Graphic Design Books - Page 10

Artist Trading Card Workshop: Create, Collect, Swap

Bernie Berlin

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Subjects -> Home & Garden -> Crafts & Hobbies -> Papercrafts -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 78 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Great book! 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This is one of the best "how to" craft books I have ever read. I've just gotten interested in ATCs and the instructions on different methods and history of this artform are excellent. I highly recommend this book for beginners!

Editorial Review:

A world-wide phenomenon, Artist Trading Cards (ATCs) are the rage among all types of creatives. Using a variety of mediums and techniques, artists and crafters drawing from a range of interests and experience create and trade these original works of art. With this book, readers will find the tools they need create their own ATCs and join the fun. It includes: a spectrum of techniques for making cards, collage, painting, metal working, stamping, and more; instruction and ideas for making albums to store cards; and, suggestions for fostering a community of friendship, technique sharing and card trading. With more artists creating cards than ever and easy-to-find materials available in any craft store, ATCs are more than just a fad and "Artist's Trading Cards Workshop" makes the perfect companion for anyone interested in this hot art trend.

Fashion (Taschen 25th Anniversary)

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 20 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

A fashion history from the 18th to the 20th century Clothes define people. A person's clothing, whether it's a sari, kimono, or business suit, is an essential key to his or her culture, class, personality, or even religion. The Kyoto Costume Institute recognizes the importance of understanding clothing sociologically, historically, and artistically. Founded in 1978, the KCI holds one of the world's most extensive clothing collections and has curated many exhibitions worldwide. With an emphasis on Western women's clothing, the KCI has amassed a wide range of historical garments, underwear, shoes, and fashion accessories dating from the 18th century to the present day. Showcasing a vast selection from the Institute's archives of skilled photographs depicting the clothing expertly displayed and arranged on custom-made mannequins, Fashion History is a fascinating excursion through the last three centuries of clothing trends. The KCI believes that "clothing is an essential manifestation of our very being" and their passion and dedication positively radiate from every page of this book. This special 25th anniversary edition has a chic new format: two volumes packaged in a slipcase.

The Pixar Touch: The Making of a Company

David A. Price

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 12 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Another whitewashed PR job for Pixar/Disney 1 out of 5 stars.
9 of 14 people found this review helpful.

I don't expect anyone to believe this, but I have to get it off my chest. Price's book gives credit to John Lasseter's wife for creating the character of Jessie in Toy Story 2. Nothing could be further from the truth. I wrote the second draft of TS2 as an independent contractor at Pixar for three months when Ralph Guggenheim was the producer and Ash Brannon was the sole director. Ken Mitchroney was a story artist on the project and the person who had recommended me to try to fix the ungodly mess that was the first draft. He had suggested the film have a cowgirl, and I agreed.

Ken did preliminary character sketches, one of which was quite similar to the final character (and modeled on his redheaded wife). The final design was done by Jill Colton, also uncredited. I created Jessie on the page -- she was named and partially modeled after my friend Jessie Horsting, former West Coast Editor of Fantastic Films Magazine -- along with most of the film structure as it currently exists (the major exception being the third act, which I was much less involved with).

Not only did Lasseter's wife not have a thing to do with the movie, Lasseter didn't have much to do with it either. I never saw him once during my time at the production (and his taking co-credit for, and accepting awards on behalf of, the movie was a factor in Ash Brannon [SURF'S UP] leaving Pixar as well). After I left Disney showed up with their army of useless middle management, fired everybody, replaced them with their corporate flunkies, and let the project languish for another year. Rita Hsiao wrote a credited version, yet as far as I know what she did was stick post-its under storyboards. But, you know, she worked for Disney and was credited with Mulan. Woo hoo.

Finally Lasseter threw Andy Stanton at the project, the smartest thing he could have done. He made changes I wish I'd thought of and gave it a strong third act. Of Rita Hsiao's influence on the script I can't imagine a trace. Yet when story credit was handed out, Disney (yes, Disney; nobody actually involved with the picture determined story credit, and as a result people who literally did not write a word on the project got equal or higher billing, along with, quelle surprise, the aforementioned Ms. Hsiao) did not credit my script. If anything, I created Jessie and the Woody's Roundup scenes.

Ken Mitchroney designed the character of Zurg as well. Ken was a friend of Ed "Big Daddy" Roth and has done a ton of Rat Finks and Hotrod/Tiki designs. Hey, what a surprise: Zurg is really a Tiki head! Look at him again. Ken also conceived, storyboarded, and pretty much created the traffic cone scene. He's the voice of Zurg on the ride at Disneyland.

Does Prices' book go even mention us? It is to laugh. This is just another book-length press release in which the writer nods his fannish head excitedly and scribbles on a legal pad while essentially acting as a mouthpiece for someone who is more than happy to take credit for the considerable work of others far more creative than he will ever be. It happily abandons any attempt at research and jumps on the bus of easily digestible corporate myth. Do you seriously think John Lasseter co-directed Toy Story 2? If you folks saw the pile of bodies those cute li'l characters stand on -- well, I have no doubt you'd still pony up your $12 and pack the theaters.

