Customer Reviews

The Non-Designer's Design Book: Design and Typographic Principles for the Visual Novice

5 star:		(103)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

As mentioned in the introduction to the text, this book is not for professional designers. This book is intended for those of us who need to put together a flyer, presentation, or newsletter, but we don't have the background in design. The design the author refers to is the design of the printed page.

The author explains simple principles that help us see what makes for a good design like proximity, alignment, repetition, and contrast. There are plenty of before-and-after examples to show you exactly what she means. The explanations are also very understandable. Williams does not preach to you, but rather helps you see the different elements which can make the visual more effective.

There are also some quizzes with answers in the back. Included is a short bibliography so the reader can get more information if he or she chooses.

There are some problems with the book. One, it discusses the use of color, but there are no color pictures to illustrate the point. The author knew the illustrations would no be color so asks you to visualize this in your head. It wasn't the most helpful here.

Also, towards the end, she uses some editing/printing jargon that she never explains. If the reader does not have a design background, why mention leading if not explained?

Overall, I find this book to be very helpful. Knowing the elements I should be looking for ensures that my experimenting with flyers is more productive and effective. I would recommend this book to anyone needing to create newsletters, flyers, and the like.

Robin Williams provides a practical introduction to the classical principles of design in this pamphlet-sized book. Her discussion of layout is organized around four basic design principles: Contrast, Repetition, Alignment and Proximity. Each is presented in its own chapter with plenty of you-can-do-it-at-home examples. The typography section explains the principles of Concord, Conflict and Contrast, based on Williams'classification of type faces by style (Oldstyle, Modern, Slab Serif, Sans Serif, Script and Decorative), weight (Light, Bold), Shape (Narrow, Wide), and spacing. A discussion of color is notably absent; the roots of this book in early grayscale Macintosh computing show through.

Williams's book should hit the mark for amateurs creating one-page designs such as simple web sites, brochures or business cards. Set aside an hour or two to read it and do the exercises, and your designs should improve immensely. Mine have.

If you pick up this book looking for that on-the-edge-physical comedy that made Robin Williams one of the worlds most famous comedians, boy have you got the wrong Robin Williams! This author is one of the leading authorities on visual design and presents her information in a clear, concise, no-nonsense (well almost)kind of way. Her book is a valuable resource even for people who think they are familiar with aspects of design or have been told that they, "have a good eye," so don't be dissuaded by the title. As an experienced journalist, the book brought back a lot of my earlier newspaper layout training. It put into plain language the principles for which I had no name other than, "that just doesn't look right." The principles of proximity, alignment, repetition, and contrast are highlighted and expounded upon in each section. I found the section on typography to be extremely interesting and I find myself looking for examples of contrasting type all around me now.

Visual examples of weak design and what can be done to make the design better are on nearly every page, and make the subject matter very clear. The author maintains that most beginning mistakes in design are tied to mistakes in Contrast Repetition, Alignment, or Proximity (C.R.A.P). That sounds about right. If you are going to publish any document (print or electronic) this should be the first book you read before you do.

Don't be fooled by the title -- ­"The Non-Designer's Design Book" is a serious book that can be useful to anyone. In a slim volume, this book distills to the very essence principles that seasoned design professionals use. This is NOT Design for Dummies, it's Design-for-Wannabe-Designers, and it's not kidding.

Writer Robin Williams delivers a powerful design seminar in fun-book disguise. Her tone is light, encouraging, and creative, and her information is killer. I've read many books on this subject, and I learned many things in "The Non-Designer's Design Book" that have never even been approached in other books.

Williams begins with the basics, using examples and redesigns to illustrate design principles that will teach you how to make an effective newsletter, brochure, business card, or advertisement every time. She then moves into more complicated subjects such as typography (no kidding ­-- I've never read anything about typography in any other book) that will serve to further refine your design projects.

This book is not for the casual reader -- it is guaranteed to revolutionize the way you see, think about, and design any print media. Williams has written a clever, incisive lesson on design, while managing to be entertaining and encouraging. This book should undoubtably be a part of your complete designing education!

Trying to put together a professional-looking web site or other publication? Wondering why your stuff doesn't seem to grab the reader? Read (it's VERY easy) Robin Williams' "The Non-Designer's Design Book". You'll find short, clear explanations of the major principles of quality layout and presentation, with PLENTY of examples. Also included is a fine introduction to typefaces and font terminology. Exercises (with answers) help to drive the points home, and the excellent bibliography will lead you to more in-depth study. As a Design novice (or, as Ms. Willams would label me, a "Visually Illiterate Person") I can't imagine a more gentle, informative, helpful or entertaining introduction to the topic. A MUST-READ for would-be web page artists!

