The Design Entrepreneur: Turning Graphic Design Into Goods That Sell (Design Field Guide) [Paperback]

Steven Heller (Author), Lita Talarico (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2008

Designers are used to working for clients, but there is nothing better than when the client is oneself. Graphic and product designers, who are skilled with the tools and masters aesthetics, are now in the forefront of this growing entrepreneur movement.

 

Whether personal or collective, drive is the common denominator of all entrepreneurial pursuit; of course, then comes the brilliant idea; and finally the fervent wherewithal to make and market the result. The Design Entrepreneur is the first book to survey this new field and showcase the innovators who are creating everything from books to furniture, clothes to magazines, plates to surfboards, and more.

 

Through case studies with designers like Dave Eggers, Maira Kalman, Charles Spencer Anderson, Seymour Chwast, Jet Mous, Nicholas Callaway, Jordi Duró, and over thirty more from the United States and Europe, this book explores the whys, hows, and wherefores of the conception and production processes. The design entrepreneur must take the leap away from the safety of the traditional designer role into the precarious territory where the public decides what works and what doesn’t. This is the book that shows how that is accomplished.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Steven Heller and Lita Talarico are co-chairs of the MFA Design program of the School of Visual Arts where students are encouraged to become design entrepreneurs. Heller is the author and co-author of over 100 books on design and popular culture. He is the editor of AIGA VOICE the online design journal and a contributing editor to Print, ID, EYE, and Baseline magazines. For thirty-three years he was an art director of the New York Times and now writes a column for the New York Times Book Review. He is the recipient of the AIGA Medal for Lifetime Achievement.

 

Talarico holds an MFA in art criticism and is the co-author of books on design, including Design Career.

T

he authors have created a website for the book. To learn more about The Design Entrepreneur, visit http://design.sva.edu/sva_de/.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Rockport Publishers; PB w/slipcase edition (September 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 159253421X
• ISBN-13: 978-1592534210
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #728,548 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Steven Heller, author and editor of over 130 books on graphic design, satiric art and popular culture, is the co-founder and co-chair of the MFA Designer as Author program at the School of Visual Arts, New York. He is also co-founder of the MFA in Design Criticism, MFA in Interaction Design, MFA Social Documentary Film and MPS Branding programs. Although he does not hold an undergraduate or graduate degree he has devoted much of his career to fostering design education venues, opportunities and environments.

On the editorial side, for over 40 years he has been an art director for various underground and mainstream periodicals. For 33 years he was an art director at the New York Times (28 of them as senior art director New York Times Book Review). He currently writes the "Visuals" column for the Book Review and "Graphic Content" for the T-Style/The Moment blog (http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/author/steven-heller/). He is editor of AIGA VOICE: Online Journal of Design, a contributing editor to Print, EYE, and Baseline, and a frequent contributor to Metropolis and ID magazines. He contributes regularly to Design Observer and writes the DAILY HELLER blog for Print Magazine (http://blog.printmag.com/dailyheller/). His 135 books include "Design Literacy, " "Paul Rand," "Graphic Style" (with Seymour Chwast), "Stylepedia" (with Louise Fili), "The Design Entrepreneur" and "Design School Confidential" (both with Lita Talarico), "Iron Fists: Branding the Twentieth Century Totalitarian State", and the most recent, "Born Modern: The Life and Design of Alvin Lustig."

He is the recipient of the 1999 AIGA Medal for Lifetime Achievement. His website is www.hellerbooks.com and his blog, The Daily Heller sponsored by Print magazine is http://imprint.printmag.com/daily-heller/

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A nice looking book that doesn't deliver, August 14, 2009

By 

Kathryn Downing (West Des Moines, Iowa United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Design Entrepreneur: Turning Graphic Design Into Goods That Sell (Design Field Guide) (Paperback)

The cover and description of this book are misleading. It claims to be about products that sell, but the many of the projects in the book make very little money, or are even losing money. Some examples are from the authors' students and I would rather read about products/projects that have been around longer and had more concrete results. The design of the book is nice, and the photos are nice. The non-interview portions of the book are very general, boring, and don't offer much practical advice. The interviews themselves give insight into the creator's thinking, but most don't address any specifics or the process they went through to get a final product. I started out trying to read the whole book, but ended up just skimming my way through most of it. Overall, I was disappointed and feel like I wasted my money on this one. If you want to read about why designers decide they want to create their own products and how happy they are (even if they don't make money at it) then this is the book for you. If you've already decided to make your own products and want specific practical advice about production, pricing, etc. look elsewhere.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This book is for a very targeted audience, November 28, 2008

By 

Parka (Singapore) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Design Entrepreneur: Turning Graphic Design Into Goods That Sell (Design Field Guide) (Paperback)

Length:: 0:20 Mins

This is red softcover book that's housed in a black die-cut cardboard case. I wonder why the designer included the case, which has no particular use.

This book is for graphic designers, specifically those who want to turn their designs into products, and product designers.

There are three chapters with talking about the general process of conceptualizing an idea to selling of the product. These tips on selling the product is good to know, but they are really general. Any entrepreneurial book from the Dummies series will provide much better depth, and be a better complement to this book. Further reading on the business starting is compulsory if you're really starting a business. There are many details to take note of.

If you do decide to go into creating your own product, this book offers a lot of insights. They come from more than over 60 interviews with designers who have designed and sold their own products -- they are the clients themselves.

It's inspiring to read about their success stories, to learn some tips and gain some experience off them. The number of interviews ensures that most of the business aspect to be talked about, such as distribution, business strategy formulating, funding and other stuff from the perspective of a designer.

I'll recommend this book to designers who are thinking of selling products designed by themselves.

My rating for this book is 4-stars because it's a book targeted to a very niche market. And even so, there should be more written on challenges and obstacles. Selling isn't as simple as the examples in the book suggest.

Side note - I once drew a calendar, got it bind and sold it. Only manage to sell 20 copies but it's fun. It's really hard work.

(More pictures are available on my blog. Just visit my Amazon profile for the link.)

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Great title to a very disappointing book, July 8, 2010

By 

Todd L. Schofield (Salt Lake City, UT USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Design Entrepreneur: Turning Graphic Design Into Goods That Sell (Design Field Guide) (Paperback)

I am a designer and have an invention that I am working on and need all the help I can get. This book was recommended in CA so I jumped at it. The bulk of the book is made up of small two page scenarios from people who have and have not succeeded in creating and marketing a product. They are asked about 7 different questions which gives very little insight on why their product is successful. (Which by the way most I have never heard of.) I would not recommend this book at all, what a disappointment.