13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Organised and easy to follow, October 19, 1999
The book caters to a fairly broad audience, i.e. from those who might be quite new to the desktop publishing field right up to those who have been in the profession for years and are simply after a few fresh ideas. The book has been divided up into easy-to-walk-though chapters, each one discussing a different form of popularly used printed material, giving examples of very basic layout concepts to the more complex.
I found the book quite useful, but not necessarily new and exciting in its approach. Nevertheless it's a good one to have in your library.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good for those with experience, August 1, 2005
I read "Quick Solutions" largely on the basis of the "official" reviewer who said that if you get just one book on graphic design/layout, this should be it.
I can see how that might be true for the professional or experienced designer. However, as one not experienced, I was disappointed. Let me give the pros and cons of this book, as I see them.
PROS: 1.) Large format gives plenty of room to view "finished products." 2.) Consistent format lets you follow the "analysis" of each product/project. 3.) Seeing the actual projects gives an idea of what the "Solutions" look like. 4.) Contains both black-and-white and color samples. 5.) Covers three levels of difficulty for each type of project: "basic," "intermediete," and "advanced." 6.) Covers different types of projects (newsletters, borchures, stationery, ads). 7.) Great for ideas and ways of solving different client problems. 8.) Stresses the need to keep the client's needs/tastes in mind.
CON(S): It assumes you know more than you do. Examples: 1.) It mentions "balance" on page 43 (discussing "Plants for Free"), but does not explain what "balance" is or how it is achieved or why it is important. 2.) It tells you that working with a "grid" is helpful, and that more grid sections are better than fewer, but does not tell you why a grid is important, how to develop one, where to place sections, or why. 3.) It tells you that the four important elements of design are headlines, text, pictures, and "of primary importance, space," but does not tell you how to develop, use, arrange, or understand each. 4.) Examples of several layouts are shown on pages 14 & 15, with no discussion, just short (very short) descriptions. 5.) Starting on page 29, alternative arrangements of elements on a page (layouts) are given, with no explanation for why they are acceptable or not, what principles determine the alternatives, why you might want to use one rather than another, etc.
The author says that layout is neither an art nor a science. Okay, but something must help the author make choices. Yet too few of those "somethings" are explained to the reader.
As I said, if you have background in layout and design, this book may be a good spark to your imagination. If, however, you are a neophyte (as I am), you will want more basics -- if for nothing more than to place the wonderful samples in this book in a framework of principles.
Nonetheless, if you can pick up a used copy here for practically nothing, you may be glad later (when you have more principles under your belt) that you did.
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9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Will Help Refine Your Design And Layout Skills!, September 27, 1998
By A Customer
The World Wide Web is a visually-oriented broadcast medium dependent upon masterful graphic image and textual design and layout. The placement of every image and text character must be carefully considered to bring about optimum results. Alan Swan has written How to Understand and Use Design and Layout to provide a visual guide to essential layout and design concepts.
The author states at the very outset that he desires to develop creative vision and judgment to enable his readers to distinguish between the strong and weak methods of presenting design ideas. Thoughtfully thumbing through this book will definitely help refine design and layout skills that can last a lifetime. The arrangement of items within each and every illustration will go a long way to provide inspiration for further design work.
Although this book was not intended at all to address online publishing, the concepts beautifully illustrated throughout the book are directly applicable. It contains a number of book, magazine, and newsletter ideas that can be used to create professional grade online publications. The author incorporates a number of color graphic images, photographs, and text to illustrate a variety of layout options. Readers are free to decide for themselves which layout design suits their own particular needs. They are free to create their own as well!
This book is ideally suited for businesses and organizations that specialize in producing online publications or for those persons who desire to go it alone. The quality of the entire publication is top-notch! So will your own work be if you follow its valuable instruction!
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