(Part 2) Best graphic design books according to redditors
We found 2,113 Reddit comments discussing the best graphic design books. We ranked the 708 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.
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2011/03/14/technical-web-typography-guidelines-and-techniques/
http://www.webtypography.net
http://webdesign.tutsplus.com/articles/choosing-the-right-font-a-practical-guide-to-typography-on-the-web/
http://www.alistapart.com/articles/on-web-typography/
http://www.digital-web.com/articles/principles_of_design/
http://www.fuelyourcreativity.com/the-lost-principles-of-design/
http://inspectelement.com/articles/the-principles-of-good-web-design-part-1-layout/
http://desktoppub.about.com/od/designprinciples/Principles_of_Design.htm
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2007/04/14/designing-with-grid-based-approach/
http://www.alistapart.com/articles/outsidethegrid/
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2010/01/28/color-theory-for-designers-part-1-the-meaning-of-color/
Color combinations: http://www.colourlovers.com/, http://kuler.adobe.com, http://www.0to255.com
http://justcreativedesign.com/2009/07/27/what-makes-a-good-logo/
http://designishistory.com/
http://www.designhistory.org/
http://psd.tutsplus.com/articles/web/50-totally-free-lessons-in-graphic-design-theory/
http://psd.tutsplus.com/articles/inspiration/teach-yourself-graphic-design-a-self-study-course-outline/
Get through all of that and you should be well on your way to expert graphic/web design.
Only for 1 easy payments of $113.12!
Try this book of his and read it: How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big: Kind of the Story of My Life
Possible that it will blow your mind.
Relevant blog post out of many: http://blog.dilbert.com/post/150816666991/blowing-your-mind-as-promised
Nope. Retails new for $139. What a bargain! Especially compared to the $220 list.
https://www.amazon.com/Graphic-Design-Basics-Amy-Arntson/dp/0495006939
There's a book about that if you're interested, it's s good read
Mauve: How One Man Invented a Color That Changed the World
by Simon Garfield
Link: http://amzn.com/0393323137
When Just My Type was released, type historian Paul Shaw wrote a crushing review, going page-for-page and calling out every inaccuracy and error (this was actually a two-part flaying).
Granted, Paul is far, far more knowledgable on type history than any other person of whom I'm aware (he was the fact-checker on the Meggs textbook that you have likely used in your design classes), but I'd go elsewhere for my type theory. Bringhurst's The Elements of Typographic Style and Erik Spiekermann's Stop Stealing Sheep are good starting points.
The "bible" is "The Grammar of Graphics" by Leland Wilkinson. (link to amazon). The "gg" of ggplot2 stands for grammar of graphics.
Then we go into other books, resources that help with actually showing visualizations:
Then we can look at the "Table of Elements of Data Visualization":
Then, we can look at some blogs to help you see what works and doesn't work:
Finally, some blog posts about other people in data visualization that you can learn from:
Just to give a little plug too, I bought Scott's book because of his persuasion game, and I thought it was fantastic, so I would definitely recomend it to any Centipedes:
https://www.amazon.com/How-Fail-Almost-Everything-Still/dp/1591847745/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1478719702&sr=8-1&keywords=scott+adams
Coincidence to me you made this thread. I have been with an otherworldly being for nearly 2 years without really knowing what it is. Never really considered faeries because I saw them in the romanticize popular Disney way.
Yesterday I found the book Faeries: Deluxe Collector's Edition. (It is a classic in new edition.) I have only read a little, but I instantly understood, trough the text and pictures, how much more nuance there is to them compared with the popular depiction (Victorian version). Now I almost dare to say I am certain it is a faerie I am with.
My advice would be to try to understand the pre-Victorian faeries, (unless you are exactly after the glittering innocent modern depiction).
An old documentary I am watching right now: The Fairy Faith: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lguShTgS8GM
You will read much about going out in nature and making offerings etc. In my case, it contacted me in my home, or showed up, once I started to open my third eye. Opening the third eye really was not that fancy. I just started to assume my imagination was real and not controlled by me, and I had a real interrest in trying it (unlike the times I had consciously tried to "open the third eye".) It was like letting imaginary associations run freely, and I assumed they represented a force outside me. (Then we can question how much it was opened, but at least enough for me to spend the next 2 years with the being and trying to deepen it). If you learn about faeries and then open your third eye, then maybe you can contact them.
Perhaps try Know your onions by Drew De Soto and How to Be a Graphic Designer Without Losing Your Soul by Adrian Shaughnessy.
For what it's worth, the main things I've seen throughout my career that were surprises or turnoffs to new designers when they got out into the real world were:
1) You're not doing work for yourself. It sounds obvious but most people don't even think about the fact that you design for yourself when you're learning, but when you get into the workplace you design for someone else, which isn't nearly as fun. There are clients that will let you have creative freedom, but the majority will just want you to execute their ideas, no matter how bad they are.
2) It's a people job. Some folks are drawn to design because they're introverts and they envision being able to isolate themselves and be creative all day, but that couldn't be further from the truth. If you're freelance, you have to be super extroverted to drum up business for yourself - there's more face-to-face meetings and phone calls than there is actual designing. If you're in-house or agency, you generally will be working as part of a team and there's just as much confidence and extroversion needed to be successful.
3) The hours can be long and the pace can be fast. Design is deadline driven 99% of the time. That means coming up on hard deadlines you may not have a social (or indeed family) life. Most of my work days are 8-5 or 6, but deadline weeks can be 7-midnight and through the weekends. You are the last stop on the line which means you typically inherit everyone else's delays and have to compensate for them by working fast. Working fast often means you don't have the leisure of much brainstorming and concepting. Request like "I need this 18x24 poster in 30 minutes" are not uncommon. You need to be able to handle stress well, prioritize tasks efficiently and be able to turn out work that doesn't necessarily meet your own standards of perfection.
4) They won't always go with your idea. In fact they almost never will. I've seen a lot of young designers deeply frustrated that the lovely draft they sent to the client comes back as a rejection or covered in red ink. You have to be able to not take things personally, to listen and take criticism positively, and to act on alternative ideas quickly.
All that said, it is a fulfilling career if you really have a passion for visual communication, the wage is pretty good (in larger firms and agencies at least) and you can live on it comfortably, and there are upward movement opportunities into roles such as Art Director or Creative Director. Hope some of that helps.
I'm currently reading his book - it's a quick read, funny, and interesting. Your post has that same flavor.
I hope you make the big bucks in Vegas. I'll bet you're really good at what you do!
Books books books!
Some essential reading:
You have probably heard of the documentary Helvetica. This movie inspired me to become a type nerd. The follow-up movie, Objectified, is also very good and focuses on consumer design.
Web sites / blogs:
If you are at college or have a college campus nearby, check our their art library. There are bound to be awesome resources there. Explore graphic design periodicals and get lost in giant bound books of type samples.
Edit: Disclaimer: I'm merely a design hobbyist.
Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid On Earth is the mopiest, indiest thing you will ever read.
>The use of raised heel running shoes is not healthy, A sole-less running shoe is much better for you.
>In society today, we don’t really question why we do things the way we do.
>People will continue to run the way they always have if they don’t know that it is unhealthy.
These statements are too absolutist for a scientific paper. Obviously, all of the evidence you have supports that barefoot running is better, but beware saying that 'it is much better for you.'
>I truly believe that I am an early adapter to the process in sole-less running shoe world. Throwing on music, running up to ten miles, and never once thinking about how I am running on my fore foot.
These kinds of anecdotal statements would never be included in scientific writing, but it's fine for an opinion piece.
You have also used the word 'you' to refer to the more general 'one' or 'people'. This is pretty informal. A little bit of informality is fine in opinion or editorial writing, but not really in scientific research.
Everybody, myself included, needs to work on their punctuation. I use The New Well-Tempered Sentence. It's a lot more fun than any other books I know on proper punctuation. Actually, The Transitive Vampire is a good grammar book too.
Obviously though, if you got an A, you wrote what the TA was looking for! But, it's the type of thing that could vary depending on the course and teaching staff.
