Customer Reviews

Abstract Design and How to Create It (Dover Art Instruction)

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The back cover says it all: "Students, designers, and craftspeople who want to create their own abstract patterns and designs will find this profusely illustrated guide one of the best books availabe on the subject. After an introductory chapter dealing with the geometric basis of design, the author goes on to discuss implements and their uses, borders, textile patterns, nature study and treatement."

"Over 300 illustrations include many diagrams, designs for title pages, border patterns, allover patterns, textile patterns and historical examples from an extraordinary number of cultures and periods...Thorough and comprehensive, [this book] will be an invaluable resource for anyone seeking to learn the principles and techniques of creating nonrespresentative designs."

To which I will add, the illustrations are nice as they include a little block showing you how it was drawn, and sometimes giving variations (positive vs negative, simple vs complex, etc). A large part of the book is spent showing textile patterns. I think maybe that was the original bent of the author. But there are also lots of lovely border designs, too.

Well worth the price!

The present book is an abrideged republication of a 1930 book. Therefore, it is not reasonable to expect many color pictures, in particular in a Dover reprint. The pictures are all black and white, save for a color plate on the back of the front color.

The thrust of the book is on repeatable designs, either borders or all-overs. Most of the drawings are of a geometric nature, with many greek style friezes, celtic knots friezes, some good arabic style all-over patterns, and also a good number of floral designs. There are also reproductions of art, specifically ancient stone carvings and some mosaics.

The author explains the tricks of the trade, some of which have to be translated to the modern day computer graphics. Nevertheless, circles, straight lines and polygons have not aged and are still quite usable in computer graphics.

For the mathematically minded person, this is practical group theory and pavings of the line and the plane, but there is no mention whatsoever of any kind of mathematical approach: this is good and bad. Good, because it will not scare away anyone, and bad, because it would have allowed for a more systematic presentation. One can live with this.

I am an abstract painter and I had to return this book as soon as I received it. All it shows are patterns of some kind of designs. No color throughout the entire book.