Pause :59 Minutes of Motion Graphics [Paperback]

Peter Hall (Author), Andrea Codrington (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 19, 2000

With its dynamic synthesis of such diverse media as film, animation, graphics and music, video design provides an expansive view into the many states of contemporary creativity. Pause tracks and contextualizes the visual and technological treends that mark the work of the most innovative video designers. As well as broadcast work, Pause examines demo reels, music videos, film titles, animation and experimental 3-D graphics.

Contributing video artists include Tomato, The Attik, Intro, MTV, Fuel, Tycoon Graphics, Richard Kennworthy, Mike Mills and many others from the US, UK, France, Germany, Holland, Japan, Scandinavia and other countries. Work is arranged according to type, rather than author or history, and each chapter is devoted to a theme, with a short introduction. The book also includes an introductory essay and timeline on the development of motion graphics since the widespread acceptance of television.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

All creatives need to go to a museum now and then; it's inspiring, encouraging, and refreshing. The problem that motion-graphics artists face is the lack of venues in which to present their work. Pause :59 Minutes of Motion Graphics is a showcase that helps fill that void; an oasis of images that are designed to enlighten and motivate.

This oversized softcover (which uses time code instead of page numbers) presents some of the finest work from a global pool, 300 lavish frames that illustrate the best in contemporary video design, motion graphics, and animation. This collection--featuring such luminary studios as The Attik and MTV, and individual artists like Mike Mills and Richard Kennworthy--is not to be missed. It's a shame that the pictures don't move.

In fact, if there's anything to complain about, it's the fact that there's no accompanying video, CD-ROM, or DVD to display the stunning work in this book properly. Even a Web site with QuickTime clips would have allowed readers to study and admire the work as it was meant to be presented.

If you create animation--or plan to--or do anything that's related to video, film, or motion graphics, you should read this book. Eye-popping, international, and oozing with creativity, Pause :59 Minutes of Motion Graphics belongs not on your shelf, but on your desk; open, accessible, and well worn. --Mike Caputo

About the Author

Julie Hirschfeld worked as a senior designer of on-air graphics for VH1, New York from 1997 and is now a freelance designer of motion graphics in New York City. Recently she has completed projects for MTV, VH1 and Showtime. Awards for her work include four Broadcast Design Awards silvers in 1998 and 1999 and the Type Director's Club 1998.

Stefanie Barth is a freelance graphic designer based in Frankfurt, Germany. She has designed numerous projects for print including magazines; vinyl covers; corporate designs; film titles and web pages; as well as on-air design for VH1, New York.

Peter Hall is senior writer at I.D. Magazine in New York. He wrote and co-edited the book Tibor: Perverse Optimist (1998) and has contributed essays to the upcoming titles Architecture and Film and Sex and Design. He also writes about design for The Guardian, Print, AIGA Journal and Creative Review.

Andrea Codrington is a New York-based critic and writer specializing in design and visual culture and a frequent contributor to such publications as the New York Times, Harper's Bazaar, I.D. Magazine and Metropolitan Home. Codrington is also creative producer of a television series about design and architecture that is currently in development.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Universe (May 19, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0789304775
• ISBN-13: 978-0789304773
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 9.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #800,549 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Look before you buy, October 11, 2000

By 

Bongo "bongo2001" (OVERLAND PARK, KS USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pause :59 Minutes of Motion Graphics (Paperback)

I'm not sure what I expected, but I was certainly glad I didn'tbuy it.

'Pause' takes several commercials and displays roughly16-20 frames of each one. The advantage is that most of thesecommercials aren't available to one audience (the USA, for example).

Yes, it's a neat looking, well-designed, oversized thing to hold.There WERE some inspiring things in there. However, in my opinionit's NOT a $35 dollar book. It makes a nice first impression, but inthe end it felt like a very high-end, $20 design industry magazine.It should have been priced as such.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars wonderful layout, full of incredible inspirational media art, July 31, 2000

By 

Daniel Zuccarelli (Mount Laurel, New Jersey USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pause :59 Minutes of Motion Graphics (Paperback)

I just picked this book up in NY and I'm blown away. Every time I eye it on my shelf I have to stop what I'm doing and pull it out, sit on the floor, and pour over the pages... This is wonderful art for the generation X/Y age group. Not to cram too many buzzwords into this review, but this stuff really is on the edge... it's out there... I'll be a happy man is this is the direction the art world takes in the next few years...

This book takes an empty approach to design... lots of white and black space with strange freeze frames of different video and web pieces. Unlike most of the digital art books today, this does not have a companion CD-rom. Thats what makes this book so interesting, is that you have digital moving art, frozen, taken out of context, and put to paper. There's not many books like this, too bad.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good overview of the latest in motion graphics, May 26, 2000

By 

Patrick Tang - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pause :59 Minutes of Motion Graphics (Paperback)

Pause is the latest addition to the growing genre of books focusing on motion graphics and it does a good job. There is little text here, well-written introductions to categories into which the authors have contextualized the work. You won't find a detailed analysis of the process behind each work. However, this format does allow the visual imagery to speak for itself. Without being overly designed, the book celebrates the concentrated energy and beauty contained in every frame of kinetic motion graphics. It will likely draw comparisons to such works as Type in Motion, but Pause seems intended to be more of an inspirational resource, than a design technique book. The entire book itself is a metaphor of watching a tape of motion graphics. Flipping through and stopping to reflect on a single image. You just wish you could see more. Recommended if you're looking for the most current survey of motion graphics, but not the most definitive book ever about the subject. Check it out in a book store before you buy.