I read a fair amount of pop history, and there's lots of good pop history! The "good stuff" tends to be quieter and not published by Certain Big Names and will cover more niche topics, or just generally make more modest arguments. I review pop history regularly on Saturday Sources. Honestly I tend to be harder on the academic history. Some recentish pop history I've liked (loosely defined as "costs less than $30")
Ooh, this looks good. How to Make Webcomics, one of the authors is Scott Kurtz, of PvP fame.
I can't give suggestions on hand-lettering books yet as the few I have read weren't good...so I'm trying to find better ones. But check out Louise Fili and Jessica Hische for inspiration and of course Paula Scher and Sagmeister.
There are many other books so I welcome others to chime in and add their suggestions.
Last time I tried to give advice on drawings the person got upset and quit reddit, soooo, please don't do that. My suggestion if you're absolutely serious about drawing is to absolutely learn the fundamentals.
Fun With A Pencil: How Everybody Can Easily Learn to Draw https://www.amazon.com/dp/0857687603/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_ijZZDbCWDFEAQ
Drawing the Head and Hands https://www.amazon.com/dp/0857680978/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_AjZZDb0B3RBPF
Figure Drawing for All It's Worth https://www.amazon.com/dp/0857680986/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_OjZZDbW37G79H
Successful Drawing https://www.amazon.com/dp/0857687611/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_4jZZDb95Z0W96
Creative Illustration https://www.amazon.com/dp/1845769287/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_ikZZDbFRJYAJD
And after the basics
Imaginative Realism: How to Paint What Doesn't Exist (Volume 1) (James Gurney Art) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0740785508/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_alZZDbZW0Y1P4
Color and Light: A Guide for the Realist Painter (Volume 2) (James Gurney Art) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0740797719/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_DlZZDb676AWT6
It doesn't matter what medium you use, learning how to draw and understanding what you're doing will help out the most.
Novels with a strong male protagonist? I don't mean to be rude, but nearly every novel written, ever.
That said, if you like Palahniuk, you'll probably like The Contortionist's Handbook. I also like the relatively weak male leads from The Cheese Monekys and The Learners
Fun Home by Alison Bechdel
Safe Area Gorazde By Joe Sacco
The Photographer by Emmanuel Guibert
Blankets by Craig Thompson
Not non-fiction but
Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth by Chris Ware is about as non-pop, non-pulp as it gets.
Found it on Amazon!
This book feels like a sacred text for this subreddit, haha.
I have compiled a reading list to be read in order just for this question.
I strongly believe that these books will make you better than 90% of designers out there.
Level One
Start with Thinking with Type it is a really good introduction to all things graphic design. It focuses a lot on typography and it is really basic. I
Next is Grid Systems: Principles of Organizing Type This book takes what you learned in Thinking with Type and allows you to develope it further in a grid based system. Its good, basic, and has exercises for you to do to play with composition.
Third on the list is Graphic Design: The New Basics It will take what you learned in Thinking with Type and Grid Systems and open them up a little. You learn about design elements other than just type like scale, rhythm and contrast. It really good, and has some projects to do.
Level 2
Now You can get into more "advanced" stuff. There are a lot of books that can go here, but Ill recommend some of my favorites. Its not as important to do this section in order.
Grid Systems in Graphic Design is the bible when it comes to grids. Its german and dry as fuck, but it is basically awesome. Its expensive, but worth every single penny.
Elements of Typographic Style Not alot about grids in here, but it tells you every insane crazy thing that typographers do when they massage text.
You can look at other designers work too. Heres a list of designers I like a lot:
Stefan Sagmeister
Paul Rand
Massimo Vignelli
James Victore
Paul Sahre
Wolfgang Weinhart
Paula Scher
Tibor Kalman
Most of these designers also have books out about their life and work.
Get a sketchbook and play around in it. Draw, collage, glue bubblegum wrappers in there. Just make it a diary of your visual life.
You could also get into Visual Theory here:
Norman Bryson has a book on still lifes that awesome
JWT Mitchell's What do pictures want is great
After this, its just a matter of making a lot of really bad shit and eventually its just a little less worse and maybe one day it might be good.
Ive got more, but that should keep you busy for a year or two.
One of the books I own is Texturing and Modeling: A Procedural Approach.
There's also this PDF online about L-Systems: Algorithmic Botany.
Hope those are useful links.
The former is widely considered somewhat of a 'type bible,' and was referenced often in college. It's a fantastic resource, however it can be seen as less accessible for total beginners.
That's where the latter comes in. If you're going the self-taught route, you'd probably love Stealing Sheep. However, unfortunately it seems to be out of stock everywhere, with only used or insanely marked up resellers. I wonder if it's going out of print, which would be a shame.
I have this book
https://www.amazon.com/Sewing-Book-Encyclopedic-Step-Step/dp/0756642809
It's full of sewing techniques for making clothing and it's helped me out a lot. But I don't think you need a book to do what you want to do. Adding waist darts to a dress is pretty easy and bust darts aren't too difficult either.
Heres a video on how to do bust darts https://youtu.be/d9FoVBffroo
You are giving me such good advice. I appreciate it! I'll definitely make a practice version. I feel like the dress will be fine even if the fit is a bit off after switching fabrics. This dress is not meant to be a precise fit at all, so it should be fine.
I have The Sewing Book, and it seems pretty thorough.
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!
Just finished this and immediately ordered her strip collection Dykes to Watch Out For. This is a really odd and heart-wrenching tale regarding a father/daughter relationship all told through the lens of different pieces of literature.
I think of it as a cross between Blankets and Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth.
Je suis un enseignant d'histoire Canadien, et je ne suis pas en mesure de confirmer le 'massacre' qui a été mentionné (mais je suis anglophone, peut-être quelque chose a été perdu dans le traduction), mais il y a un bonne livre appelé 'Louis Riel: a Comic Strip Biography' qui est sur la vie de Louis Riel. C'est vraiment intéressant. De toute façon, il y a beaucoup des passages qui confirme ça que /u/Akesgeroth dit de les politiques de 19ème siècle qui ont exclure les francophones dans les nouveau provinces dans l'ouest (et dans le case de ce livre, Manitoba en particulier). À l'époque, les politiciens ont vraiment peur d'un 'Québec de l'Ouest', et ils ont fait tout son possible pour l'éviter. Si tu est intéressé d'histoire Canadien, ce livre est un bon endroit pour commencer.
Stop Stealing Sheep is fun, easy to read, indexed and well loved by experienced typographers. It's at least a good starting place.
Edit and you can sample a chapter of it with this free PDF from Adobe.
> fragrances evolve, and stronger elements fade and subtle undertones come to the forefront.
Indeed. I discovered about 20 years ago that every guy who splashes on some Polo smells like blueberry muffin mix after 30 minutes to 4 hours. That's the long-lasting undertone of Polo.
Truth: Food flavorings are perfumes for canned/packaged foods. They're not added for your taste buds, but for your sense of smell. And they are designed and blended by the same chemists and perfumers who also do perfume for the human body. IIRC, I learned this from a chapter in a book called Mauve, although that book is primarily about fabric dyes.
http://www.amazon.com/Texturing-Modeling-Third-Edition-Procedural/dp/1558608486 Is the go to resource?
I must admit i have yet to read it, but I have seen it referenced enough that it has made its way to my book shelf.
Also, the Micro Series has a TPB coming out in October, and hopefully hints that they'll continue beyond issue 7.
There are three MLP comic series, and there are indeed trade paperbacks, though obviously not all the issues of ongoing series have been collected yet. It's a good idea to read the main series in order, but doesn't really matter for the others.
The main series, simply titled "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" has story arcs of either 2 or 4 issues. With a few exceptions, they are mostly very high quality (Katie Cook and Andy Price are very good at their jobs).
The "micro series" (collected under the title "Pony Tales") featured one-shot issues focusing on individual characters. Quality-wise, they tended to be a bit hit-or-miss. It is now completed.
After the micro series finished, a new side series called "Friends Forever" started, focusing on the relationship between a pair of characters. The first issue wasn't great, but I've liked all the others so far.
