Tiny Art Director [Hardcover]

Bill Zeman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 17, 2010

Architects, artists, ad agencies, designers, copywriters, indeed anyone who's ever suffered the critiques of an exacting clientor for that matter, any dad who's ever tried to keep his daughter happywill find solace in Tiny Art Director. Based on the popular blog of the same name, Tiny Art Director chronicles toddler Rosie Zeman's efforts to get some decent work out of her artist father, Bill. Rosie may not know much about art, but alas for Bill, she knows what she doesn't liketo her ever-increasing exasperation, that's his hilarious interpretations of her commissions. By turns sweet and silly, Tiny Art Director is a paean to long-suffering creatives everywhereand a touching portrait of a father's love for his daughter.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Bill Zeman is an artist and web developer. He lives in Brooklyn, New York, with his family (including the otherwise very well-behaved Tiny Art Director).

Product Details

• Hardcover: 80 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books (March 17, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811872297
• ISBN-13: 978-0811872294
• Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 7.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #393,950 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Charming, original book. Highly recommended., March 9, 2010

By 

Margaret (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tiny Art Director (Hardcover)

I cannot praise this wonderful little book highly enough! It is unlike anything I've seen before, a very funny and ultimately sweet snapshot of a father-daughter relationship captured in a playful format: the little girl assigns commissions to her artist father and critiques the results. The project succeeds because the child's vision is highly developed ("Draw a dinosaur eating a baby" is hard not to love) and her father approaches her final judgments with a healthy sense of humor but without dismissiveness. The tone is just right; it never veers into Preciousland, where too many books involving children these days reside. It occupies its own distinct niche. And importantly, the artwork is spectacular. It is a gem of a book.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An absolute charmer, March 25, 2010

By 

Robert C. Ross (New Jersey) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tiny Art Director (Hardcover)

One treasure of the Internet for me has been Bill Zeman's blog called "Tiny Art Director." His daughter Rosie (now five) asks him to paint images with really delightful titles: "A sick crocodile." "A bone dinosaur eating a baby." "A dragon sneaking up on a girl. She's picking flowers."

Rosie then critiques the finished image: she's fussy, tough, capricious, out spoken. And, the best part of the book, is the close relationship the text and the images demonstrate between father and daughter.

A successful example (I've uploaded the image next to the book cover image):

The Brief: A dragon blowing fire all over

The Critique: Whoa! that's awesome! I like the way he's so mad - and I think you should draw his claws sticking out of the fire. He'll still be really buried up in fire.

Job Status: Approved

Even W. C. Fields might have moderated his opinion; "Anyone who hates children and animals can't be all bad." Rosie is a harsh critic -- someone after W. C.'s own heart, I would suspect. She (and her dad) sure captured mine.

Robert C. Ross 2010

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely hilarious., March 19, 2010

By 

Matt - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tiny Art Director (Hardcover)

I can't recommend TINY ART DIRECTOR enough. I was a huge fan of the blog for a long time, but the book is even funnier, cleverly using various layouts, fonts and stamps to emulate the life of a real art director whose creative process is dictated by his young daughter. The realistic responses from the Tiny Art Director are laugh-out-loud funny, but they also show quite a brilliant little girl, as well as a father who clearly loves his daughter very much. It's pretty rare you find a book quite THIS funny that also has a hint of warmth to it. Highly recommended for anyone who loves kids -- or anyone who's terrified of them.