Customer Reviews

How To Be a Graphic Designer Without Losing Your Soul

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

If you are in commercial art field, regardless whether you are in graphic design or not, you must read this book. It tell you everything you wish your design school teachers had told you about the business of being a commercial artist. As an art school instructor myself, I made this book into a recommended reading material for my graduating illustration majors. Just cross the words "design" in this book and write over "illustration" (or animation, advertising, or whichever commercial art occupation), and more than 95% of it works. It is because this book does not teach you the tricks and gimmicks, but teaches you the philosophy of the business of being a commercial artist.

Anyone entering into the field of graphic design, either coming out of school or embarking on a career solo, should read this book. It doesn't mess with what the best typefaces are, or any software tricks. Instead, it lets you in on how designers think, and how to be successful in your endeavors. A foreward written by Sagmeister himself, along with interviews with other "rock star" designers, make this book simply amazing.

How to Be a Graphic Designer Without Losing Your Soul first appeared in 2005 to instant acclaim and has since become a basic resource for graphic designers, blending business philosophy with techniques geared to help young professionals hone their skills. This new, expanded edition provides new chapters on professional skills, global trends in design, and more.

For a book on the practice of design for designers, I thought it was very badly designed. For a start, the design work examples splattered around the book have no relevance to the text, and seem to serve only to fill in the empty spaces.

The printing is inconsistent. Headings and notes are printed in a light blue, which on some pages are so light that they are difficult to read.

The text (from what I read) contains spelling/grammatical errors such as:
- Bean counting is a MAYOR key to success of...
- ...interviews... AS AN OPPORTUNITIES to study the...
- ...IT people, bank MANGERS, tax officials...
For a book published in the English-speaking world, I expect better English than that!

If you can overlook the above-mentioned shortfalls, I think this is a very useful book. It covers most everything a budding designer needs to know (though not in great detail), and has a LOT of useful information for someone starting out as a designer.

(Being a freelancer just starting out on my career, I would have liked some information on how to bill clients, which this book does not contain. But then, I guess I can't expect a single book to contain EVERYTHING I need to know!)

This may not be a good book for those who have been in the field for a while. What this book is good for is, students and people who are barely starting their art career. Even though it is not set in a traditional grid, or in serifed font, this book was probably the easiest read I've ever had. Either its because it doesnt use a lot of jargon, or its just interesting. I'm a student, alot of the stuff mentioned in this book is so well put together and so relevant and so logical.

so if you're a designer, who has a job, and is happy, then dont bother.
but if you're a student or upcoming designer who just wants a leg up on your competition, then this is the best book I can recommend.

I found this book a good enough read for people who are intrigued by the title, but don't expect any personal revelations after reading this book

Things I liked:

- shared personal experiences from the author
- easy book to read (no complex vocabulary)
- gives advice to young designers/students

Things I don't like about the book:

- the typesetting (I feel that the words are kerned way too close together, to a point where I find it distracting)
- author keeps name-dropping people/places he knows
- doesn't go indepth with some of the topics he present. The book claims to talk about the stuff that you don't learn in school, yet I feel that the author does not say anything that an astute student wouldn't already have figured out by themselves.
- Interviews at the back of the book not really that helpful for students


Personally, I would give it a 3.5 out of 5 stars, but I rounded up since I found the book interesting enough to read.
I would assume that I'm the target audience (young graphic designer right out of school), but I didn't really find any thing that I haven't already touched upon in my life. I do feel that the book had some good tips and personal examples.

conclusion: read it if you are interested with the title. Don't read it if your already deep into the graphic design world (though there are a few chapters about starting your own studio).

Adrian Shaughnessy's How To Be a Graphic Designer Without Losing Your Soul is chock full of useful information about self promotion, getting clients, leaving clients, and all of the practical details of design that no-one ever seems to talk about.

I love the design of the book. It has enough whitespace and variation that one can read it through without finding the layout monotonous and it is constructed so one can read a chapter or a section of a chapter, piece by piece, whenever you have a free moment.

Shaughnessy honestly covers the complications of working for a studio or going freelance and includes a number of voices of famous, working designers, many of which have their own take on each issue. Some fall wholeheartedly in the camp that every designer needs to spend a few years at a show working with other designers before going freelance. Others talk about how they never trained formally in school or worked for a design shop. They simply followed their passion and learned through experience, creating an impressive body of work on their own.

I was repeatedly struck with the clear, honest tone that the book is written in. I have to ask around through a range of contacts to get a clear idea of how to calculate rates, or to ask what sort of things I should have in mind before I take the step of renting office space, or even how potential clients tend to view promotional work versus work done for a paying client. No-one gives answers that are as well reasoned and understandable as the author.

I really do not know how to describe this book other than to say that everyone who works in or is thinking about working in graphic design should read this book. It combines real-life experiences, with inspiration and a practical business how-to reference for the graphic design professional. Get a copy today.

Amazing book - a great read for any individual who is thinking of defining their place in the Graphic Arts world. You can seriously learn something new or reaffirming from it every time you pick it up.

- Don't look for solid examples of what steps to follow, the overview is good, but it being told by somebody who has been in the industry for years and never appeared to have any major struggles that plague many young graphic artists today. Adrian does a great job of making sure to touch on just about every major aspect of the design business world, but like I said - its an overview.

It would pretty cool if there was a book that read like memoirs of a student to entrepreneurial success story with each step detailed. You know - like the first equipment purchases, the struggle to fit in, the stress of taxes, finding the niche, hiring some help, branding the company, asking for loans, supply and demand, and cut throat business approach to stay competitive and successful.

I just started a new conceptual tutorial website that will feature only quality tutorials aimed at teaching fellow artists or aspiring artists the skills and techniques being practiced by today's industry professionals; from using office equipment like scanners, Adobe Illustrator and principals of good color profiling to setting up quickbooks online for your accounting. The web address can be found here: http://www.designer-tutorials.com/

I am not trying to push this site - I just wanted a way to reach out to those looking for answers that are not found in this book (or any other that I have looked at - I am very open to suggestions)and so far - there just is not a singular source for this type information.

Like I said - I am very interested - if you know of a good book - please make the recommendation here or at the website above.

- Good luck to all fellow artisans.

I got this book with high hopes, since it came highly recommended by authors that I respect and love, as well as the Amazon community of reviewers. Also I can relate to the title ;) Unfortunately, I felt this book was only so-so; a few good points and insider chuckles, but overall, the author was very vague and drawn-out in his advice.

And quite honestly, I disagreed with much of what he was encouraging others to do, especially if the point was NOT to lose your soul!

For example, he makes the case of making your clients happy even if what they want is horrible design--at least that's how I took it. Granted, there's a fine line between satisfying your clients and being a commodity. I personally am trying to side more with David Airey's (Logo Design Love, excellent book!) philosophy--you're the expert, don't sell your soul and be a doormat. Which, in my opinion, this book was more or less failed to do, despite the title.

Flush with anecdotes, examples, and interviews with successful designers; How To Be A Graphic Designer Without Losing Your Soul is a must read for anyone entering into a creative career. The book offers advise and tips on everything from how to get your first job, to how to start your own studio. Young designers should read this to learn how the industry thinks, and how to interact in the design world. However, as the author states in the introduction, this book is not a technical guide to running a business or the perfect portfolio layout. Shaughnessy provides a kind of social guide to the interactions designers must navigate daily. This book is more about how designers should behave than about contracts, bid sheets, and proofs.