Life IS about using the whole box of crayons! The giant box of 100 colors!
this looks like so much fun! I've had my eye on one for so long, I feel like it'd be such a fun activity!
I feel like /u/pinalope4real would dig the secret garden coloring book since I'm always receiving such awesome snaps from her garden ;)
yay coloring! Thanks for the contest <3
I always recommend “Creative Illustration” by Andrew Loomis. It’s an older book, but Loomis was a great teacher and the fundamentals are so solid. Loomis book
The Cheese Monkeys by Chipp Kidd. A weird one but very good - our typography teacher had us read it and write a short opinion piece. http://www.amazon.com/The-Cheese-Monkeys-Novel-Semesters/dp/0061452483
This book would help you.
Ok: just looked at your portfolio before reading through the post (i'm a creative director)
First question I asked was "where did this guy study design?". Then read you didn't> and that's clear: because you NEED to get the basics of your craft sorted.
Good typography is baseline for a designer (typographic joke) your type is all over the place.your LA church postcard for example: its script type: see those little lines at the ends of each letter? they need to join up: see here.https://tonyseddon.com/the-geometry-of-type
This sort of sloppy type is a dead giveaway to any CD you haven't been trained.
The Kerning on your logos needs to be fixed, you need to learn how to lay out and align type. if you're serious about a career in design you need to work on your basics FAST. But all this can be learned!
buy this book NOW, or steal it from I library: today, it'll save your life...https://www.amazon.com/Stealing-Graphic-Design-Communication-Courses/dp/0321934288/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1550224947&sr=8-4&keywords=stop+stealing+sheep
you can buy a pdf herehttps://www.mindhub.co.uk/Stop_Stealing_Sheep_Find_Out_How_Type_Works_3_e_p/978-0-13-344113-0.htm
But if you don't sort out your typographic basics, you're doomed. If you do, you'll be fine. Hope that helps.
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Sewing machines - Vintage sewing machines often cost the same as brand new cheap machines and are better quality. The problem is that they require more research and legwork.
So, you will most likely want to buy new. If your girlfriend finds that she enjoys sewing and you bought a brand new starter sewing machine, just plan on getting a better sewing machine in the future. By the way, I think most are recommending the Brother sewing machine as a starter machine.
Personally, I love my 1920s Singer sewing machine (Even though my machine is almost a hundred years old, it is reliable as heck, and it will sew anything.)
Sewing kits - a few essential supplies
Avoid buying any tools made by Singer. They are poor quality and not worth the few cents it takes to buy them.
If it looks cheap, it's likely cheap.
Good companies - Fiskars, Gingher, Dritz (There are several more.)
Here's the starter sewing kit that I would want, but it's high quality. http://merchantandmills.com/products/gift/starter-set/ Geez, I still want it, and I'm not a beginner. The link is from the UK where they are located, but there are US resellers, too.
Another option is to buy each of the following sewing tools individually. Dressmaking shears (commonly known as scissors but the shape of shears makes cutting fabric easier), a package of various hand sewing needles (always good to have), thread snips or embroidery scissors, tape measure (flexible not the clunker in your tool box), some pins, and a seam ripper (essential).
A good beginner sewing book is essential and they often have beginner project instructions, too.
http://www.amazon.com/Sewing-Book-Encyclopedic-Step---Step/dp/0756642809/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1417205004&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=sewing+book
Fabric - Just so she has something to sew when she opens all her boxes, buy some fabric. For example, I would buy quilting cotton 1/2 yard each of 5 different colors. There will be lots and lots of this in fabric stores.
Thread - Buy All-Purpose thread. One spool each of Black, Tan (khaki), and white.
Those are my recommendations. There are so many different ways to do this. I think your $300 price range is definitely achievable. Mostly, I'm trying to make sure that she will be able to make something after she opens all of her packages.
Last but not least, YouTube is a sewist's friend. There's been many a time that I couldn't figure something out, and finally, I check Youtube to find that someone has uploaded a video that showed me exactly how to do what I couldn't figure out.
the louis riel comic book is good:
http://www.amazon.com/Louis-Riel-A-Comic-Strip-Biography/dp/1894937899
https://www.amazon.com/Bloodborne-Official-Artworks-design-Japanese/dp/4048657984/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1478474770&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=bloodborne+design+works
Chris Ware isn't for everybody, but he's certainly my favorite alt comic author. Of course Jimmy Corrigan is considered his most important title, but I feel his work has grown more ambitious with every title. You can go bankrupt collecting the ACME Novelty library, but this collects lots of the material as well.
If you're looking for a practical text that stays focused on data visualization I'd recommend William Cleveland's Elements of Graphing Data. Unlike Tufte, Cleveland wasn't focused on aesthetics, but that made his books far more focused on categorizing and solving data analysis and visualization problems.
If you want to go deep into the theoretical side of information design check out Bertin's Semiology of Graphics. It's a challenging text that takes time to digest, but read this and you'll have a much deeper understanding of how people will perceive visual data of all types.
If you're looking for fiction, even though you didn't mention it, i'd suggest Chip Kidd's "The Cheese Monkeys" it has a lot of good insight wrapped in a strange little story.
Hey RJAG. We don't always see eye to eye but you seem to be one of the more level headed guys around here! I almost always appreciate your posts -- they usually have an interesting perspective to them -- even if they aren't well received. I probably should pay more attention to them! But enough of how reddit tends to shoot the messenger and ignore the message.
You're right -- a lot of material is total crap. Out-of-date, not explained well, piss-poor naming, poor architecture, etc.
Warning:
I first started doing professional game dev back in 1995, so I am extremely biased. I've seen the fad of programming languages, toolkits, libraries, etc., come and go. I think Boost's 1,109 lines for a simple CRC is over-engineered C++ crap compared to the ~30 lines of C/C++ you actually need to solve the real problem.
With the
#include &lt;disclaimer.h&gt;
out of the way ... ;-)The best authors I have found are (aside from Jason obviously):
The first few guys are all old-skool hard-core developers. The younger crowd doesn't like them since newer game devs usually spend more time arguing over pointless subjects such as the "proper" C++ pointer to use. Good game developers are more interesting in practical and pragmatic engineering tradeoffs then worrying about theoretical "perfection."
Speaking of Design Patterns, Christer Ericson recently said:
> Design Patterns are spoonfed material for brainless programmers incapable of independent thought, who will be resolved to produced code as mediocre as the design patterns they use to create it."
And to some degree I would agree with that.
i.e. You'll notice this sub likes to waste time arguing over "proper architecture" such as Entity Component System
My view is: IF your data, code, and model match this problem, then go ahead and use them. However keep in mind that rarely does the real-world exactly match some theoretical problem set. At the end of the day all you care about is shipping -- not being some academic writing theoretical "perfect" architecture -- whatever that is supposed to mean.
Hope this helps!
Know Your Onions: Graphic Design: How to Think Like a Creative, Act Like a Businessman and Design Like a God
After I read those two, I was looking for more oddly-specific nonfiction books and came across Mauve: How One Man Invented a Color That Changed the World, check it out.
add all the books by edward tufte! and also semiology of graphics by jacques bertin, modern typography by kinross,
elements of typographics tyle by bringhurst, man there's quite a lot of basics missing here :)as others come to mind I'll add them here, unfortunately I don't have my books with me at the moment
EDIT: The two dataflow one two books are pretty interesting as well, Information graphics by Robert Harris
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
Off the top of my head there's a reasonable amount of stuff like this, you won't necessarily find anything quite like Hamilton because we don't venerate our "founding fathers" to anywhere close to the same degree as american's.
So the ways that really helped me understand perspective where from Andrew Loomis' books on Illustration, specifically his book "Creative Illustration"
https://www.amazon.com/Creative-Illustration-Andrew-Loomis/dp/1845769287
Here are the only 2 pictures I could find online of the pages I was thinking about, but he has several chapters on perspective in just about all of his books.
