White Graphics: The Power of White in Graphic Design [ILLUSTRATED] (Hardcover)

by Gail Deibler Finke (Author), Finke Gail Deibler (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
In a world packed with visual clutter, white space rules. From the classic Doyle Dane Burnbach ad that marooned a tiny Beetle in a huge expanse of blank paper to the all-white cover of the January 1995 issue of Wired magazine, white is an unparalleled attention grabber. Graphic designers prize white space for its connotation of elegance, for the clarity it lends to the printed word, and for the dramatic way it sets off photographs.

For White Graphics, Gail Deibler Finke assembled work by 61 graphic design studios in the U.S. (several of them in cities remote from the trendy coasts), Canada, Mexico, and Europe. While exemplary uses of white space (in projects ranging from annual reports to wedding announcements) make up the largest part of the book, she also devotes sections to white employed as a second or third "color" and the use of white in three-dimensional projects (packaging, airplane graphics, a TV studio set).

A few projects are conceptual standouts, like R&M Associati Grafici's poster for the France '98 World Soccer Championship, in which a field of colored dots (representing spectators in the stadium) forms the outline of the white silhouette of a soccer player. But most of the work shown on these pages is firmly in the mainstream--clean, bright, contemporary solutions that appear to satisfy the clients' needs and make the most of what are often described as small budgets.

Finke's nuts-and-bolts approach will be familiar to readers of HOW, the graphic design magazine to which she is a contributor. Too bad she didn't provide a more focused and historically minded introduction to such a fascinating topic. Happily, Stolze Design's inviting layout for the book sets off each project with plenty of white paper. --Cathy Curtis

Product Description
White is a constant challenge for graphic designers. Creating a balance between clean, striking, and eye-catching can often pose a conflict between clients and designer: a conflict that is often solved by a good designer's ability to effectively use white, white space and negative space for dynamic effect.

White Graphics is a unique collection of current design work which will inspire designers and clients who are afraid of white, as being lackluster or boring, through its stunning presentation of innovative graphics which use white as a central design element.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Rockport Publishers; illustrated edition edition (February 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1564967247
• ISBN-13: 978-1564967244
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 9.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,356,298 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars breathing room for your work, November 13, 2004

By	Liz Birkholz (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This is my current favorite resource for page layout, and I've been taking visual notes from it about how I want to lay out my portfolio. So much of what I did in studio was trying to cram as much information as possible onto presentation boards. I find this book refreshing, with much white space for some breathing room. I think that's important when somebody's sitting, pausing to hold your work in their hands, rather than standing and trying to ingest it quickly in a field of other boards trying to vie for attention.

0 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars White Gaphics Book, July 23, 2005

By	V. Zhang "V V" (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

well, i think it's just an ok book for me, because there is not so much to see inside