic do you need to be?
As far as I am concerned, zero. I can't even draw a flower. You are a designer, you design solutions. You don't make art.

How exactly do you get in to graphic design?
Books. Read books, tons of books. It's the best education you can get, even better than what you get in design school, although a formal education is necessary for other aspects of the job.
For a portfolio, you usually show examples of printed work (corporate identity, packaging, posters, you name it) and some online work, such as websites layouts and mobile apps. The balance between print and online depends only on what you enjoy doing the most.

Am I totally off base as to what graphic designers do?
As I said, graphic designers design solutions to problems. A problem might be that a client comes to you and needs an identity program for their new business. You'll have to design a mark or a logotype that conveys the values of their business, as well as other components of the identity such as stationery, business cards, packaging or whatever they need.
For everything that you do, you need to be able to organize the information in the clearest way possible. You need to know about layout, color theory, typography etc.

I suggest that you start by finding out about the work of the best designers alive and not. The first book that I recommend to everyone is Graphic Design Referenced, because it's a brilliant synthesis of everything that you need to know about graphic design. Naturally, you'll need way more books to truly become involved, but this is the best start.

u/adrianmonk · 0 pointsr/pics

Oh look, there's a whole book about silly inventions.

u/westcoastmaximalist · 0 pointsr/malefashionadvice

Josef Albers's Interaction of Color [color theory]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0300115954/ref=pd_aw_sim_b_2?pi=SL500_SY115

u/cockmongler · -1 pointsr/ukpolitics