Looking Closer 3, Vol. 3: Classic Writings on Graphic Design (Bk. 3) (Paperback)

by Michael Bierut (Editor), Steven Heller (Editor), Jessica Helfand (Editor), Rick Poynor (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"An extraordinary collection. Looking Closer 3 offers a comprehensive look at the people, ideas, and social and economic forces that have shaped the terrain of graphic design in the twentieth century." -- Stuart Ewen, professor, chair of film and media studies, Hunter College

"This book is a genuine 'instant classic.' Looking Closer 3 proves that history's greatest designers were also lucid critics and theorists of their discipline. This book should be required reading for all design students!" -- Ellen Lupton, cochair of graphic design department, Maryland Institute, College of Art; curator of contemporary design, Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum

Product Description
Rare and difficult-to-find essays provide fascinating reading in this third anthology in the Looking Closer series, a matchless resource tracing the continuum of critical thought from graphic design's earliest days as a viable art and craft. Looking Closer 3 brings back into discourse more than thirty seminal essays by such distinguished figures as William Morris, Aldous Huxley, Alvin Lustig, and Paul Rand, reviving ideas of form and content as well as arguments over manner and style that have been lost for decades. For professionals, teachers, and students alike, this pivotal collection is an invaluable compliment to any design library.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Allworth Press (August 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1581150229
• ISBN-13: 978-1581150223
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 6.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #347,631 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Historic Essays, November 20, 1999

By	Simulacrum - See all my reviews

This is the latest in a series of books that consist of collections of essays about the theory and practice of graphic design. The essays in the first two volumes were mostly from contemporary sources, particularly the AIGA Journal of Graphic Design. This third, retrospective volume is of even greater value in the sense that it gathers under one cover some of the most important historic writings on design from the late 19th century to the early 1980s, arranged chronologically. It contains over fifty hard-to-find articles by prominent figures in graphic design, among them William Morris, W.A. Dwiggins, El Lissitzky, Varvara Stepanova, Gyorgy Kepes, Alexander Rodchenko, Ladislav Sutnar, Beatrice Warde and Wolfgang Weingart. Graphic designers need to know where they came from, in order to better decide where to go. A substantial contribution to that effort, undoubtedly this is a book that should be on the reading lists of all designers, design students and teachers. (Copyright by Roy R. Behrens from Ballast Quarterly Review, Vol. 15, No. 1, Autumn 1999.)

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Must" reading for students of graphic design., March 3, 2000

By	Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

An excellent text survey, Looking Closer 3 provides an anthology of classic writings on graphic design. This is a 'must' for any who would study the foundations of graphic design theory: it's the first to gather early critical writings from the turn of the century to modern times, grouping rare essays under one cover.