Visual Workout: Creativity Workbook (Design Concepts) [Paperback]

Robin Landa (Author), Rose Gonnella (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 18, 2000 | ISBN-10: 0766813649 | ISBN-13: 978-0766813649 | Edition: 1

This one-of-a-kind workbook for graphic designers, which may be used independently or in conjunction with Graphic Design Solutions, 3E by Robin Landa, will stimulate your imagination and enable you to flex your creative design muscles. The exercises in this workbook expand upon graphic design applications and each exercise presents a creative problem intended to stimulate visual thinking, encourage sketching and ideas, and, most importantly, prompt you to try new approaches.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Robin Landa is currently Professor in the Department of Design at Kean University in Union, New Jersey, and a monthly columnist with iSyndicate.com. She has received numerous academic and professional awards, including recognition by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching as one of the "great teachers of our time." In addition to being a guest lecturer and frequent speaker, Ms. Landa has been interviewed extensively on radio, television, and the WWW on the subjects of design, creativity, and art. She is also a creative consultant to major corporations and an active member of AIGA New York Chapter.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: OnWord Press; 1 edition (July 18, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0766813649
• ISBN-13: 978-0766813649
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #457,802 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars very good! -- allows a lot of self critique, July 23, 2006

By 

Danielle p (Bloomington, IN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Visual Workout: Creativity Workbook (Design Concepts) (Paperback)

This book is really helpful for people starting out (like students or novices), or for anyone who really needs to kickstart their "outside-the-box" thinking. It has a lot of drawing excercises, each excercise is pretty quickly done in your spare time, and their is even space on each page for you to sketch. The only thing I don't like is that for a workbook, too many excercises require you to use outside materials (ex: stamp pad?) or the computer (ex: type excercises) I enjoy it though and recommend buying it, but not at full price. :)

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Inspiration for lesson plans, some keepers, October 29, 2009

By 

E. Carlson - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Visual Workout: Creativity Workbook (Design Concepts) (Paperback)

I taught graphic design to high school age students and this was a book I kept on my shelf. I didn't find a lot of great ideas in here, which was disappointing since I used Landa's textbook for my class. Most of the ideas required non-computer materials and thus became homework assignments. I would say there were about a handful of useful readings and lesson ideas, but a lot of it didn't apply to my curriculum.
The kids loved the tattoo design project. They eventually designed it in an adobe program to show computer and design skills and then had to put in on a person to show their photo manipulation skills. This is a good example of how it could inspire you to create a lesson, but you will have to go further with it than what she presents. It might work better for a college course and on another note, as a designer, I can't imagine doing any of these exercises. Which is probably why the book is just okay.

5.0 out of 5 stars An indispensable Learning Resource for Designers of all Types and Skill Levels, January 23, 2012

By 

Eric A. Smith (Tokyo, Japan) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Visual Workout: Creativity Workbook (Design Concepts) (Paperback)

I must say that in over 25 years of professional graphic design, this is absolutely the best resource I have found to date. In fact, I would say this book will teach you more than several academic courses at a top design institute. Because I've taught the subject in community centers, colleges and corporations, I believe I'm qualified to make the assessment, and would unreservedly recommend this work to any aspiring - or even veteran - professional designers.

This is a series of challenging, diverse, creativity-expanding exercises that are perfect for widening your repertoire and honing your critical eye. Dig into this one as fast as you are able.