Perspective Page 1 | Perspective Page 2
The guy is like an old master of Illustration, and he wrote several books on the subject all of which I think are some of the best out there. Basically though, checking your perspective comes down to a few simple rules revolving around the horizon line. No matter where your objects sit in space, they will share the same relative height to the horizon line. Another thing is that the horizon line is an indicator of the height of your camera. This gets tricky to visualize if your camera is tilted up or down, but all of your objects will still share the same relative distance from the horizon line no matter how much you tilt the camera. The Page 2 link shows examples of wrong and right ways to place your objects in a scene based on the horizon line. People that draw backgrounds for cartoons blow my mind with this stuff
If you're interested in Riel, I recommend this incredible "comic strip biography" of him.
There the volumes set, covering entire story :
Main Story :
http://www.amazon.com/My-Little-Pony-Friendship-Volume/dp/1613776055/
http://www.amazon.com/My-Little-Pony-Friendship-Volume/dp/1613777604/
http://www.amazon.com/My-Little-Pony-Friendship-Volume/dp/1613778546/
http://www.amazon.com/My-Little-Pony-Friendship-Volume/dp/1613779607/
Micro Series (Pony Tales)
http://www.amazon.com/My-Little-Pony-Tales-Volume/dp/161377740X/
http://www.amazon.com/My-Little-Pony-Tales-Volume/dp/1613778732/
the Cheese monkeys by Chip kidd. Its fiction but some of the lessons and stories are very true to how art school is.
If you're into coloring books, may I also suggest Outside The Lines. A collection of coloring book art from 100 contemporary artists.
Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds <3
Check out Textures and Modelling: A Procedural Approach. This is a great book (although it does have a lot of old-fashioned ideas), but it explains fractals and infinite fractal terrains very well.
The book Texturing & Modeling: A Procedural Approach is an exceptional introduction to the subject, starting from the basic theory. While this book is worth its price, you might, um, be able to find a copy floating around the internet.... maybe.
Also, this dude is doing a good job sharing the techniques behind his procedural world.
I read a book a while ago about this: Mauve: How One Man Invented a Color That Changed the World. Quite interesting. They got all sorts of cool stuff out of coal tar. Synthetic aspirin is another example as well.
If you think the cover is awful, try looking at any of the content.
http://www.amazon.com/Graphic-Design-Basics-Amy-Arntson/dp/0495006939
The "What is Graphic Design" section is a gem.
this belongs here too - http://www.amazon.com/Graphic-Design-Basics-Amy-Arntson/dp/0495006939
I'm a really big fan of Know Your Onions; it both serves to cover the basics of design, as well as some of the post-design process that often tends to be glossed over in other content.
There's a Web Design version as well.
I can definitely help you with this.
How to Draw: drawing and sketching objects and environments from your imagination
This is the best book on perspective you can buy. Perspective is the number one thing you need to have a grasp on if you want to draw, especially from imagination. Practice this until it clicks for you.
For setting up scenes I recommend Andrew Loomis books, Creative Illustration in particular. Loomis has several books out and they're all amazing. Many artists have learned to draw from Loomis.
Burne Hogarth is another master of the craft and you can learn a lot about musculature and anatomy from his books. These are generally a step up from Loomis so you could move on to these once you have a solid grasp of the fundamentals to take your work to the next level. Dynamic Anatomy, Dynamic Figure Drawing, Drawing the Human Head.
For people and anatomy, Proko (http://www.proko.com/library/) has good free youtube videos. He uses a lot of Loomis and Hogarth methods (which are pretty much the standard) and presents them in a way that is easy to digest. He's constantly updating his channel and adding new videos.
If you can only get a few books, I would get the How to Draw perspective book first, then go through the Proko material, then move onto the Loomis and Hogarth stuff. These learning materials will take you pretty much as far as you want to go.
Also I highly recommend sticking to traditional materials (pencil and paper) while you're learning. Once you have the fundamentals down then you can move on to digital. You're going to make things much easier on yourself if you stick with traditional while you nail these fundamentals down.
"Bone" by Jeff Smith -- Don't let the simple, cartoon-like style fool you; this one is a killer. From start to finish, Smith takes you on an epic adventure packed full of action, genuine humor, and plenty of heart. What I like best about "Bone" is that it didn't try to be the next "Watchmen." It didn't try to be grim or gritty. It's great.
"Blankets" by Craig Thompson -- They just re-released a hardcover edition of this story, which makes it a perfect time to pick it up. I can't say much about this story, except that it is a great example of autobiography in comics form. Anybody who has ever been in love will resonate with this story.
"Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth" by Chris Ware -- This is an intimidating piece of work; it's lengthy, the story jumps around, and there is a lot of responsibility placed on the reader to understand the story. Still, Jimmy Corrigan is a unique, heart-felt story about the ties that bind and influence a family across generations. I'm sorry: that might have made it sound like a schmaltzy piece of fluff -- when it actually is a heart-wrenching piece of heartbreak.
"All Star Superman" by Grant Morrison -- This isn't Watchmen. It isn't dark. It isn't full of sex or drugs or over-the-top violence. It is, however, an incredible look at what makes a Superman and what he has come to mean to our culture.
Give those four a shot. You might like them.
The book that the guy behind voxelfarm reccomended was Texturing & Modeling, A Procedural Approach.
Oh, sure. First reddit comment of the day just after waking up. I knew I shoulda had a bit of caffeine first.
Scott Adams' is the guy who wrote Dilbert, a near-genius, and a serial entrepreneur. He's a self described 1%er and likes talking a lot about the psychology of winning. His latest book (How to fail at almost everything and still win big) talks a lot about his story of success. Early on, he references a lot of 'winners'. Invariably, most winners attribute their success to luck, circumstances, or some other uncontrollable variable. Why? Because the people asking them are almost universally less successful then they are.
Unfortunately, the secret to losing weight is eating less. Going out on more dates happens when you ask more people. Successful business owners keep going in debt for a new idea and convincing other people to finance it. Obama got his job because he's incredibly charismatic, he made a ton of friends in the Democrat Party, and he was at the perfect nexus of Progress & Diversity that often propels people in that party forward. He worked his ass off to get that nomination and eventually the presidency.
Success is based on working hard in the right way, not in getting lucky. At least according to Scott Adams.
Quick edit: And don't take this as an endorsement of Obama, his policies, or anything of the sort. I detest the man and everything he stands for. But I don't think he made it because he was lucky.
It may just be an open ended series. That doesn't mean it still can't be fun. Like 400 chapters is a ton!
>Bloodborne art book
One came with the collector's edition of the game. It wasn't huge, but it was nice. There's also [an artworks book] (https://www.amazon.com/Bloodborne-Official-Artworks-design-Japanese/dp/4048657984/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1467791509&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=bloodborne+artworks) that seems to have come out recently for BB.
I have a pile of coloring books I want, this being one of them.
I totally think /u/ilovepaperdolls would love something like this!
Life is about using the whole box of crayons
Not an online resource, but you may want to hunt down these books (check out your local/university library):
ok. I don't what style you want to go for, and I'm going to assume that you want to get into the comic book style. That doesn't matter though, where you need to begin is with Andrew Loomis' Creative illustration, Figure Drawing for all its worth(the free pdf, but I would recommend getting the book, because why not), Drawing on the right side of the brain, and Drawing the hands and face. All of these resources are what you need to start out. It doesn't look like you are out of the gate "I draw stick figures" level. But you have to keep in mind, that the ultimate tutor, is time. If you really want to get better quickly, then you have to devote a lot of time to studies and just drawing in general. Good luck, I hope I helped you at least a little bit.
Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth by Chris Ware
I stumbled upon them quite by accident in the library, though I was vaguely familiar with what Maus was prior to that. I devoured both books, and thoroughly enjoyed both. Other than that, I am ashamed to say that anything that could be said seems already to have been said. Kuddos to some of the insanely in-depth and thoughtful points made.
However, perhaps I can contribute in one area: They certainly aren't exactly the same, but if you enjoyed Maus as much as I did, you might also like Safe Area Goražde and Palestine by Joe Sacco. Incredible examples of graphic journalism that you will not soon forget.
I'll recommend some stuff in genres other than superhero. Nothing wrong with superheroes, just thought I'd throw a little variety out there!
