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Look Both Ways: Illustrated Essays on the Intersection of Life and Design Hardcover – October 9, 2009

19 customer reviews

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Product Details

  • Hardcover: 224 pages
  • Publisher: HOW Books (October 9, 2009)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1600613217
  • ISBN-13: 978-1600613210
  • Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.8 x 9 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #877,716 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful By Long time fan first time reviewer on October 12, 2010
Format: Hardcover
There are so many different ways to enjoy this book, I don't even know where to begin....the stories are whimsical, meaningful, nostalgic, enjoyable, at times heart-wrenching and at other times pure joy....all the qualities I long for in a good read. But on top of that, this book is gorgeous to look at! I love the variety of visual styles in the essays, personally preferring the swirly colorful ones but have a deep appreciation for the intricacies of all the typography styles. And the cross stitch essay...incredible! It all feels like a secret peek which is a rare treat in the world of dragon tattoos.
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39 of 51 people found the following review helpful By B. Gray on October 11, 2010
Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase
I have to put a review up after reading the other glowing reviews that led me to actually buy this book. I couldn't stand this book. The format: a series of boring stories written in a variety of illegible ways, most starting with "When I was a little girl..." or "as long as I can remember" conceit. Self-indulgent, vanity publishing project without any real insight into design, or the relationship between life and design as per the title. If your idea of a great book is page after page of someone droning on about their uninteresting childhood memories written on a coffee shop chalkboard, or in swoopy marker, or on 3x5 index cards (neatly like an architect), the definitely buy this book. If you like layouts that are like a puzzle that you have to work through to figure out, use random font sizing, or type with overprinted CMYK letters (so artsy!) you might find something appealing in this book. If your idea of "illustrated essays" means words drawn out and photographed *not actual illustrations* - this book has that. Otherwise, I would pass.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful By Lexophelia on June 20, 2013
Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase
The only reason this book didn't get all five stars is, strangely enough, the reason I bought it in the first place! I like very much the hand written text for artistic reasons. Unfortunately, it also makes it rather difficult to read because the need to "decode" as one goes, slows one down. I love it anyway. It makes up in graphic interest, almost, for what it lacks in legibility. There is so much useful information involved which takes time to decode, one becomes impatient and a bit irritable in the process! This would be a wonderful form for a book of poetry where the sense of the words—which is in a sort of linguistic code to begin with—is slower and therefore would be more compatible with the physical design of this sort of print on the page.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful By Louise E.D. Herman on April 6, 2013
Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase
...like the sculptor who looks at a stone and realizes what it could be, Debbie Millman has transformed the book form into her own creation. It has become, in addition to it's message, an Object.

While reading the book Look Both Ways, by Debbie Millman, an enriching experience takes place. The cover is conventional, yet the palette and overlapping comma symbol on it's front take on greater significance as the 'story' unfolds. Opening the book, you first find a series of pages that resemble the chalkboards of childhood. As you begin to read, you are drawn, literally, into the text by the casual conversational way it is written. You might be reading someone's notes in their lined hard cover black and white composition book. Or perhaps, it could be a diary. But soon enough, easyness in reading starts to give way to weaving eye movement as you are forced to follow the type's gradual uneven changes. Along the way, you encounter some cross-outs and smudges which speak of first drafts, or suggest the spontaneity of only one draft, or the innocence of a child's first efforts. Periferally, you sense something more. The blackness of the chalkboard appears painted on. And toward the edges, color, quite pleasant, peeks through. This 'underpainting' or layering suggests the artist's hand, or brush as it were. And the white chalk-like script is immediate, and familiar, and common. So, there is a lot to see, and read, and think about on each of the pages. Sensitized now, you notice as you read, that the pages appear to take on an ever increasing sophistication as the 'child' grows up, moves to the city, begins a career. This build-up increases in a gradual curve, almost imperceptible until you realize what is happening.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful By shivakumar v on October 11, 2013
Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase
Love the styling for each of the chapter designs and the way the book has been written with simple messages that conveyed through beautiful life stories
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5 of 7 people found the following review helpful By Julie Anixter on January 13, 2011
Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase
This book is a delightful stroll through a great mind for design. It's a walk through musings, reflections and personal experience about a life lived with design at the center. LOVED IT and it will occupy a permanent home in my design library. A great book for anyone who wants to see what passion for a domain looks like.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful By shivaslady on July 19, 2013
Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase
I never allowed brands to be big in my life and now I understand why. This book is incredible. A must read to understand our society. I've never read or seen anything like it. A must for all of your creative friends and for you.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful By P. Edwards on October 31, 2013
Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase
Millman's POV is unique, but paradoxically, universal. Well written and thought-provoking. I have quoted "Fail Safe" many times since I read it.
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