Emigre: American Mutt Barks in the Yard - #68 (Paperback)

~ (Author) "APOLOGY. I am a self-taught graphic designer, which means I resent the teacher..." (more)
Key Phrases: great designer, Big Business, Big Players, Bruce Wayne (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

One of our goals in publishing a design magazine is to set Emigre apart from the herd. We want to stay off the beaten path, so to speak, and seek out what lies beyond the obvious. We want to push the limits of design publishing even as we work to survive. When we noticed that, in the last few years, design publications had suddenly become oversweetened by so-called "eye candy," we decided to challenge the imagination, not just tickle the optic nerve, and focus on design writing.

Today, when it comes to design writing, we are not alone. Blogs are the new order, and the order is growing. Design blogs have their virtues, of course, but blogging about design appears to be habit-forming and has become an end in itself, with the very rapid-fire, off-the-cuff nature of blogging favoring the short, the sweet, the quick, and the now. This phenomenon triggered in us a reflexive need to once again play the role of contrarian. We wanted to do something unique, something no other design magazine had ever done, something that, whatever it turned out to be, would speak to designers in a way that a blog could not. The answer came to us in the form of "American Mutt Barks in the Yard" by David Barringer. It is the longest "Dear Emigre" letter we have ever received. The author describes it as "ambitious and reckless and impassioned," but that's putting it mildly. At 34,940 words, it fills the entire 128-page issue of Emigre #68. The essay started as a simple reply to! issues #65 and #66, but exploded into an indepth, critical analysis of design and advertising that only traditional book publishing can accommodate properly.

While we're aware of the paradox (after all, there's nothing unique about publishing a traditional book), we have no doubt that David Barringer's essay dares to tread where few have tread before. "I offer it for publication in Emigre," wrote Barringer. "I can imagine it literally nowhere else."

Neither can we.

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press; 1 edition (March 3, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1568984863
• ISBN-13: 978-1568984865
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,035,672 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Extremely Inspiring, February 28, 2006

By	Jeffrey Yamaguchi - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

David Barringer wrote a manifesto on self-taught, DIY graphic design, sent it to the one place he thought it was right for (Emigre), and they published it: American Mutt Barks in the Yard. How often does something like that happen?

The book focuses on graphic design, but it could be about anything you are passionate about and trying to build up your talents through the sheer force of your own free will and belief in yourself, simultaneously soaking up and rejecting all the influences and ways of the scene, taking a one-step-at-a-time approach towards defining your work and making a name for yourself. American Mutt is well-written, methodical in its analysis, and extremely inspiring. An excellent read all the way around.

2 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars good dog, March 21, 2005

By	Little Shiva (Charlotte, NC) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a very entertaining book to chew on, especially if you practice the world's oldest profession, graphic design. It's as dense as one of those seven-layered chocolate doo-dads you'd find at a European confectioners, and good like that too. The language is evocative and provocative; the layers are short and sweet and deliciously sticky so you can lick each one up individually and suck on it for a while before attacking the next one. I only give it four stars because it doesn't come with pictures of whip-wieldin' amazon women.