Clan Apis
Scott Pilgrim
From Hell
Ross Campbell's Glory
Safe Area Gorazde
We could color some stuff if you want. :P
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&amp;colid=VEJ64Y4T0U6J&amp;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
You can get it from Amazon Japan, cost me around $55 Canadian with shipping. It's a nice book, good quality and all that. The only negative, as mentioned in another reply, is that the English text is very hard to read on many of the pages due to the combo of page color (black) and text color (red). That said, it's a quality book and great if you're looking for concept art.
It's easy to order, just set the site to English, create an account with an International address and you're good to go. Delivery took about 1 week from ordering.
http://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/4048657984/ref=pe_492632_169829912_TE_dp_1
thank you
let me watch that
this was my gateway:
http://www.amazon.com/Louis-Riel-A-Comic-Strip-Biography/dp/1894937899
one of the most amazing men who ever lived. truly a tragedy on many levels. shakespearean, mythic stuff. he needs a hollywood blockbuster treatment. more should know his name and his story
https://www.amazon.com/Deluxe-Transitive-Vampire-Ultimate-Handbook/dp/0679418601
My first though was to take a look at the Virtual Terrain Project (http://vterrain.org/). I'm not sure if it's up to date, but it does have a *lot* of information on that subject.
As for books, I recall that "Texturing and Modeling: a procedural approach" (https://www.amazon.com/Texturing-Modeling-Third-Procedural-Approach/dp/1558608486) has a chapter or two dedicated to vegetation
Correction: See How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big for Scott's diet and fitness systems.
So many things. I was never a competent pixel artist because once I got to semi-proficient I looked at the skill curve and realized that I wasn't making it through all of that.
I really recommend frequenting these two sites:
http://pixelation.org
http://pixeljoint.com
Someone mentioned the classic Disney animator bible:
https://www.amazon.com/Illusion-Life-Disney-Animation/dp/0786860707
It can't be understated how essential this book is to learning the essentials of animation. Further than that there were the Loomis books that were called out time and again as a great art education (palette selection becomes incredibly important in low resolution art). Those books are hard to come by-- scratch that, they used to be now they're just on Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1845769287
There's a lot to dive in to. If all of this seems like too much, cribbing from OpenGameArt's better assets is a cheap and easy way to start.
Good start. Still far away from encyclopedia. This is the reference: https://www.amazon.com/Information-Graphics-Comprehensive-Illustrated-Reference-ebook/dp/B00VQVNUWM/
This is the approach:
https://www.amazon.com/Semiology-Graphics-Diagrams-Networks-Maps/dp/1589482611/
So come on, continue to make it the encyclopedia of old stuff. Then add new. Especially from big data, molecular biology and genomics.
US version due in June 2017
JP version out since February 2016
I imported the japanese artbook when it came out last year.
All the items and characters have their names stated in japanese and english.
It's a great artbook.
thanks for posting. I think you have a great attitude, and honestly, attitude counts for more than you think.
I'll not critique the website, but, knowing you're new to the fundamentals, try to share some more general thoughts.
What sketching is important for is flexing ideas and testing compositions before going to the computer.
http://www.amazon.com/Stealing-Graphic-Design-Communication-Courses/dp/0321934288/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1419898490&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=stop+stealing+sheep
http://www.amazon.com/Elements-Typographic-Style-Version-Anniversary/dp/0881792128/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1419898879&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=robert+bringhurst
http://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Type-2nd-revised-expanded/dp/1568989695/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1419898800&amp;sr=1-2&amp;keywords=typography
http://www.amazon.com/Grid-Systems-Principles-Organizing-Design/dp/1568984650/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1419898762&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=kimberly+elan
http://www.amazon.com/Systems-Graphic-Systeme-Visuele-Gestaltung/dp/3721201450/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1419898837&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=grid+systems
http://www.amazon.com/Black-White-Photography-Manual-Revised/dp/0316373052/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1419898921&amp;sr=8-2&amp;keywords=black+and+white+photography
and
Above and beyond the basics, I see your passion is impacting the world through design. So the question becomes HOW can graphic design impact the world, and does it at all? and what can you make or do directly? I think above all, a designer is an entrepreneur these days. Especially with that main driving passion.
This is an ensemble cast right? So it's important to realise she doesn't gain those characterisitics based solely on how she looks; But rather how the rest of the cast contrasts against her.
{Ps, you might have read it already, but well worth reading}
Aww yiss this book looks fantastic! It's out of stock on Amazon but I ordered it anyway for when it's back. Thanks for the recommendation!!
> So choosing to discard ALL inventions will give you 99% prediction score.
This is correct. But someone who does this will also never be able to capitalize on a great opportunity. The higher one aims, the greater risk that person needs to accept. But most people vastly overestimate the danger of taking on some risk.
Just because you take a risk and lose, doesn't mean your life is over. You can rebuild and try again. Scott Adams (the author of the Dilbert comic strip) wrote a great book about how to look at risk. How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big: Kind of the Story of My Life
In one sense, being too risk-adverse is just as bad as being reckless with risk. Risk is a natural factor in any growth. Learning how to manage it well is a very valuable skill.
Also, most people vastly underestimate the risk in traditional investment vehicles. What they think is a low-risk investment strategy is actually a lot more risky than they know. See the Japanese NIKKEI for a lesson on how risky a whole stock index can be over a long period of time, for example.
Is it Transitive Vampire or Sin & Syntax?
This book has a fantastic description that will help:
http://www.amazon.com/Texturing-Modeling-Third-Procedural-Approach/dp/1558608486/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1293160934&amp;sr=8-1-spell
If you have any questions or want more info, please let me know.
Berkeley Breathed's Bloom County
Jules Feiffer's Feiffer--his autobiography, plays and young adult works are all amazing, too
Chester Brown's Louis Riel
Ho Che Anderson's King
Well if you're looking for a free hosting site, there's a bunch. try http://www.drunkduck.com/ or http://www.smackjeeves.com/ for starters. But more than that you should consider reading the book How To Make Webcomics which can be found here and I'm sure some other places too.
For drawing software it really depends on what look you are going for. I would suggest playing around with a bunch of different programs until you find one that works. You could even try hand drawing comics and then scanning them in.
If you're really interested in the conflict, this is one of the best pieces of in-depth journalism about the conflict, and sums up the conflict in a succinct manner with good background of the political strife of the region and the genocide that took place.
http://www.amazon.com/Safe-Area-Gorazde-s-c/dp/1560974702/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1375423183&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=safe+area+gorazde
Source: International Studies Major
Congrats on the new job, and happy cake day! Wish you the best of luck, pumpkin!
Item
Buy his book! I bought 5 copies last month and gave them away and everyone says it's fantastic.
https://www.amazon.com/How-Fail-Almost-Everything-Still/dp/1591847745/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1478922393&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=scott+adams
The Gnomes book you mentioned was my first thought too. Faeries by Brian Froud is similar.
D'Aulaires' Book of Trolls also comes to mind, or something else by them.
This would be a good question to ask a librarian. I bet this kind of book is always very popular with kids in any library.
I'll be the 3rd person to recommend Understanding comics. It is required reading.
The big thing is practice. Practice. Practice. Then go practice. I've been working kinda on comics for a while and sometimes, I can churn out a panel like nobodies buisness. The pose aligns just right and its super easy. Other times, a single panel takes me hours, because I keep finding I'm doing it wrong.
But you know what? the next time I do a scene like that, I do it a bit faster. I rarely go online to find references. Instead, I stand up from my pen and paper, and make whatever stupid pose I'm trying to draw and mentally take inventory of where all my limbs are, how my body looks and feels. A mirror may help.
In regards to asking the artist, a quick google claims that
>This book has includes an extensive interview with creator Masashi Kishimoto, step-by-step details on the process of creating a Naruto illustration, 20 pages of notes from the author about each image in the book and a beautiful double-sided poster!
That might be worth checking out.
>About how many drafts would you guys predict that it took that whole comic, and what sorts of panels would you all say take more drafts to perfect than others?
