Introduction to Design [Perfect Paperback]

Alan Pipes (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 16, 2004 | ISBN-10: 0131841068 | ISBN-13: 978-0131841062

For courses teaching basic design principles and fundamentals to first-year undergraduates in fine art, design and illustration. A comprehensive, well illustrated introduction to the basic principles underlying all of the two-dimensional arts. This book not only covers the elements and principles of two-dimensional design, as the book's interior was designed to reflect those principles.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

From the author of Production for Graphic Designers 3e, this book provides an engaging introduction to the fundamentals of art and design. With a wide range of illustrations, Alan Pipes demonstrates in Part 1 (Elements) how an artist or designer fills a blank canvas, nothingness, with points, lines, shapes, textures, and colors in order to create a sense of space, time, and motion. Part 2 (Rules) reveals how to develop unity and harmony, balance, scale, and proportion, contrast and emphasis, and rhythm—all in the quest for a satisfying illusion. In addition, the author demonstrates his formidable knowledge of computer-aided art and design, supplementing it with his own color or black-white diagrams.

This book is ideal for students embarking on courses in graphic design, fine art, and illustration—as well as allied courses in interior design, fashion design, textile design, industrial design, product design, and printmaking.

About the Author

Alan Pipes is a freelance writer, illustrator, webmaster, and part-time publisher, specializing in applications of computer technology to graphic design, fine art, illustration, and product design. He is the former editor of CadCam International, and author of Drawing for 3-Dimensional Design and Production for Graphic Designers 3e.

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Product Details

• Perfect Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall (January 16, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0131841068
• ISBN-13: 978-0131841062
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #948,190 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars Practically useless, December 30, 2011

By 

Angel - See all my reviews

This review is from: Introduction to Design (2nd Edition) (Paperback)

This book was required for one of my courses. What a waste of money. The instructor gave every lecture straight from the book, she even used the same images from the book. So, my question is: Why did I have to buy the book?

This book talks a lot about things that will be WAY over many students heads (i.e. Russian Constructionists?), especially given that this is a beginners book. This is an Introduction book, that means it should be intended for students that haven't had experience with the subject matter, yet the author writes as if the reader is already well versed in the subject. The book is not very informative on most of the subject matter and really just brings up MANY more questions in the students mind. It mentions the basics of design then it skips all over the place and goes into great length on some matters and almost none in many other areas.

All in all, if it's not REQUIRED, don't waste your time or money. There are other books out there that will do a MUCH better job of explaining the basics and will not clutter it up with useless information that you will most likely never use and this author does a very poor job of explaining.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not the Best Design Textbook!, August 21, 2011

By 

Scotman55 "James" (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Introduction to Design (2nd Edition) (Paperback)

I'm just getting into this book this semester and will most likely add to this review as the semester rolls along.

A few impressions: Way too pedantic!

The author fails to define many of the artistic movements of the time and expects the reader to know them. This is for an introductory course! Italian Futurists? Russian Constructionists? Why is that important?

Despite the above useless information for pedantics and those fond of trivia and gatherers of useless facts, there are a few redeeming factors:

The use and application of the line, it's shape and contours, and how the manipulation of lines and contours helps create an effect that the artist would want to evoke on the viewer. This concept of pattern and line is very germane to the photographer or other artist.

So all in all, not a bad textbook but you could probably do better.

If you must study it for your class, ensure that you're able to take the wheat from the crap and study just what you need -- why clutter your mind?