White Space is Not Your Enemy: A Beginner's Guide to Communicating Visually through Graphic, Web and Multimedia Design [Paperback]

Rebecca Hagen (Author), Kim Golombisky (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 11, 2010 | ISBN-10: 0240812816 | ISBN-13: 978-0240812816 | Edition: 1

Designing a brochure or web site without an art background? Step away from the computer and read this breezy introduction to visual communications first. Written for non-designers, White Space is Not Your Enemy is a practical graphic design and layout text introducing the concepts and practices necessary for producing effective visual communications across a variety of formats, from print to Web.

This beautifully illustrated, full-color book covers the basics to help you develop your eye and produce attractive work. Topics include:
* The basics of effective design that communicates its intended message
* Pre-design planning
* 13 Layout Sins to avoid
* Basic typography
* Working with color
* Storyboarding for video, Web, and presentions
* Information graphics
* Mini Art School--all the basics in one chapter
* Outputting your work

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This is a lavishly illustrated and 'well finished' book that will repay careful study...Useful and inspiring." - I-Programmer

Product Details

• Paperback: 296 pages
• Publisher: Focal Press; 1 edition (March 11, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0240812816
• ISBN-13: 978-0240812816
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 0.7 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (49 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #100,039 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 41 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Book! April 24, 2010

By V. Hutson TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

This is one of the best books I have found on graphic design. The authors have provided a wealth of information and beautiful examples that guide the reader in the process of designing for print, web, or multimedia. While I do have a background in art--it was not in graphic design so this book has provided me with a lot of valuable information. I also like how the authors have kept the chapters short and to the point. The book contains a total of 16 chapters that cover a wide range of material. Below I have listed the chapters I found the most useful based on my own experience and knowledge--but the book contains a lot of other valuable material that covers brainstorming, the elements & principles of design, color basics,infographics, storyboarding, multimedia components, designing for the web, and printing.

Here are some of the chapters I found the most useful:

1. Chapter 3: I Need to Design this Today. It includes "the works-every-time-layout" that, like the name implies--would work every time. This quick recipe will come in very handy for quick designs.

2. Chapter 4: Layout Sins. It includes "the 13 Amateur Errors," which covers a variety of typical errors made by many of use that do not have a graphic design background.

3. Chapter 6: What is a Grid? This provides a useful way to help organize your design.

4. Chapter 7: Layout. This covers where to put your type & visuals for impact.

5. Chapter 8: Type. Once again since my art background did not include graphic design I have been winging this area for most of my life. The authors provide a great foundation and good recommendations on what to do.

6. Chapter 10: Adding Visual Appeal. This chapter deals with working with photos and illustrations.

In short, the authors have packed a ton of valuable information in the 273 pages of this book. Their examples are beautiful and the whole book is very visually appealing. Excellent book!

35 of 35 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Graphic Design Book I've Ever Seen December 8, 2010

By Bryan Newman VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

About three quarters of the way through this book I looked at my wife and said "You know the only difference between this book and the graphic arts classes I took in college?" She of course answered "What? you managed to finish the book?" (Yeah, that's the support I get, I did get a degree in another field but that is a different story.) The right answer was that in college we spent hours doing project after project, then spending hours doing peer reviews, which were invaluable. But everything else from several years worth of graphic arts classes could be distilled out and put into this book. Literally this book is a bachelors degree's worth of information in a book, minus the years of hands on experience.

Now this is not to say that you can replace graphic arts degree with just this book. But this book will give you a great overview of Graphic Design and I can see it being a great help to a beginning web designer or newsletter publisher.

This book has very high quality, both in construction and design. The paper is thick and glossy and the layout is wonderful. I have never seen such a great collection of inspiring design examples. Page after page is visually arresting, and the points and ideas are beautifully illustrated. The writing is great, clear and engaging.

I highly recommend this to anyone who is looking for a resource to help on design projects or, like me, looking for a refresher. Absolutely the best graphic design text I've seen.

36 of 37 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Pretty Good, But Don't Buy If For The Hype December 21, 2011

By M. Jensen

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

First off I should state that this book is a solid and generally informative read. Is it a five star blockbuster and must have for any designer in any field? Not in my opinion.

What's good in this book is the logical flow of information. There are some gold nuggets in the early chapters especially. As someone working in the web design field I can appreciate the realistic viewpoint of the "works every time layout". All of the basics are covered in this book as advertised. Later chapters do have some good information as well, but seem to lose steam.

What's not good in this book is the fact that it loses momentum. Again, it's a good book, I just wanted more. More in depth analysis of why a layout works and why it doesn't. There is some of this in the early chapters and it is done very well, however I really wanted more than is presented. Also some chapters seemed to be going through the motions for me and I found myself skimming them out of annoyance. Lastly, some of the advice presented to web designers is questionable, i.e. designing for 800px by 600px is not a good practice as only a very small percentage of internet users have this monitor size. The advice given to learn to design websites in flash as opposed to HTML is potentially life threatening.

Other than that it is a solid book and I would probably buy it again if I had the chance (I just wouldn't read all of it). Good yes. Five star, "my mind is swelling with knowledge", "lets go forth and design" good... no.
3 stars may be a reaction to all the careless 5 stars out there I admit it, but still I stand by it.