Inside / Outside: From the Basics to the Practice of Design (2nd Edition) [Paperback]

Malcolm Grear (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0321440676 | ISBN-13: 978-0321440679 | Publication Date: July 7, 2006 | Edition: 2

Renowned artist and design legend Malcolm Grear has permanently shaped the design world with his work, lecturing, writing and teaching. Grear approaches design by looking at the inner parts of an object, process, or idea in order to understand the whole. He believes that form and structure are the underpinnings of effective design, which stands contrary to the reductive approach taught in most modern design education.

Deftly and sparingly capturing the essence of his subject matter, Grear offers unique insight into the design process with images and forms drawn from nature, typography, art and design. These examples from both his teaching (inside) and professional practice (outside) begin with design problems and illuminate the processes by which the best solutions are found. Grear skillfully bridges the gap between design theory and real-world practice.

Malcolm Grear has played a vital role as designer and educator in the field of visual communication for 48 years. Malcolm Grear Designers was founded in 1960 and has had more than 28 solo exhibitions in museums and galleries. He taught in Rhode Island School of Design from 1960 to 1998 where he received the Honorary Alumnus Award for "...professional achievements as an internationally acclaimed graphic designer (that) brought overwhelming recognition to Rhode Island School of Design's Department of Graphic Design and its graduates."

Malcolm Grear has been awarded five honorary doctorate degrees and was selected by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design, comprising 190 institutions, to receive the Citation for Distinguished Service in  the Visual Arts. Grear continues to design, lecture, and conduct design workshops throughout the country and will occasionally teach a graduate design course. Visit www.mgrear.com for more information.

Inside / Outside is an AIGA Design Press book, published under Peachpit's New Riders imprint in partnership with AIGA.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Grear is a respected teacher at the Rhode Island School of Design as well as the founder and director of a leading international design firm. Here he brings together his personal experience in both areas, resulting in a book that combines the practical with the philosophical and the concrete with the abstract in a way that offers unique insight into the design process. The second half of the book offers examples from the work of Grear's design firm and, while useful, is not unlike the approach of many books on design. What sets the book apart is the first half, in which Grear presents problems given to his design classes and examples of their solutions. How these assignments serve to introduce students to subtle abstract concepts and the real fundamentals of space, form, and letterforms makes a fascinating study and shows Grear to be a true teacher, one capable of reaching the "inner" designer. Highly recommended for collections with an interest in design.
- Mark Woodhouse, Elmira Coll. Lib., N.Y.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

For forty-five years, Malcolm Grear has played a vital role in the field of visual communication design as both designer and educator. He taught in the Rhode Island School of Design’s Graphic Design Department for 28 years and received numerous teaching and professional achievement awards, including the prestigious John R. Frazier Award for Excellence in Teaching. For his work in graphic design, Mr. Grear has received numerous awards from national and international organizations, including the American Institute of Graphic Arts, the International Center of Typographic Arts, and the Art Society of North America. In 1960, Grear established the highly respected design firm, Malcolm Grear Designers (MGD), known for its clean lines and clarity of vision. MGD has done memorable identity and print design work for a wide-range of clients, from the Metropolitan Opera to US Department of Health & Human Services to Scientific American and Hallmark Cards. Most notably, MGD was selected from 500 firms to design the "Look of the Games" for the 1996 Centennial Olympics in Atlanta, GA. 

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Peachpit Press; 2 edition (July 7, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0321440676
• ISBN-13: 978-0321440679
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 0.7 x 10.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,073,015 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great book, May 29, 2007

By 

C. Asseraf (Providence, RI, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Inside / Outside: From the Basics to the Practice of Design (2nd Edition) (Paperback)

it's nice to see the relationship between student work and studio work, and how students are prepped for "real" projects. Many of the student projects featured are still taught today, which makes them even more interesting.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The power of the images is impressive, September 1, 2006

By 

Charles Ashbacher (Marion, Iowa United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Inside / Outside: From the Basics to the Practice of Design (2nd Edition) (Paperback)

This is one of most impressive books I have ever read, the author truly shows the power that "simple" images can present. Grear is one of the best design artists in the United States; his company has created images for major corporations and organizations, including the summer Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia.
The first segment of the book is a set of assignments for courses in graphic design. On the surface, they are quite simple, for example, "Draw a maple leaf" and "Use colored lines to create the appearance of movement." In looking through the examples, it is clear how difficult it is to create quality logos. Later in the book, there is the anecdote.

A client has asked an artist to create a powerful image. Later, the client walks up to the artist and asks the artist about the progress on the project. The artist then draws a spectacular image that pleases the client, who remarks how amazing it is that the artist could conjure up the perfect image just like that. To which the artist responds by opening a closet door which causes an enormous number of similar sketches to fall out.

Other demonstrations are the many ways to represent a letter and how letters can be transformed from one form to another. For no specific reason, the transition is to be done in ten steps.
The last section is called professional practice and is a demonstration on how Grear and company carry out their business. There are many examples of their work as well as a brief description of how they managed to arrive at the final product. He is consistent in his theme of noting that none of this came easy, there were many false starts and failures before the product was pronounced done.
Graphic design is very difficult, but from this book it is clear that success is a combination of talent, persistence and imagination. Grear has created a book that can be used as a text in a graphic design course or read for the sheer enjoyment of seeing the results of a master craftsman.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good material if you're going in with the right expectations..., August 7, 2006

By 

Thomas Duff "Duffbert" (Portland, OR United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Inside / Outside: From the Basics to the Practice of Design (2nd Edition) (Paperback)

So I'm probably not the intended audience for this book, as it's not quite what I thought it would be. But still, I can appreciate what Malcolm Grear is setting out to do in the book Inside / Outside: From the Basics to the Practice of Design (2nd Edition).

Contents: Introduction; Acknowledgements; Graphic Design; My Training; Student Assignments; Letterform Studies; Ten Steps; Letterforms and Typography; Professional Practice; From School to Studio; From Student to Professional; Design as a Business; Design Commissions; Doing This Book; A Way of Working; Learning to Listen; Other Lessons Learned; Joy; Coda; Index

Grear is (apparently) a well-known graphic designer who is also a teacher of the art. In this book, he starts out with a number of lessons and "student assignments" that mirror what he does with his pupils. These assignments are designed (no pun intended) to allow the student to break out of their normal mindsets and to look at ordinary things in different ways. Interesting concepts, to be sure, but far beyond my level of skill or interest. He then transitions to how these concepts play out in his business, and how he applies the skills of design to jobs he and his firm have been asked to do. These include the logo for the Presbyterian Church along with work for the Atlanta Olympics. It's very interesting to see how concepts play into images and form, and then are carried through an entire span of products to create a cohesive branding.

When I said I wasn't the intended audience, it's because I thought it would be more practical towards web site design. That'll teach me to read the description more carefully! There's actually very little (if any) web stuff here, and I'm not interested in drawing and sculptures. Plus, there's a lot of subjectivity as to what is good and what isn't, which I have come to expect in the world of graphic design. There seem to be some fundamental concepts and guidelines, but at times it seems to be a "I like, she likes" debate. Grear has the credentials to back up his views, but it's all a bit too "touchy-feely" for this techie...

If you're into graphic design and exploring the power of images, then you'll probably really like this book. Definitely a good purchase for you. But if you're like me and looking to improve your woeful graphical skills, this may be more than you're ready to handle...