Customer Reviews

Graphic Design: The New Basics

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This book is a great overview for the vocabularies of print design. Technically, I am an illustration student, but I have been taking graphic design courses at my school. That being said, alot of the stuff being covered here would fall under the basic design courses at my school: Design 1 and Design 2. The information in this book ( I've read 2/3 so far) covers basic compositional structures, hue/ value/ saturation, and other good fundamentals, but doesn't give you more than a paragraph. This is a GREAT coffee table book to give you ideas on your current project, but it is by no means textbook-grade learning for graphic design. It simply does not go into enough depth in order to become a great learning tool. I just wish there were more professional examples rather than student-created ones.

I was very disappointed in this book. Given the title, I expected more cohesive guidelines and analysis on assembling the "New Basics" into my designs. To me, it was primarily a showcase of work done by the authors' students, some of which I enjoyed, but I didn't find it very helpful or insightful. In fact, I returned it for a refund.

Also, I found some of the type so small as to be unreadable, which for experienced designers, I found surprising. Not high on my list, obviously. I expect a title and/or subtitle to deliver on its implied promise. Perhaps I totally misunderstood the intent of the book, but I expected something that would weave these so-called new basics into a whole, provide direction, and help me produce better designs. Maybe that happens over the course of time in class, but I didn't see that happening in the book.

If you're looking for guidance and direction, I don't think this is the book for you. It wasn't for me.

When Ellen Lupton released her wonderful book, "Thinking with Type," I adopted as a required text for my college typography course. Not only did I admire the thinking behind the writing and structure, but my students LOVED the book.

When I learned about this new book written with Jennifer Cole Phillips I pre-ordered it immediately. Now that I've read it, I'm thrilled with their effort and am eager to use it as the text in my Graphic Design 1 class.

This book provides current examples that both illustrate classic principles of Graphic Design and explore the edges of current design thinking. I appreciate the use of student examples rather than just using professional, commercial work. There are plenty of annual reviews of commercial work by publishing houses such as Rockport. The student work tends to take more risks and be more provocative. It will provide more room for discussion, debate and inspiration in a classroom setting.

While not extensive, the text in the book is concise and well-written. Paired with the bountiful examples, it makes the subject accessible to graphic design students or to anyone interested in learning more about design on their own.

The book introduces enough about typography to whet one's appetite for more (check out "Thinking with Type" for that) and introduces basics about Motion Graphics ("Moving Type" by Matt Woolman was and still is great for learning more - it is out of print now but still relevant if you can find it.)

Princeton Architectural Press should be commended for producing such a quality book at such and affordable price.

I bought this book sight unseen, based on the authors' reputations and the mostly good reviews. Sorry to say it, but the textual content of this book is the verbal equivalent of bad stick figure drawings badly layed out. I can only conclude that right-brained graphics-oriented people shouldn't be allowed to explain what it is they do. For me, this book has too many statements that are so abstractly vague or universally applicable as to be meaningless, plus a fair share of contradictory statements, some within a paragraph and others within even a single sentence.

Zooming out, if you are looking to this book for cohesive, practical guidelines for implementing these "New Basics", look no further than the back cover where you'll find the chapter names listed, each of which represents a basic graphic design element. Then go out and analyze some award-winning designs with these chapter titles in mind. The example designs reproduced in the book seem to be mostly a showcase for the works of the authors' students. I found many of them quite pleasing, and since they made it into the book, I assume they are "good design". Based on what I learned from the text, I can't really say.

Congratulations to Ellen Lupton for her contemporary take on the keystone of our visual culture: Graphic Design. This book is as good of a summary of the necessary skills and practices that are essential to contemporary communication design as I have ever seen. I was educated in graphic design in my undergrad by the legacy of modern design and Bauhaus pedagogy, even in the wake of the sweeping technological change that was occurring all around us. This book finally catches up on a curriculum and approach that would make sense for today. After working professionally as a graphic designer for 5 years, I'm currently enrolled in a graduate program for media design. My studies have shown me that graphic design is just the beginning, but a very necessary foundation for all kinds of design practices that our dynamic world requires. I would also commend her development of the Graphic Design Basics website which features exercises designed to supplement the topics covered in the book. Together the site and book represent a fairly off the shelf curriculum that would serve any designer(beginner to advanced) well to follow. All that would be left is years to practice...

this is the book i've always wanted to share with beginning graphic design students: a clear, articulated description of design principles for postmodern students. it defends enduring principles from the bauhaus, and introduces new ways of thinking about gd basics as transferrable skills.

If you're at all interested in design education--either as a teacher or as a student--Graphic Design: The New Basics is required reading. Ellen Lupton and Jennifer Cole Phillips have made something more than a mere textbook; they've created an authoritative and thorough yet useful and inspiring companion for the successful practice of graphic design. I'm confident that I will happily revisit this book again and again during my never-ending journey as a student and teacher.

I wrote a much longer review here:
http://motionographer.com/2008/05/14/book-review-graphic-design-the-new-basics/

I bought this book for a beginner design class but I find myself reading ahead because it is so interesting!!

The Book is great for students and just getting started in Graphic Design. Need more detailed information on layouts. Not meant to be a text book only an overview.

This is an excellent text book for beginning design and art students. Easy to read with strong examples this book fills a need in the arts community.