Customer Reviews

Looking Closer 3: Classic Writings on Graphic Design (Bk. 3)

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This is the latest in a series of books that consist of collections of essays about the theory and practice of graphic design. The essays in the first two volumes were mostly from contemporary sources, particularly the AIGA Journal of Graphic Design. This third, retrospective volume is of even greater value in the sense that it gathers under one cover some of the most important historic writings on design from the late 19th century to the early 1980s, arranged chronologically. It contains over fifty hard-to-find articles by prominent figures in graphic design, among them William Morris, W.A. Dwiggins, El Lissitzky, Varvara Stepanova, Gyorgy Kepes, Alexander Rodchenko, Ladislav Sutnar, Beatrice Warde and Wolfgang Weingart. Graphic designers need to know where they came from, in order to better decide where to go. A substantial contribution to that effort, undoubtedly this is a book that should be on the reading lists of all designers, design students and teachers. (Copyright by Roy R. Behrens from Ballast Quarterly Review, Vol. 15, No. 1, Autumn 1999.)

An excellent text survey, Looking Closer 3 provides an anthology of classic writings on graphic design. This is a 'must' for any who would study the foundations of graphic design theory: it's the first to gather early critical writings from the turn of the century to modern times, grouping rare essays under one cover.

I found this book very interesting and informative. It's a unique way to experience the history of graphic design first hand; through the reading and teachings of past masters. Although it is required reading for a course I'm taking, I'm glad to be able to add it to my collection. I'd argue that most designers don't know enough about the history of design, and that there's a lot of great information in this book that any designer could apply to their daily work.

This book has a bunch of essays from the 50s and is a little thick to get through with the language. It's ok, but not an epic read.