Thinking Creatively [Paperback]

Robin Landa (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1581803389 | ISBN-13: 978-1581803389 | Publication Date: February 15, 2002 | Edition: 2

Great visual communication is easy to recognize, but hard to achieve. Robin Landa makes this process easier for designers, defining visual communication and how it can generate design ideas with bold graphic impact. Over 250 full-colour images illustrate the techniques and exercises included in the book, giving designers ample inspiration to do some creative visual thinking of their own. * 16 creative approaches, with over 100 examples by top designers of these techniques in action * 45 visual thinking exercises, to develop the reader's problem-solving ability * 11 interviews with successful designers - including Jilly Simons, Rick Eiber and Steven Brower - who share their secrets for applying creative visual thinking to real-world projects

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Robin Landa has named one of "the great teachers of our time" by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, and has written four books about art, most recently Graphic Design Solutions.

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: North Light Books; 2 edition (February 15, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1581803389
• ISBN-13: 978-1581803389
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #668,439 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Robin Landa is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Design at Kean University of New Jersey and a branding consultant and creative strategist with her own firm, www.RobinLanda.com. In addition to being a frequent speaker on the subjects of advertising, graphic design, branding, and creativity, Robin is an award-winning brand strategist, designer and author. Visit http://wsjcreativeleaders.com/ to see Robin as a finalist in the Wall Street Journal's Creative Leaders 2007 series gallery. She is the author of Advertising by Design, Designing Brand Experiences and the best-selling Graphic Design Solutions.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An outstanding book stuffed page to page with juicy ideas., January 8, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Thinking Creatively: New Ways to Unlock Your Visual Imagination (Hardcover)

Tired of searching for inspiration to unlock the block that's been stifling your creative flow? Well, this book is dynamite! Lots of direction both in writing and pictures for expanding creative muscle. Clear and friendly writing style, excellent organization of material, easy to follow and cruise through. And, not so expensive given the good quality paper, hc, and all those photos! I thought the interviews with designers was a humanistic touch. Nice to know the faces behind great design.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not Quite for Beginners, November 25, 2001

By 

Jeffrey Leeper "kem2070" (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Thinking Creatively: New Ways to Unlock Your Visual Imagination (Hardcover)

This book is intended for someone who has a bit of a background in design. Landa does explain some of the things you will want to think about in a design, say for a book jacket or advertisement, but unless you are already familiar with the terms, this may not help.

There are exercises for you to practice what you have learned, but there are no answers. These are intended for the reader to explore what they have learned rather than "parrot" back what the author wants.

In the end of the book are some words about design from some big-name designers in either interview or short-letter form. This will mean more to you if you are familiar with the names.

The examples are good pictures with some information (who did the work and whom it was for), and they have a brief paragraph explaining what the creator were thinking about the project. In some cases, it is very enlightening, but in others, it just seemed like reminiscing.

I recommend this book for people with designer training, but not for the beginner.

21 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A book FILLED with great examples of design..., January 28, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Thinking Creatively: New Ways to Unlock Your Visual Imagination (Hardcover)

Actually, the book ITSELF is well designed/layed out too, which could lead you to establish somewhat of a biased faith in its content before you even read it thoroughly (the content IS good, by the way). I've lost count how many times I've referred to it for inspiration and come out on top. It's certainly been a good investment for me.