How to Think Like a Great Graphic Designer (Paperback)

by Debbie Millman (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"Debbie Millman and her interviewees conspire brilliantly to map the best thought and practice in the world of design." -- Grant McCracken, Research Affiliate, Convergence Culture Consortium (C3), MIT

"Offers outsiders a rare glimpse into the minds of designers. Millman gets such interesting interviews out of her subjects." -- Core 77

"A delightful opportunity to eavesdrop on some of the most curious and creative minds of our time." -- Malcolm Gladwell, author, The Tipping Point and Blink

"A journey to discover the motivations, ambitions and frustrations of successful designers working hard in a volatile profession." -- Communication Arts

"Anyone who struggles daily to create great work will be inspired and encouraged by these intimate glimpses into remarkable minds." -- Joyce Rutter Kaye, editor-in-chief, Print magazine

Product Description
In a series of illuminating and entertaining conversations, twenty-one of today's most influential and revered designers discuss, celebrate, and analyze their craft. Adeptly interviewed by brand consultant and talk show host Debbie Millman, these designers reveal their early influences, day-to-day rituals, enthusiasms, aspirations, and failures. For pop-culture enthusiasts as well as longtime designers, students and those just starting their careers, this book will prove an invaluable guide to the history, controversies, milestones, and everyday foibles of working, living, and thinking as a graphic designer. How to Think Like a Great Graphic Designer includes interviews with:

Milton Glaser Paula Scher Peter Saville Chip Kidd Stefan Sagmeister Michael Bierut Carin Goldberg Neville Brody Emily Oberman & Bonnie Siegler James Victore John Maeda Paul Sahre Jessica Helfand Seymour Chwast Lucille Tenazas Vaughan Oliver Steff Geissbuhler Stephen Doyle Abbott Miller Massimo Vignelli

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Allworth Press; 1st edition (October 30, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1581154968
• ISBN-13: 978-1581154962
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #53,585 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Talking to your mentors, February 13, 2008

By	Consumer "J Lew" (Brooklyn, NY, USA) - See all my reviews

It's always refreshing to learn something new about the creative people that you idolize. This is a great book that will not only inspire you but also answer questions about design that are not quite so easy to articulate. You will read every page without any regret.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Talk about not judging a book by its cover!, June 17, 2009

By	Graphic Lunatic (Bangalore, India) - See all my reviews

The title is all wrong! This is NOT a 'how to' book and it does not teach you how to think like a designer. I wish the title were not so deceptive.

Having said that, what it is, is a mesmerising collection of interviews with 20 well-known names in the world of design... Milton Glaser, Peter Saville, Stefan Sagmeister, Michael Bierut, Neville Brody to name a few. It is an absolutely delightful read.

At the end of the day, you may not learn anything from reading this book (what with one designer contradicting the other), but what you do get is realization that there isn't one single formula that makes a designer... they're all so different and unique in their thinking and their methods.

(This book would be a 5-star, but I HAD to deduct a star for the wrong title!)

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A pleasure to read, June 2, 2009

By	Barbarasa Iancu (Bucharest, Romania) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The biggest flaw of this book is maybe it's title. It makes it sound like a cheap "how to..." book, making you think you'll be told some sort of very secret graphic design techniques. The book however is a collection of interviews with some of the best designers nowadays. Some funny, some eye-opening, some already classic and maybe some even out-dated, all of them are a pleasure to read, that's for sure.