Customer Reviews

1,000 Graphic Elements: Details for Distinctive Designs

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

To be up-front, a few of my package design pieces have been featured in this book which is a compilation of design ideas from around the world. You may consider me biased because of this, but I have found the work of the designers in this book to be very inspiring and practically useful in my day-to-day design work.

Rockport is the premier design book publisher - and this book is a terrific example of it. The book is divided into sections that zero in on different techniques and effects that designers around the world have utilized to create terrific look and feel for printed pieces.

The book features mostly brochures, annual reports and mailers. A small proportion of packaging is represented.

Harvey Wilson zeros in on effects like hotstamping, folding methods, unusual materials and methods of closure, bindings, type treatments and some graphic treatments. Handy little icons beneath each picture describe the effects that are used.

Like the other reviewer, I thought the last chapter on graphic treatments was far too edgy to be useful to me. (Unless you do a lot of edgy work.)

This book is for those who want to use special effects. This book acts more like a scrapbook of ideas than a design/technique book. You can mix and match many of these ideas - most of which are from cutting edge European design firms and some talented US firms plus others.

I don't know of any book that is quite like this, so it would make a great addition to any design library.

This is a wonderful book. From front to back it reaches out and messes with your head. So many inspiring examples, so many great minds have been at work. Designer envy is taking hold, and I don't want to put it out of my hands, oh, if only holding it to my head by osmosis all these amazing creative juices would fill my empty creative void. So then, I study and rejoice in finding beautiful, fun, clever and artistic masterpieces that seem so innocently displayed on these pages. You need to see it to believe it. I feel inspired and free again. I will try again, or maybe tomorrow, to be the best designer I can be. I love grapic design!

If only coffee had the same effect on me :)

Truly inspiring. This book is a good idea generator, with page after page of projects organized by different graphic elements employed: materials, die cuts, add-ons, embossing, formats, bindings, graphic devices, text, and inks. I gave the book 4 stars because it really lacked more explanation to each example given. I really wished that they would have included what the pictured project was used for and other helpful information like exactly what type of material was used. I suppose that information couldn't be disclosed in a book for the public?? Despite all that, the book still proves useful. I'm very satisfied with my purchase.

The work shown in this book is REAL good, the picture's quality is amazing, and it shows you what the title promises, but at the end I wish every sample would have detailed explanations concerning its final production (amount of inks, tools involved, used material) that kind of stuff that makes a book a helpful one over a simple catalog of samples.

In spite the lack of information, this book is really cool.

I hoped this book would provide inspiration and novel approaches to inspire my design projects, but I was sadly disappointed. Most of the projects featured, although obviously expensive to produce, lacked concept and clever ideas. I would rather see projects that started with a great idea, then added the special effect to really shine. Instead, this was all about special effects for the sake of special effects.

Great examples, not only of typography and design elelments, but of printing techniques as well. Though, there are no explanations added, the pictures do all the talking. Great resource for design inspiriration.

This book not only gives you the latest in cutting edge design and graphics, but it also does a good job of covering the world over. UK, Croatia, USA, Denmark, Germany, Australia, Austria, Canada, The Netherlands to name a few.

Inside it is broken out into:

Printing Techniques

Manipulated Surfaces

Formats and Binding

Add-Ons

Unique Materials

Graphic Devices

and a nice index by agency.

Each photo is a studio shot of the actual product, not a reprint from file. In some you see hands holding the brochure open or a page curled open. Very high quality shots of the actual finished product, and artistically done, as well. I give it a big thumbs up for presentation value, inspiring choices and for it being edge to edge, chock-full of pictures and no lengthy write-ups on how the artist milled the paper herself from the hair of a Burmese goat or other such unnecessary drivel.

Get this book.

As a graphic designer, I did not find this book very useful in generating ideas. There is very minimal info about the pieces featured and some photos are unnecessarily close-up and you cannot get a sense for the project.

You probably already know that this book is really just eye-candy. No helpful tips on how to design or anything like that. This book is something to look at for inspiration, and for that it is fantastic. Wilson Harvey (author) knows how to pick good design, and there is more good design packed into this volume than probably any other "inspiration book" I've looked at. Unfortunately, none of the other 1000 ______ books seem to have the same quality and variety of work. Wilson Harvey also did 1000 Type Treatments, so I'm sure that book is great without even having looked at it.

i want this whole series. this is an awesome piece for you library. good reference.