That's a really hard thing to guess, because of what goes into the comic. there are 3 steps in my mind that might count as 'drafts.' 1st, the overarching story. The script to that was probably passed through a few editing hands before any art got started. It really depends on the project on how much script you should have. I've been focusing on just the next strip on my current stuff. I have notebooks with outlines for twenty odd chapters for other stories that can't see the light of day until i finish rewriting them.
(I saw a comment here recommending to find scripts and try drawing the first few pages, then compare work. I'm so gonna do that!)
2nd. the page itself. Panel layout, camera angles, action poses, there is SO MUCH that goes into each page, I can't do it justice. A lot of good books have been suggested, so check out those. Duck into a bookstore and see what they have. I have fond memories of draw comics the marvel way! and I love How to make webcomics
I do end up drawing and redrawing the pencils several times, before I ink it.
3rd, you'd be surprised how much rewriting can go into every line of dialogue. For me at least. I write what I want to say, then I remove every word I can get away with, then I have to cram it inside of a bubble. Sometimes, writing a sentence takes longer then drawing a panel!
Closing remarks: I have 2 final pieces of advice: 1st: Invent your own process. Figure out how you want to do it. Each of us is shaped by our environment, by our upbringing, by the books we've read, by the artists we admire. And then, none of us have exactly the same tools. Make a process that works for you. (Start making. And then, when you're comfortable, experiment! I recently bought a calligraphy dip pen and have been using that for my inking. For so long, I had thought it an outdated piece of technology, but now I love it so much! but you don't need one. I did a lot of comics with paper and a ball point pen. They weren't pretty, but they were mine.)
Finally, (because I doubt you're even reading this far down!) practice does not necessarily equal practice. All the anatomy lessons, perspective practice, the realistic images, those are good fundamentals. I wish I had them. But if you want to learn to make comics, come up with a story, not too long of one, and draw it. Play with what you can do. Learn to tell a story. And, ya know, you'l get to a point where you need a cool city scene, and all that perspective practice flows into the panel. Or you'll want to emphasize how beautiful your villainess is, and your anatomy floods down your pen. Everything you learn is a tool in your toolbox and the fundamentals are very useful, although they don't seem to be, they are part of the path.
TLDR: Confucius say: Make some comics. They you will know how to make them. Also, read books.
I'm reading this book right now about the 90s Bosnian war. It's very informative, and shows the human side of things. It's in graphic novel format, like Joe Sacco's other work--he's an amazing political journalist and cartoonist.
There are! Here's volume one, and volume two!
I have [this one] (http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0399162089/ref=aw_wl_ov_dp_1_14?colid=25BLPYUL7C3IL&amp;coliid=I1LBMA2Q2Z7JT1) on my WL :D It is fancy. I like it. I love my inner child.
Sounds like you're after "Bloodborne Official Artworks".
http://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/switch-language/product/4048657984/ref=topnav_switchLang/376-3828260-8567115?ie=UTF8&amp;language=en_US
(They'll ship to most places in the world; you may be able to find another source that has cheaper shipping for you.)
The book itself is all art and apparently has English text alongside all the Japanese, but mine has yet to arrive so I can't 100% confirm that.
I love my inner child!!
Either:
Coloring for Grown-Ups: The Adult Activity Book
Or
Unicorns Are Jerks: a coloring book exposing the cold, hard, sparkly truth
Thanks for the contest!! It reminded me how much I LOVE to color! It's therapeutic for me.
Edit: I also have Between the Lines: An Expert Level Coloring Book == and == Outside the Lines: An Artists' Coloring Book for Giant Imaginations (totally stole that one from /u/chickenfriedsoup so if you pick this particular book, give it to them)
I believe this book gets suggested quite often on the sub, it was also recommended by my course tutor.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/9063692587?keywords=know%20your%20onions&amp;qid=1451835390&amp;ref_=sr_1_1&amp;s=books&amp;sr=1-1
It covers a wide range and will get you started with principals and terminology allowing you to expand on that.
I'm sure others will post with more suggestions.
Well you can check out some of these trade paper back editions.
First things to be available is volume one and volume two.
But if your also interested the Micro-series is going to be released in November.
Remember though there really is no value in the trade back if you are planning to re-sell. Good for the read, still though I find them good to get signed.
Just finished:
Safe Area Gorazde, which I plowed through. I am obsessed with the Balkans and have read a few books about the war in the 90s. This is a graphic novel by Joe Sacco who does graphic journalism and it's just a fantastic account of the war in Bosnia.
Also, I just read The Sound of Gravel, a memoir by a woman raised in a fundamentalist Mormon community. Super fascinating read, I finished it in less than 3 days.
Perkins' discovery of Mauve and the beginnings of synthetic organic industrial chemistry is also a good read.
Also might check out the Chemical Heritage foundation. They may be able to help you.
Take the elves as they should be.
I would advise you to look for the book Faeries, illustrated by Brian Froud and Alan Lee.
Lovely drawings and paintings, and lots of background info...
A bit different from the other stuff, but Chris Ware's Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth is good.
Jimmy Corrigan The Smartest Kid On Earth - I was put off by the title and the cover, but it's a blend of stories - one about a kind of slow guy who is sort of shy and troubled and you experience things kind of as he does; the other a story from the past about a difficult family life.
I like graphic novels that have a lot of realism and project a lot of feeling, which is why I loved Blankets and think it's Craig Thompson's best work. Some others that you might want to Google:
* The Sewing Book by Alison Smith
Is there anything you do consistently without thinking about it?
Is there anything you do enjoy, that you do occasionally, but you just enjoy it for the sake of doing it?
Lastly, is there something you are really attracted to, but don't do because people will judge you?
> Honestly the only way I can find enjoyment in anything is to drink a lot while I am doing it. It's the only thing I have found that turns off the constant thoughts of: "why do you even bother, you are just embarassing yourself."
Be productive when you're drinking then. I've experienced the same thing. I started drawing a little time after I tried marijuana. I tried drawing before, but that negative voice would creep into my head and I would just quit. Marijuana gave me the ability to lose my fucks. (I'm not condoning it, but it was the initial spark that got me through my post-military depression and start doing things again.)
I started out with terrible shit, but after just the ACT of putting shit out there without care for what people would think, it got easier. I kept with it, now I can draw just through the inebriated brazenness that alcohol gives me. I'm still not good, but I have a couple things that I have a tiny bit of self-pride in.
I do it for friends, I do it for a hobby. It will never be a career...but it keeps me happy. I've started a bunch of new interests since I realized I can do whatever the fuck I want: I started reading books I like, instead of the ones I think will get me a job. Early 1900s NatGeos, John Muir, classics like Aristotle, Plato...St. Thomas Aquinas, a book on the Japanese government, lol. I recently bought two books, a sewing book, and a book on fashion. I'm a guy, and very few in America expect a guy to take up sewing and fashion as a hobby...but I want to give it a try. I've always been interested in the functionality v. fashionality of the way people dress. I find a lot of fashion ridiculous, so I want to try to offer my own stuff. The books are a start.
In high school, a wise old black woman told me, "Just do it." Shortly after I got out of the military, an alcoholic sociology major with multiple businesses told me, "Just do it." After that, a deceptively smart stripper in Florida told me, "Just do it." ...sure, it might be a Nike slogan, but their advice came straight from them and they were honest about it.
Don't give a fuck whether you think you can or can't...just do it.
Actually, I do have one for you. One of my favorites, The Cheese Monkeys, by Chip Kidd. If you're not familiar with Chip Kidd, he's known for designing book covers. This was his first novel (there's a sequel that came out a few years later), and I love it. There's a character in this book, Himillsy Dodd, who very much reminds me of you.
How about this one:?
http://www.amazon.com/Faeries-Deluxe-Collectors-Brian-Froud/dp/0810995867
Some herbs for your garden.
Also, if you haven't you may want to look into Three sisters farming.
$10
$5
Both books. I really really want it!
