Basics of Design: Layout and Typography for Beginners [Paperback]

Lisa Graham (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0766813622 | ISBN-13: 978-0766813625 | Publication Date: May 21, 2001 | Edition: 1

Read the Prose. Study the illustrations. And apply what you have learned to design your own pages. It's easy with Basics of Design; Typography and Layout for Beginners! This heavily illustrated, compact guide is ideal for readers with no graphic design or art education background who need to create first-rate visual page designs. Entrepreneurs challenged with designing their own business cards, and administrative assistants suddenly put in charge of producing newsletters and fax cover pages, are just two examples of readers who benefit from the information in this primer. Its uniquely conversational tone - combined with numerous "before" and "after" illustrations- provides everything needed to design pages as effective as those of professional designers. Part One introduces readers to important design principles, as well as how to use color and images to add impact to designs. Part Two concentrates on the basics of typography. Part Three features a number of common design projects of the variety frequently assigned to non-designers (.., company business cards, fax cover letters, graphical and statistical reports, and more). To further aid readers, each project is accompanied by a brief listing of some of the special considerations involved in that type of visual page design. The final chapter of the book lists useful design books and resources for readers interested in advancing their typography and layout skills.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Lisa Graham is an Associate Professor of Graphic Design at the University of Texas at Arlington. She is a recipient of the Illumina Teaching Award, a national teaching award honoring design professors presented by the American Institute of Graphic Arts and The Justice Organization. Her illustrations have appeared in the MIT publications, Computer Music Journal, Leonardo, and Terra Nova. Ms. Graham has produced a wide range of graphic designs, illustrations, and informational graphics for clients in the fashion, high-tech, energy, military, and geology industries.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Delmar Cengage Learning; 1 edition (May 21, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0766813622
• ISBN-13: 978-0766813625
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,115,753 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely Wonderful, January 15, 2003

By 

Jeffrey S. Minch (Tacoma, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Basics of Design: Layout and Typography for Beginners (Paperback)

I am a complete dunce at design (or at least I was). Whatever the optical equivalent to a "tin ear" is, I have it. In this book Ms. Graham gives step-by-step simple and yet logical and practical instruction on how to make one's designs both attractive and effective. Her writing style often made me feel as if I were being given advice by a "friend in the design business." I began using the principles that she teaches in my web pages and flyer designs before I was even half-way through the book. The improvements that I saw in my abilities were amazing.

This book has (the basics of) everything: typography, contrast, color, flow, emphasis, etc. Most of the books I had examined prior to finding this little gem were nothing more than over-sized "picture books" with writing in the margins, I couldn't bring myself to spend the money on so little information (but they sure were pretty). This book, on the other hand, is mostly text with small, well-selected illustrations, and at the end of every chapter the author gives several "case-studies" of the current topic and walks the reader through each one.

I cannot imagine a better book for someone new to design.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent for Beginners, February 16, 2004

By 

Coleman Yee (Singapore) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Basics of Design: Layout and Typography for Beginners (Paperback)

Having wasted much time looking through a number of other books supposedly covering the same subject, this book is a welcome relief.

This book covers in adequate detail the essentials and the basic principles of design, including emphasis, contrast, balance, alignment, repetition, flow, the use of images, color, typography, etc. It gives enough explanation with examples for one to get a good grounding on the subject, without getting too technical, keeping the book highly readable. A part of the book also focuses on specific design situations, including logos, flyers, newsletters, resumes, etc.

Perfect for anyone with no formal training in design, but would like to improve his/her understanding of design.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Coherent and Accessible, February 18, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Basics of Design: Layout and Typography for Beginners (Paperback)

A friend of mine recommended this book as a solid introduction to graphic design. The author, Lisa Graham, covers the principles of design effectively and even throws in some unexpectedly funny explanations that really make the point. For example, the beginning of the Balance chapter is hilarious and made me realize that a page really can make a person feel weird, if it isn't designed using the design principles. Once I read that balance chapter, I realized that many of her illustrations also were surprisingly humerous, and reveals what must be a delightful sense of humor.

If you buy this book, keep in mind that the humor is used to support the points Graham makes, and is not the sole focus of the book. This is after all a design book and makes some serious and informative points.

Perhaps what is most effective about this book is the thorough explanations she gives on why a design works and why it doesn't work. This is a refreshing change from many other introductory design books that I looked at where the primary focus of the text seemed to be to show off pretty pictures. Pretty pictures are nice, but WHY do the designs work? WHY don't they work. Basics of Design tells you why, and in such a wonderfully understandable way that you remember, and easily apply what Graham teaches.

Good job Lisa. When are you going to write more books on graphic design? I'll be sure to keep an eye out for more of your work!