You never hear about this stuff because writers are afraid they won't work in this industry again. I, on the other hand, have nightmares that I will. Maybe this will help prevent that.

Is Price's book worthless because I didn't get credit? No, that's not the axe I'm grinding here. It's worthless because it's essentially a souvenir, a piece of memorabilia created, by proxy, by its subject matter. And I'm mad about it even now because I get to see paper towels and toy store aisles and coupon ads chock full of stuff that came out of my head (without any credit or compensation beyond a weekly salary -- and try finding a lawyer who will take on Disney), and continually witness people fed this lying corporate pablum, and here's yet another example by a lazy fanboy who doesn't bother to go beyond the same self-serving sources. It ain't so, folks.

Editorial Review:

The roller-coaster rags-to-riches story behind the phenomenal success of Pixar Animation Studios, and the first in-depth look at the company that forever changed the film industry and the "fraternity of geeks" who shaped it.

100 Years of Fashion Illustration

Cally Blackman

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 9 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Great for reference 4 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

This is a great book for any illustrator to have, loaded thick with full color images. The illustrations are done in a wide variety of different styles, hours could be spent considering some of the images. If your interested in drawing people this is a good book to have on your shelf.

Love this book!!!!! 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This book is an absolute dream come true for me. It has inspired me not only costume wise, but also decorating my new apartment. You just never know where inspiration can come from. I would not hesitate for one second to recommend this book. It's really beautifully done.

Editorial Review:

A visual feast of 400 dazzling images, this is a comprehensive survey of the genre over the last century. The book also offers an overview of the development of fashion, as seen through the eyes of the greatest illustrators of the day. Early in the century fashion illustration reflected new, liberating currents in art and culture, such as the exoticism of the Ballets Russes, while the postwar period saw inspiration from the great Parisian couturiers. After the dominance of the celebrity fashion photographer in the '60s, a new generation of illustrators emerged, embracing the medium of the computer, while many returned to more traditional techniques.

Design Basics

David Lauer

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 13 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Hyper-glorified and shallow 2 out of 5 stars.
19 of 28 people found this review helpful.

If you're tempted to buy this hugely expensive book (for an over-sized, unwieldy paperback printed on medium-quality paper), think again.

Let me complement the book description for you: Each concept is VERY superficially presented in a full two- or four-page spread illustrated with pictures of works of art that are NOT examined in an enlightening way. The book is basically a long list of design principles so shallowly presented that it's just that: a list.

If a competent teacher were to transform this book into a slide show and orally explore each principle, it would probably make good material for three or four classes.

Mediocre Text, Hideous "Art" 2 out of 5 stars.
8 of 11 people found this review helpful.

I'm a designer and read this book because it is highly praised in design circles. Firstly, it's not a book on design but on art, though there is some graphic design but not nearly enough to satisfy someone learning about design. The book is relevant to design however, and the subjects covered definitely deserve study by designers.

The text is for the most part clear and each principle is explained and illustrated fairly well. But... you'd better enjoy (or at least be able to tolerate) modern non-art. The examples used are hideous and far outweigh the genuine art of masters such as Michelangelo, Canaletto, or even Degas. This is the critical flaw in this book. All of the points could have been far better illustrated with real art, and the book would thereby be enjoyable. Instead, the reader is subjected to the pseudo profundity of scribbles, smears and conglomerations of junk, accompanied by an enunciation of the one [!] principle the so-called artist did implement. And this was probably an oversight on the part of the "artist".

Related to this is that the periodic discussions regarding representational and modern art is, in my opinion, very disingenuous. The authors are quick to raise (what they see as) objections to representational art but give the perpetrators of modern nonobjective "stuff" a free pass, never questioning its merits or validity.

I did learn something from this book, it's hard not to because it covers a lot of material, but it was an exceptionally unpleasant task and the learning didn't come from the junk "art" but from the text. There is nothing unique in this book that you won't find covered elsewhere. I recommend elsewhere.

Editorial Review:

DESIGN BASICS is a popular introduction to two-dimensional design. Each concept is presented in a full two-page spread, making the text practical and easy for students to refer to while they work. Visual examples from many periods and cultures are provided for all elements and principles of design.

