Customer Reviews

Emigre: American Mutt Barks in the Yard - #68

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

David Barringer wrote a manifesto on self-taught, DIY graphic design, sent it to the one place he thought it was right for (Emigre), and they published it: American Mutt Barks in the Yard. How often does something like that happen?

The book focuses on graphic design, but it could be about anything you are passionate about and trying to build up your talents through the sheer force of your own free will and belief in yourself, simultaneously soaking up and rejecting all the influences and ways of the scene, taking a one-step-at-a-time approach towards defining your work and making a name for yourself. American Mutt is well-written, methodical in its analysis, and extremely inspiring. An excellent read all the way around.

This is a very entertaining book to chew on, especially if you practice the world's oldest profession, graphic design. It's as dense as one of those seven-layered chocolate doo-dads you'd find at a European confectioners, and good like that too. The language is evocative and provocative; the layers are short and sweet and deliciously sticky so you can lick each one up individually and suck on it for a while before attacking the next one. I only give it four stars because it doesn't come with pictures of whip-wieldin' amazon women.