Customer Reviews

Graphic Design: A New History

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Eskilson's New History is a long overdue addition to textbooks on Graphic Design that before now have had to largely suffice with the sporadically updated Meggs' History of Graphic Design. Eloquent and illuminating, Eskison spans the modern age and then goes deep into contemporary design with a fine attention to the artistic and technical developments in the field. Eskilson pays special attention to the challenges and creative solutions that graphic designers have devised with valuable insights into the society that these designs were made for. Eskilson is especially effective in drawing out connections between graphic design and larger world events, such as: the growth of British World War I propaganda posters and their subsequent impact on the raw emotional power of propaganda design, the London Underground on popularizing Modernism, and motion graphics and the blurred boundaries of new digital technologies. One of the great strengths of this text over Meggs' text is the way Eskilson ably links innovations in Modern Art and Architecture with developments in Graphic Design. Too often the history of Graphic Design has been treated as a study that only concerns fellow designers and the interactions between Graphic Design and the Fine Art world have been given short shrift.

While Eskilson is chiefly interested in communicating the broad outlines of Graphic Design History for an undergraduate audience, to call this book a textbook is to do a great disservice to the extraordinary design layout, which can certainly hold its own against any other fine art book stacked up on your coffee table. Yale UP and Eskilson are to be praised for the gorgeous selection of large color reproductions. Don't wait till your professor assigns this book, buy this one just for the pleasure of enjoying a great read and a beautiful design.

I have read this text (cover to cover) for a History of Graphic Design class I teach. In the past, I have used the classic Meggs History of Graphic Design. I decided to try another text this semester, and I will be going back to Meggs next Spring. I found the higher number of images in Eskilson's book initially appealing, and from a quick scan of the text, it seemed fine. However, digging deeper into the text, I found that the price paid for all the pretty pictures was a less comprehensive text with some weird omissions.

Aside from skipping a significant amount of important territory in early design history (Guttenberg is in the "preface"? Really?), there were other inclusions and omissions that gave this text the feel of an editorial on design history, not a textbook. I don't care - or want to know - the personal design tastes of Eskilson. I don't want to know his political bent. I want to know the facts. Let my students and I evaluate the merits of a given design movement or designer.

The biggest omission (in my opinion) in this book was the complete absence of any work from David Carson. While we can argue the merits of his work, he was clearly a significant, important designer in the 90's. Much more than Tomato(!?) or Art Chantry. The text pertaining to Carson smells of personal distaste, not objective analysis. This, again, has no place in a history text. A book that is a series of critical essays on the history of design? Absolutely! But not a book claiming to be history, not opinion.

Others have mentioned the inaccuracies in the text, so I will leave it at was already said.

OK, one (of many) minor peeve: when writing about the psychedelic posters of the 60's, Eskilson refers to "Richard Griffin". A 5-minute scan online will show that the artists' name is Rick Griffin (I'm not talking about his birth certificate, but how he signed his work - all of it that I know of). Is this a big deal? No, but it communicates a lack of personal knowledge of the field - whether this is justified or not - that reduces the perceived credibility of the author. If I wrote a book on physics, and referred to "Al Einstein", I would not be taken seriously.

Enough. I'm done ranting. If you're really interested in the History of Graphic Design, get the Meggs book and expand out from there. I now view the Eskilson text as an additional resource, not a main reference source.

This is the text book for my History of Graphic Design course...the pictures are great and the text is easy to follow, interesting to read. I've enjoyed it so far.

Got this book for a Graphic Design history class, wasn't too excited about the thickness of the book, but it's not that bad. It has a bunch of pictures to show you what he's talking about. This book has taught me soo much, my work has greatly improved and I know where to cite references, so I sound smarter. Goes into a more than just the work, but what's going on in the world at the time and why it's affecting it. The book jumps around at times when certain movements overlap, but overall I think it's a great book, and well worth the money, and when your done with it it'll make a nice coffee table piece.

This is a fresh and definitive history of graphic design. It's a huge book filled with a unique collection of images to define each movement. So if you're like me you can use it as a great resource for inspiration.

Very pleased with the speed of the arrival on this text book. The book arrived in perfect condition and just in time for my first book lecture. Thank you so much! I will continue to purchase books through you and recommend you to friends, family, and acquaintances.

This book provides the history of graphic design and typography in a manner far more complex than a sweeping catalogue of images, styles, movements, and functions changing through time. It embeds these elements within the historical and technological patterns and events which both spawned changes in design, and were in turn deeply influenced by this art form. This accessible entwining of graphic design and typography with social history fosters a more lucid understanding of the role of these very human forms of communication over time, including the transforming innovations of the late 20th--early 21st centuries.

As cheap as this book is, the first thing that shocked me was the fact that it's in full color. It's rare these days to find books in full color, and have nice paper for pages.

The book is great, and I use it all the time to study for my class. It's got in depth information about artists, movements, and pieces of artwork. This book doesnt skimp on the details!

Buy this book!

This book is nicely set up very easy to read and quite informative. It is also a great value!!

I love design and I love this book! It is way more updated and comprehensive in its approach than others that I have read. Plus, it is an easy read that's never dull.