Designing Identity: Graphic Design as a Business Strategy [Paperback]

Marc English (Author), Judith Evans (Author), Cheryl Dangel Cullen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2000

Profiled here are nine case studies, each providing insight into a specific business arena, and the unique role design plays in developing an identity as part of a strategy for success. Some of the best designers in the field today will explain their process in creating identities, from initial client meetings and planning, through logo development and a wide variety of identity applications. Additionally, a showcase of identity projects, from local ventures to national enterprises, further details the objectives of client and designer.

Areas of concentration: Corporate, Entertainment, Hospitality, Institutional, Packaging, Product, Recreation, Retail, Services

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Marc English studied design at Massachusetts College of Art, after a brief stint at the Berklee College of Music, where he studied composing, harmony, and arranging. His career has involved being a designer for design botiques, a museum exhibit design firm, and filling the role of assistant director of design for Boston's largest commercial television station. He began freelancing in 1993, and has worked for a number of corporate and institutional clients, as well as taking on public projects. Since 1991 he has taught corporate identity, advanced typography, publication design, and other design classes as Adjunct Professor at Massachusetts College of Art, The New England School of Art and Design, and Southwest Texas State University. He has served as the president of the Boston Chapter of the American Institute of Graphic Arts, and founded a chapter of the AIGA in Austin, Texas, where he now resides. He has received numerous awards, from organizations such as the American Center for Design to the Broadcast Design Association, as well as having his work collected by the Museum fur Kunst und Gewerbe.

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Rockport Publishers (June 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1564966801
• ISBN-13: 978-1564966803
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 9.2 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,437,194 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A bunch of design samples with no analysis or discussion, August 6, 2001

By 

"kidneygirl" (San Leandro, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Designing Identity: Graphic Design as a Business Strategy (Paperback)

Case studies are great, but we need hard facts and tips about what goes into good identity and what a designer should look for. I expected to see a few case studies with an analysis detailing why the choices were effective, but it's just a pretty book that gives you nothing but samples of successful identity designs. (I suppose, I wouldn't know...)

Not to mention that the page layout makes it incredibly hard to read! I was very surprised that this came from a graphic designer. The text is written in a tiny font (I don't wear glasses and I had trouble) in the margins of the pages over a background with some thin blue lines. The lines aren't such a big deal, but they do really distract from reading, and it's hard enough to read the book as it is. The design samples weren't easy to see in every case either. They weren't just laid out as is, the author chose to make the layout "design-ey". I know, I know, you can't be great at everything (meaning he's a fine designer, but I don't think textbooks are his thing,) so cut the guy some slack. But don't waste my time and money and describe this book as something it's not.

As a reference book, big thumbs down. As a coffee table book, hmm, I've seen plenty better. If you want this book, borrow it from a friend first.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good, but barely a mention of online identity, September 21, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Designing Identity: Graphic Design As a Business Strategy (Hardcover)

Perhaps my review is a bit jaded because I went into this book looking speficially for online identity issues like "how does a designer begin to keep a user on a website with thousands of other options available?" This is the best, hardest identity issue to hit in a long time. As the book was printed in 1998, I expected SOMETHING about online isues. But there was nothing. I'd also like to speak to whomever designed the layout about the superfluous, messy grids and lines that cover each page. It's very, very stylized and already outdated.

1 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars one of the best, September 10, 2004

By 

a reader (australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Designing Identity: Graphic Design As a Business Strategy (Hardcover)

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