Customer Reviews

The Elements of Graphic Design: Space, Unity, Page Architecture, and Type

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Very solid book (but short) packed with examples of why one strategy or tactic might be better than another. I learned a lot and intend to reread the book to make sure I get as much of it absorbed as I can. Very good discussions on type with discussions on line spacing, type size, small caps, grids, symmetry vs. asymmetry, negative and positive space.

Wish I would have read this book before I went to design school. I would have learned a lot more. I also would have been able to speak more intelligently. I learned a lot of terminology that will help me. I'm a better designer now. It's given me more confidence.

Highly recommended for beginners and intermediates. Might be a little thin for experts.

The book is short, sweet, loaded with excellent examples and it teaches many of the essentials in an easy, enjoyable manner.

I am a software developer by trade, but I also do graphical design for user interfaces and web sites. I can't afford to absorb a large amount of material on this subject just to extract the essentials. This book is exactly what I need.

The Elements of Graphic Design lives up to its namesake, Strunk and White's Elements classic, both in quality and succinctness.

As a 30-something, 8 year web professional, with a BA in Theatre, I chose this book because of its great reviews, and its seemingly great fit for me needs as a `web designer, looking to expand into print/graphic design.'

That being said, the book read more like an exercise in stream of consciousness writing, and groovy book design, rather than trying to make a concerted effort at introducing the elements of the craft of graphic design.

I got through the "7 Components of Design" and felt like 3 of them were the same (unity, balance, and gestalt) or, that there wasn't a good explanation of their differences. It felt like most of the time, the author would say the WHAT (you do) only. If you were lucky, you got a taste of the HOW (to do it), and only if you were really lucky, maybe a bit of the WHY. Or maybe it was that all of those were included, but not in any form of coherency.

I started this book over 3 times, thinking it was me and that I simply wasn't getting into the flow of the material. Instead it was like Lane Meyer (John Cusak) in `Better Off Dead' when the teacher is explaining advanced mathematics and everyone in the class was laughing and getting it except Lane (and the movie watchers).

A fantastic overview of the principles of layout and how to understand space and "the page", with special concern for the issue of functional white space and learning how to activate it, sculpt it, and not waste it. In a milieu of visual clutter, this gift to the design world (if its message is taken to heart) will help restore order and readability in the communications that surround us.

This book is perfect for somewhat who is at an intermediate stage in their design skills. Perhaps you've taken a few classes and maybe have done a few projects, freelance or otherwise, and didn't really have an applied approach to what you designed but somehow hashed it out.

I am of course also speaking for myself and found that I needed some solid principles to focus and direct my designing and a frame of reference to guide my learning and development. The Elements of Graphic Design came in perfectly with fundamentals broken down and accompanied by demonstrative graphics.

Having read this book several times I've consolidated a lot of the pertinent information and printed out charts that I keep above my desk for reference. I find now that I have a much more methodical and thorough approach to design projects and the quality of my work has improved drastically.

Been looking for an entry point to graphic design for a long time, but this book is the first time I've actually "got it". Very succinct, no hand-waving, with excellent explanations and examples. I was working on a document design while reading this book, and with each chapter I was able to further revise the design and see it evolve. I'm very indebted to the author for opening up a whole new part of my right-brain.

Alex White has hit a home run with his book The Elements of Graphic Design. This definitive introduction to the basics of what makes a succesful visual composition should be in every design classroom and student backpack. The writing is clear and the principals easy to understand and apply. I especially liked the examples and advice on the use of "negative space" and typography. Although the book is geared toward the beginning designer, there are enough advanced concepts and examples to make this a worthwhile reference for designers at all levels. A fine addition to design literature.

This is not a book for intermediate designers who knows the basic rules of graphic design applications. It may contain some things intermediates may not know, but i'm sure they can find it elsewhere more detailed.

However, for those who are learning graphic design, and trying hard to understand graphic design, this is the book to start. They break down many things into a language beginners can understand. Like myself, i first started to read other design books but i couldnt learn from it. That's because i didn't understand them. But this book will definitely will teach the basics and how to get further in them. This book is great for understanding what design really is, how does it differ from fine arts, and what should be applied when thinking about design. They talk mainly about Space, Unity, Page Architecture (for editorial design and desktop publishing), and finally Type. As you can see, they are the basic knowledge required to know as someone starts to learn design.

An in depth view that stops short of being a hardcore text book though I would not hesitate to use it as an introductory text for a college class. This makes it an enjoyable, non-threatening, yet extensive, read that lists many design principles for mainly print type publications. The design principles are taught such that they can be more broadly applied to other disciplines by a creative thinker. Contents include the concepts of: Space, Unity, Page Architecture, and Type. A good first read on the subject and gives much more useful information and advice than many of the self glorifying self indulgent publications that other designers put out. The book does not list many specifics for different types of publications, it does give an in depth description of the guiding theories of design for print. the chapters on the use of space are more complete than others I've read. Highly recommended

If you are starting a career in graphic design this book can give you a short but effective overview of the basic principles professional designers follow in their work, and the aesthetics behind it.

But if you are simply someone that, for some reason or the other, need to build some graphical skills, and apply what you learn to some practical work, you are going to find this book just too theoretical.

The only part which seemed to me to be a bit more down-to-earth is the last section (the fourth) about type, and even in that case, as in the rest of the book, there are no such things as instructions, practical examples, exercises, hints, tips, tricks or anything that might help a beginner to actually start designing in a less clumsy way. The first three sections, in case you wonder, are about space, unity, and page architecture.

Bottom line: if you are already in some serious way into graphic design, or would like to be, go for this book. If you aren't, what this book will give you is at best a better understanding of other people's work.