Being a web designer and not having any formal training as a graphic designer, I was looking for a quick guide on the basic "rules" of design and layout. This book fit the bill nicely.

Definitely a quick read, it covers the foundations of good layout and typography. Each "rule" gets its own chapter, with plenty of examples. It would have been nice, however, if the chapter on "Color" had actually used color images! The entire book is in black & white, so this was a bit of a drawback. Not a fatal flaw, but rather a conscious effort to save printing costs that wound up detracting from one of the chapters.

What I did learn were some obvious techniques and concepts that I needed to understand. The book helps you "notice" good design, and better yet, understand WHY it's good design. You'll also become more conscious of your designs, how to create them, and how to fix them when they're wrong, rather than just playing around with it until it "looks right".

If you're new to designing - no matter what the medium - you'll be well-served by this book. For the price, it's certainly tough to beat.

Robin has written a simple book on design and typographic principles. Her intended audience is the secretary or admin, the church volunteer, the small business owner, the student, or anyone who is occasionally faced with the prospect of designing the written word. Her advice will not make you a professional, nor is it intended to replace a formal education, but will give the novice insight on what works and why. I don't often use phrases like "life-altering" or "eye opening", but this book deserves them. The concepts taught can be used for a newsletter, flyer, brochure, term paper, church bulletin, letterhead, or resume. She includes plenty of good examples as well as bad ones, and little quizzes throughout the book. It's a small book that can easily be read in a weekend, but what you learn will stay with you forever.

The first half of the book is dedicated to CRAP (contrast, repetition, alignment, and proximity), four principles that, once
understood, will turn your so-so document into something that people will want to read. And once you learn CRAP, you'll see
it everywhere (she calls this the Joshua Tree Principle). You'll understand why this magazine article is so visually attractive,
while that newspaper ad has no appeal at all.

The second half of the book focuses on typefaces (fonts), which so many of us love to collect. She describes the six main
categories and, more importantly, teaches us how to successfully mix font styles within a document (yes, even you can successfully
mix three or more fonts on a page, once you know how).

I've been so impressed by Robin's style of writing and the information she reveals that I've purchased two more of her books
(The Non-Designer's Web Book and Robin William's Web Design Workshop), and plan to purchase more.

This was my first purchase in Williams's "non-designer" series, and it absolutely transformed the way I understand visual communications. I've always had good verbal skills, but I needed help with the visual part, once I found myself in a job requiring lots of layout and web design.

Williams's approach to teaching is based in principles (like, "Pick an imaginary line running down the page and relate all your visual elements to it."), which she then supports with example after example. It matches my learning style precisely. Once I've grasped the principle, I can apply it again and again, as indeed I have in the past year and a half since I read this book. It serves as a solid foundation for the rest of the series, especially the "Non-Designer's Type Book," which should be the second of her books you read, in my opinion.

I couldn't have accomplished in my job what I have without this book's help. It's not a reference book, but an essential introduction to sound design principles, which, once grasped, stick with you forever.

Even after studying Illustrator, Photoshop, Quark and GoLive, I had irritating gaps in my technical knowledge. And I did not know where to look for the answers. Robin's books answered all those questions and more.

Her writing is fresh and humorous. Her advice covers everything from beginning to advanced, in plain language. She answers questions about everything you need to design in this digital world.

I've loaned the books to several colleagues but always want them back soon because I refer to them again and again.

I publish a newsletter, website and other communication pieces for a non-profit. My real skill is in writing & editing but my job requires me to also design my own stuff: My boss wanted me to design anything and everything even though he knew I had no design training.

Robin Williams' books have made all the difference between mediocre and professional-looking pieces. I own almost all of her books, from The Non-Designer's Design Book to The Mac is not a Typewriter to The Non-Designer's Web Design Book and everything in-between.

If you design anything, from flyers to newsletters and brochures, buy this book! You'll refer to it again and again.

This is an excellent way to learn and understand basic design and typography principles. It is written for the newbie and all the concepts are presented in a clear, consise format. After reading the book, one should have a better understanding of design fundamentals and apply them to print and web projects. This book will also show you how to spot good design from bad -- all Robin Williams says are tried and true design concepts that have been around for ages -- in this day and age of ostentatious design, it's refreshing to go back to the old school.