Art Forms in Nature: The Prints of Ernst Haeckel (Monographs)

Ernst Haeckel, Olaf Breidbach, Richard Hartmann, Irenaeus Eibl-Eibesfeldt

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 10 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

The geometric shapes and natural forms, captured with exceptional precision in Ernst Haeckel's prints, still influence artists and designers to this day. This volume highlights the research and findings of this natural scientist. Powerful modern microscopes have confirmed the accuracy of Haeckel's prints, which even in their day, became world famous. Haeckel's portfolio, first published between 1899 and 1904 in separate installments, is described in the opening essays. The plates illustrate Haeckel's fundamental monistic notion of the "unity of all living things" and the wide variety of forms are executed with utmost delicacy. Incipient microscopic organisms are juxtaposed with highly developed plants and animals. The pages, ordered according to geometric and "constructive" aspects, document the oness of the world in its most diversified forms. This collection of plates was not only well-received by scientists, but by artists and architects as well. Rene Binet, a pioneer of glass and iron constructions, Emile Galle, a renowned Art Nouveau designer, and the photographer Karl Blossfeld all make explicit reference to Haeckel in their work.

Mixed Mania: Recipes for Delicious Mixed Media Creations

Debbi Crane, Cheryl Prater

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Great book for these times 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

Great book, beautiful pictures and conversation and ideas. What I like best is that so many of the projects draw on what things we save, like old calendars, bits from tag sales, etc. Very inspiring.

Editorial Review:

Featuring a wide range of mixed media projects, this outrageously fun craft primer takes a decidedly unstuffy approach to an immense range of art methods. Projects—including art quilts, painting, collage, bookbinding, assemblage, doll making, decoupage, and image transfers—are divided into three main sections: Artistic Appetizers, Creative Main Courses, and Sweet Treats and Special Occasions, with each addressing a different level of time invested and difficulty. Whimsically laid out like recipes, each project includes detailed ingredients (materials), instructions (what to mix and add), and tasting tips (how it should look).

Fashion Design Drawing Course

Caroline Tatham

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Total reviews: 23 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

A superb reference book and an ideal instructional textbook for classroom use, this beautifully illustrated guide is organized into units that reflect required courses at leading design colleges. Twenty step-by-step exercises cover methods of finding inspiration, developing observation techniques, and creating fashion drawings in both color and black-and-white media. Separate sections are devoted to getting started and understanding figure proportions, planning and designing garments, and creating and assessing flat specification drawings. The book also features cross-references to its various art instruction techniques, a designer’s glossary, and a helpful index. This book guides students through their first steps in fashion illustration, covering everything that is presented in the best college-level courses. It makes a fine starting point for all students of fashion, introducing them to fashion drawing as a first step toward a career as a creative costumier. More than 250 illustrations in color and black and white.

Valentino: Themes and Variations

Pamela Golbin

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Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

The name Valentino has been synonymous with high fashion for almost fifty years. Based in Rome, Valentino is only one of two couture houses recognized by the French government outside of Paris. His exquisite designs are coveted and worn by young Hollywood and high society the world over. On the occasion of his last couture collection, presented in Paris in the spring of 2008, this landmark book celebrates forty-five years of Valentino’s remarkable career. Published in association with a prestigious exhibition at the Museé des Arts Decoratifs’s famed costume department in Paris, this volume focuses on Valentino’s haute couture creations, highlighting the most important and iconic creations of his half-century in fashion through recurring themes in Valentino’s work—variations on the ideas of volume, line, and texture as well as motifs such as geometry, pleats, and flowers—through new photography, sketches, fabric samples, and commentary on the dresses by Valentino himself. In addition, unprecedented photography by François Halard of Valentino’s last fittings and backstage of his runway show reveals Valentino’s private world for the first time. "Valentino On Valentino," a chapter of first-person accounts of the designs of these iconic dresses, along with Valentino’s commentary on his fashion, will make this publication unique in the study of Valentino as a cultural and artistic icon.

Structura: The Art of Sparth

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Best Sparth book ever! But.... 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

I've been a huge fan of Sparth's work for years and have awaited the arrival of this book for almost as long. Sparth's work is warm and highly creative and his influence over a generation of digital fantasy artists is only beginning to be seen as his style is frequently imitated. It's certainly a great book and a must-own, especially for a concept art book at this price.

My only disappointment is is the format size (which is why I still give this 5 stars, as I don't think this is the fault of the artist). These works deserve a much larger format than the medium/smallish 9 x 9 inches. Also, and this probably has more to do with who owns the image licenses than anything, there is a bit of "sameness", a slight lack of variety, about some of the work that's not apparent when viewing his website.

Still, a great book by any standard and an essential addition to any fantasy/sci-fi/art lover's book collection.

Editorial Review:

Structura: The Art of Sparth is a collection of his personal artwork. Sparth has been an active artistic director and concept designer for the gaming industry for over ten years. Currently with idsoftware in Texas, a renowned leader in the gaming world with such titles as Wolfenstein 3D, Doom I and II, and Quake I and II, Sparth has been integral in designing the games that the video game enthusiasts of today devour. In both his professional and personal work, there are no limits to Sparths creativity when it comes to translating forms and concepts with an creativity when it comes to translating forms and concepts with an experimental and original approach. Born in France and having traveled the globe extensively, he was influenced greatly by the various world cultures he encountered, and this is largely responsible for his multiple creative passions, which range from space to architecture, robotics and beyond.