Customer Reviews

Graphic Design for the Electronic Age

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First of all, if you're in doubt about whether this book could still be useful 17 years after its publication, the answer is 'yes'. The author gives a reasonably thorough introduction to the production of printed matter (especially books), discussing such "timeless" topics as typography and page layout. He doesn't dwell on the technology of the time, so almost all the information contained in the book is still applicable today.

The book was born out of an introductory design manual prepared by Xerox for its customers. It's informal in tone and all the jargon used is explained by the author, who assumes that his readers are new to the trade. Rather than prescribe exactly how a page should be laid out and what kind of typeface should be used in each situation, the author discusses traditional solutions and tries to give the reader enough information to enable him or her to make his or her own decisions. The author gives tips, but never presents them as the only, or even the best, solutions -- a refreshing approach for people who can't stand Robin Williams's arrogance (not the actor, but the author of 'The non-designer's design book' and 'The non-designer's type book').

Now a warning: this book has a rather inappropriate title. For one thing, you'll find but passing remarks about anything electronic in the book (which is good, since that would have made the book completely obsolete for our day and age). But most significantly, this is not a book on graphic design in general: it's really an introduction to page layout and typography, with an emphasis on text-intensive publications, particularly books.