To keep the interest up, here is a book that is not a textbook, but a fun read nonetheless. History is important, plus it teaches a valuable lesson about not ignoring results just because they aren't what you were looking for - something organic chemists especially must be aware of.
http://www.amazon.com/Mauve-Invented-Color-Changed-World/dp/0393323137/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1321478836&amp;sr=8-1
LOOK HOW MUCH IT COSTS?!?! http://www.amazon.com/Graphic-Design-Basics-Amy-Arntson/dp/0495006939
You can scroll down to that part as it's in the sample you can look at on amazon
If you're interested in logos and marks, I thought "Marks of Excellence" was a fantastic book. It's one that you need to read, though, not just flip through. For typography, I think "Stop Stealing Sheep & Find Out How Type Works" is a good read for an easy introduction to typography. For a little more serious dig, hit up "The Elements of Typographic Style".
Neil Armstrong tripping on the moon (I'm aware moonboots aren't laced)
> One small step for [a] man... ohsi...
Lee Harvey Oswald tripping in the depository and JFK inciting Russia into a nuclear war resulting in a fallout-style wasteland...
William Perkin failing to create the color Mauve and the ramifications of that decision...
Think of the famous scene in Norma Rae when the textile worker, played by Sally Field, shuts down her machine and, standing up on it, trips and fails to convince all her fellow workers to strike because she lost her credibility.
Trotsky: "If neither Lenin nor I had been present in Petersburg, there would have been no October Revolution." Lenin trips on shoelace, breaks a leg, misses Petersburg trip, rendering Oswald's shoelace redundant.
Google "One man changes the course of history" and then replace the last part of the sentence with "but trips and doesn't" then extrapolate the consequences.
Mauve was the first synthetic dye, created in the 1850's. It was totally by accident, the inventor was trying to create a cure for malaria, I think. But the color became a instant fashion craze, and everyone had to have it. It set off a real race among the chemical companies to create new colors and dyes. There's a book about it and the chemistry revolution it started off: Mauve
The one I recommend really helped with getting into the mindset of what an agency MD is looking for in a designer. Contains really useful & insightful tips, as well as a glossary for jargon busting.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Know-Your-Onions-Creative-Businessman/dp/9063692587
If you don't mind a textbook, the Origins and Destinies pair of books is very readable, reasonably concise, and covers a lot of history your teachers never had the time to mention in class.
Since it's history, and a textbook, you can probably find a very cheap earlier edition without sacrificing quality.
Unfortunately, I've never found much in the way of good books covering Canadian history that weren't textbooks of some variety. There is, however, a good graphic novel called Louis Riel which tells the story of the Metis rebel leader in good detail and is available in many libraries. Worth reading.
The Deluxe Transitive Vampire: The Ultimate Handbook of Grammar for the Innocent, the Eager, and the Doomed
Well, not all at once, but there are paperbacks collecting the individual comics:
For the sake of completeness, there's also an omnibus, which also collects the main series, but is the equivalent of 3(?) of the regular paperbacks I mentioned above.
Finally, if you don't want/need physical books, they're also available on the Comixology app, I believe.
I hope that helps!
When I did my TESOL program, I found that where I really was lacking was... how to teach it. Activities that actually work, ya know? Learning a language at home alone is very different than trying to learn in a classroom. For that, I enjoy following along at eslcafe.com and I also watch some stuff on pinterest.
As for understanding English, that's actually what your TEFL/TESOL is going to teach you. I don't know about TEFL, but the TESOL had one section for the actual teaching, another for grammar and a third section for... I forget. But I'm pretty sure there were three sections.
I think you should also consider TESOL instead of TEFL. Here's the basic difference with some super sterotypical examples to illustrate the difference:
TEFL = Teaching English as a Foreign Language (like teaching English in China)
TESL = Teaching English as a Second Language (like teaching English to Mexican immigrants in the US)
TESOL = Teaching English to Speaks of Other Languages (all inclusive -- includes both teaching it as a foreign language, or teaching it as a second language to people who need to speak the local tongue)
TESOL, at least last I checked, isn't accredited in the US, so, if you're in the US, you'll want to compare whether you want to get a US-Based but not accredited degree, or, get one abroad. It's accreddited in Canada, and I got mine from onTESOL.com which I highly recommended and they put me through my paces, it was not just pay and here's a certificate. Though it's Canadian, everyone locally has recognized it so far.
If you have a BA in Linguistics I really don't think you're going to need to learn more about understanding the structure of English, or how to pronounce it. But, if for some reason you do, I actually recommend The Deluxe Transitive Vampire: http://www.amazon.com/The-Deluxe-Transitive-Vampire-Ultimate/dp/0679418601 This was actually my textbook in a middle school class I had where the teacher was obsessed with diagramming sentences. The sentences were (possibly not all age-appropriate) interesting and turned dry grammatical study into something that could produce a few chuckles and keep you interested.
With you coming from a very helpful area of study, I really don't think you need it. HOW to teach is going to be what helps the most. The classroom... is very different than just sitting down and studying. Particularly when, like me, you're obsessed with making sure everyone is getting knowledge out of the activity, not just the student actively doing whatever it is (like a presentation or reading or whatever).
If you're interested, PM me and I'll let you know about an online job I worked briefly at teaching english in an online classroom. It was nice because I wasn't freelance, actually an employee. I ended up leaving because nearly immediately I got a better job offer elsewhere, but I get the impression that they're nearly always hiring. :) If you're interested, I'd be glad to dig in my old job search notes and find it.
Get a book like this, some muslin or light colored fabric, dark thread and sew samples. Set zippers, sew darts, button and buttonholes, curved seams, French seams, top stitching etc. if you really want to do this it is important that you work on technique. Tailors will do dozens upon dozens of sample welt pockets before they do a real one.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Sewing-Book-Step-Step/dp/0756642809
Worth mentioning if anyone is looking for a copy: http://www.amazon.co.jp/Bloodborne-Official-Artworks-%E9%9B%BB%E6%92%83%E6%94%BB%E7%95%A5%E6%9C%AC%E7%B7%A8%E9%9B%86%E9%83%A8/dp/4048657984/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1457022249&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=Bloodborne+Official+Artworks
It's out of stock, but since it's amazon, they'll almost certainly get more soon!
(I totally forgot about it and just ordered mine!)
If she likes Fantasy art and stories, you might try Faeries by Brian Froud and Alan Lee. It has a lot of stories about the different creatures in legends and stories like elves, faeries, brownies, etc. it's beautifully illustrated with pencil drawings by Alan Lee, so it should appeal to her artistic side.
http://www.amazon.com/Faeries-Collectors-Edition-Brian-Froud/dp/0810995867/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1414413776&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=Faeries+Alan+lee
There are so many. Here is a well-written, easy to read introductory book for some of them:
https://www.amazon.com/Know-Your-Onions-Creative-Businessman/dp/9063692587
$24/mo is absurd. The best way to check grammar is to put it down and come back an hour or two later to proofread. If you're desperate, MS Word does have a built-in grammar check tool you can use or Open Office has some grammar check extensions you can download such as LanguageTool.
If you question your own grammar, get a couple of light and easy grammar references to keep by your desk. Eats, Shoots & Leaves or The Transitive Vampire are two that are easy to work with and don't take themselves too seriously.
EDIT: Also, if you need to write regularly, buy one of these: The Synonym Finder. Hands down one of the best, easiest to use on the market. I write professionally and I have 5 copies of this book -- one for every place I may wind up writing. That's how useful I find it.
Are you sure? It says 255 here for the Japanese one.
I have the english one and it's the same amount of pages.
Not scifi by a long way, but Brian Froud & Alan Lee's book Faeries (google images) is one of the most beautiful compilations of art I've ever seen - think "history of Irish folklore" done in the style of the Dark Crystal and The Labyrinth. Myths from around the world are illustrated in fantastic style.
Similarly, Brian Froud's Gnomes is an absolutely gorgeous book presenting itself as a documentary of the lives of gnomes from around the "old-world" (Ireland across to Siberia), and how they work with & around woodland animals. If you grew up with access to woods or forests, this is basically a beautifully-illustrated love story to that magic.
Going slightly more towards scifi now with Terry Pratchett's The Last Hero illustrated by Paul Kidby. More a comicbook than anything else, but does have amusing technically-illustrated-descriptions of vehicles, characters, animals and scenes that you don't normally get from the novels.
