Customer Reviews

Design Basics

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Back in college, two decades ago, one of my art professors required this book for every single one of his classes. He even offered to personally repay students who could not afford to keep their copy, if they promised not to sell it back to the bookstore. He told us that the best thing we could do for our careers in art was to keep this book. He was right. I've had my 2nd edition copy for twenty years, and no other book I've seen discusses visual theory so simply, logically and completely. The text is clear and straightforward and the examples are perfect, but it is Lauer's ability to organize a very complex subject into very specific, clearly-understood categories that makes this book remarkable.

Basic Design is a must for any art student who is serious about his/her talent. This book was offered as a suggested reading source in my Color Theory class and I have cherished it for years since. Design Basics is very thorough in it's explaination of every kind of art form. You would be greatly benefited to purchase this book!

I have had my highschool art students use Design Basics in conjunction with my highschool introductory art courses for over ten years. It is a staple in my students' art theory reading. The book focuses on the elements and principles of design and organizes it's chapters as such. All information is correlated with artwork examples that run throughout the ages of art, from the prehistoric to the modern day. Many colour illustrations make for artistic "eye candy".

The best review of basic design principles I've seen -- especially helpful to artists studying composition.

Design Basics is well organized, the chapters are clearly written, and the graphics illustrate the text very effectively. This is the best general introduction to graphic design that I've seen.

The gave it four-stars based on a quick look -- I'd read extensively in the fourth edition, and this one looks better. HOwever, this book (7th ed) has a substantial on-line component. To access the on-line part, you have to go to a website and then enter the access number that's bound into the book. My book didn't have the card -- but I could see where somebody had pulled it out. For this very expensive book, you really need to get the on-line part -- but the website itself is absolutely opaque. If you have the number, you get in; if not, you don't, and there's no way even to register a complaint. I would think this would be a special problem with any used books (though I'm not sure -- they could be fine.) I note that somebody else has registered the same complaint. So, mine goes back tomorrow. I don't know whether I'll get a new one, or just stick with my really beat-up fourth ed.

We used this as a textbook in an "interdisciplinary approach" course at a photography school. The organization of the book and the illustrations are excellent. Much of the information seemed familiar to us all, but we found the book to be an excellent reminder and good focus for discussion. It helped us with our critiquing of each others' work in a variety of media (sculpture, drawing, painting, collage, photography and writing).

Covers everything a visual design or budding CG student could want. The hardcore multimedia edition of the book is not necessary, get the cheapest one; it's going to have all the good stuff in there. Check the table of contents on the 'look inside' to see all the neato sections.

STUPID PEOPLE: Why give an item a bad review when you've simply had a poor experience with your merchant? Think that over for a minute. What does the quality of the product have to do with the person selling it? Seriously. You're comparing goats and marmots here and it hurts the sales of a legitimately great product.

If your child/loved one was caught in a blizzard, their homecoming delayed by several days or weeks - would you hate that person? OF COURSE NOT, it wasn't the person's fault they're late, it was that damned blizzard they had NO CONTROL over!

In summation, please be courteous of other drivers, don't litter, and if you're stupid - don't reproduce. Thanks.

The book is generally well written and profusely illustrated. It is not a coffee table book, or one you read to find out whodunit. It is meant to be a college level text that explains some of the technical details about composition in artwork. As such, it gives the reader a better appreciation when looking at artwork, and some ideas to incorporate in any compositional tasks planned.
My only criticism is the additional study material described as available at the Thompson/Wadsworth Webpage noted in the inner front cover. The access code/password does not work, and when queried, the Thompson people replied once with a 'that does not conform to our usual password format, and so must be invalid'. Whe provided with a scanned image of the information on the cover, they did not deign to reply. Based on their attitude, I would (and will) request that my course instructor seek another text if at all possible.

If you purchase this book be aware that there are a lot of missing images that the text refers to. Instead of a visual clue to the reference the book is making you get a lovely grey box with the centered text "Image unavailable due to copyright restructions"

Each chapter has at least one image missing and one chapter had three missing. I have yet to go through every chapter, but I'm wondering why any school would use a book that has parts missing. Why would a publisher even publish a book like this without replacing those images if there was a sudden issue.

Don't believe me? Use the "Look in Side" feature and type in these page numbers 37, 95, 97, 117, 118, 121, 131, 140, & 156. This is just the chapters I've read so far, I haven't checked the rest of the book.

I'm very disappointed in the publisher and anyone who sells this book as a whole package for the price they charge to find out it's damaged goods.

This item should get zero stars, no wait -stars cause its missing info.