The Cheese Monkeys: A Novel In Two Semesters by Chip Kidd
More on the book and what's printed on its fore-edge here :-)
I love to color! It takes me out of my stress and into the world of whatever I am coloring. :P
I love to color while listening to these guys!
Both. It's folklore and he illustrates it. Faeries is the most popular one:
http://smile.amazon.com/Faeries-Deluxe-Collectors-Brian-Froud/dp/0810995867/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1419735694&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=faeries
I have this one, also Good Faeries, Bad Faeries, World of Faerie, Lady Cottington's Pressed Fairy Book and Faeries' Oracle.
Some of my favorites. Some are good to skim through for ideas, some of them are more "sit down and read" books. Definitely not a comprehensive list, but all books that I enjoyed reading.
Graphic Style by Seymour Chwast and Steven Heller
Thinking with Type by Ellen Lupton
100 ideas that Changed Graphic Design by Steven Heller and Veronique Vienne
The Elements of Typographic Style by Robert Bringhurst
A Short History of the Printed Word by Warren Chappell and Robert Bringhurst
The Posters: 1,000 Posters from Toulouse-Lautrec to Sagmeister
Hatch Show Print: The History of a Great American Poster Shop by Jim Sherraden
I don't really read books but I love comics and manga.
Planet Hulk I want to read this so bad after seeing the movie. I loved the story in the film and want to see the source material.
Deadpool I love Daniel Way's run on Deadpool. it was one of the first comics I read.
My Little Pony Micro series V1 because ponies.
As a sort of extension to Scott's comment, buy this book (or download the PDF through the most legal means possible):
http://www.amazon.com/How-Make-Webcomics-Scott-Kurtz/dp/158240870X
visit this website: http://www.webcomics.com
(these guys are pros at online publishing, some of them have been doing it for over 20 years)
and consume every comic you can. Dissect it, re-read it, and replicate it. Then do the same to your favorite movies, TV shows, plays, books, etc.
The Transitive Vampire: A Handbook of Grammar for the Innocent, the Eager and the Doomed.
A fun way to brush you your grammar.
https://www.amazon.in/Deluxe-Transitive-Vampire-Handbook-Innocent/dp/0679418601
To this, I would add The Deluxe Transitive Vampire.
Faeries: Deluxe Collector's Edition https://www.amazon.com/dp/0810995867/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_UPDRAbMH8ZCFK
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.
Any of these two books. I really want them, but are a bit expensive for me atm
The Sewing Book: An Encyclopedic Resource of Step-by-Step Techniques
[Vintage Hairstyling: Retro Styles with Step-by-Step Techniques] (http://www.amazon.com/Vintage-Hairstyling-Step-Step-Techniques/dp/0981663915/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&amp;colid=3Q3B5H91EIZ85&amp;coliid=I13B0QG9NBDQ9U)
This one is fun.
http://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Type-Designers-Critical-Students/dp/1568984480
Awesome, I just both this two:
http://www.amazon.com/Elements-Typographic-Style-Robert-Bringhurst/dp/0881792055/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1292256276&amp;sr=8-1
http://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Type-Designers-Critical-Students/dp/1568984480
cant wait until they here! Thanx a lot for the nice suggestions.
Not a living from writing, but like any reasonably intelligent person, I'd like to make a living off my creative abilities rather than working a regular day job.
You should read Scott Adams' book. To summarize, I don't ever make goals of any sort, I only create systems that win more often than lose. I don't own a car because it's a major expense that won't pay off for a very long time. I don't plan out my entire story with precision because in the heat of the moment, something might strike me that I want to add. I have a general end goal for the story, but it might shift over time. As an example, my original goal for the labyrinth was that Umi had created a false representation of reality and everything was a weird simulation of reality. This is why there was a magic freezer that could create chicken from nothing, and a series of odd rooms that weren't quite right, such as a Japanese styled bathroom mixed with a victorian era bedroom and an alien-style armory.
These priorities shifted over time when I started mapping out the story just a bit more.
But yes, in the end, it all just grew organically out of the WP. It needs a lot of fixing, and I'm currently tracking 60-something plotholes and major story issues, not least of which was me forgetting Barbatos and confusing him with Agares. (CRINGE), my worst error to date.
Or you can just read his PhD thesis, Computational Information Design, which covers pretty much all of the same conceptual topics but doesn't go into the technical aspects of project development as much. Other essential reading would be Semiology of Graphics by Jacques Bertin, The Visual Display of Quantitative Information by Edward Tufte, and Visual Complexity by Manuel Lima.
Scott Adams' book is also pretty fantastic.
How to Make Webcomics might be a good read, depending on how serious she is.
Physical copies look better imo. The colors are nicer. I you are willing to wait, get the Trade Paperbacks!
Volume 1 (Chrysalis Arc, which is awesome) is out here.
Volume 2 (Nightmare arc, personaly didn't like as much) will be out Sept. 24 here.
There will also be a compilation of the mane 6 micro series in November here.
The Rarity and the Pinkie comic were both top notch, while the others varied from good to mediocre (depending who you ask). But it is a good price for 6 comics!
Issue 9 was great, Volume 3 is looking like it will be awesome (no date yet for that one).
Pony Tales volume 1, collecting the first 6 issues of the micro-series, will be out on 5th Nov: http://www.amazon.com/My-Little-Pony-Tales-Volume/dp/161377740X
If anyone's interested Joe Sacco has a really excellent journalistic graphic novel out about this: Safe Area Gorazde. I've read it many times.
Alan Lee is one of my favorite artists ever. I've loved his work since I got a hold of the book him and Brian Froud did called Faeries ( http://www.amazon.com/Faeries-Deluxe-Collectors-Brian-Froud/dp/0810995867 ) Also does some of the most fantastic pencil drawings ive seen. I LOVE his pencil drawings, which is why I got this book ( http://www.amazon.com/Lord-Rings-Sketchbook-Alan-Lee/dp/0618640142 ) Highly recommend both of these.
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
For Inspiration
And this one seems to go into depth of the business itself:
Like I said, I haven't read any of those but maybe this will save some time for you or for other people searching for books.
There is also Thinking with Type, The Elements of Typographic Style, Universal Principles of Design, Deign for how people learn, How to be a Graphics Designer without losing your soul.
Edit: I was actually going to make a thread similar to this but I am gonna post my similar question here anyway,
Does anybody know of more books for people who are already involved in the medium ?
A lot of recommendations I see around the internet seem to be for someone just starting graphics design or still in school but rarely is it something for a higher level.
Others have covered the serious books but for a bit of entertainment and the look at the somewhat eccentric side, I recommend The Cheese Monkeys by Chip Kidd.
Chip has been a long time book cover designer and this story covers his experience in design school and some of the lessons he learned along the way. It's one of my favorite reads and I recommend it to any designer that has been through or will be going through college soon.
It's the same as https://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/product/4048657984/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&amp;psc=1 right? Just in English...?
Here is the mobile version of your link
I want to eventually do the same thing with my comic halfwing.com, and this post and responses are really helpful.
I read a good book that had some other helpful information called How to Make Webcomics written by four successful webcomic creators, i.e., they make a living off their comics.
They actually call out that only 5-10% of your audience will spend money on your comic, so you have to expect that for kickstarter. They also say it takes about 3 years to build up your audience enough to be successful.
The above probably varies, but that helped me set expectations. There is more good info in there besides that but not as related to kickstarter.
I also found a podcast specifically for comic kickstarter campaigns called comixlaunch that had some useful information. Sometimes there is a lot of promotion/chit chat in the beginning, but there is good information farther in the podcasts.
His book is at 4.5 stars, and only 3% of the reviews are 1-stars. Looks like his "trolls" are greatly outnumbered by his sycophants.
Based on the fact that the rest of his blog post is all about how great it is to psychologically manipulate people, his false claim about the reviews is probably just an attempt to drum up book sales.
If you are referring to Erik Spiekermann as a "filthy degenerate German hipster", you clearly never read this, you don't know enough about type design, and probably are a huge jackass with stupid, uninformed opinions about many other things as well.