The Word It Book: Speak Up Presents a Gallery of Interpreted Words (Paperback)

~ Bryony Gomez-Palacio (Author), (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

The assignment: Graphically interpret a single word.
The rule: Do it in a five-inch by five-inch square.
The results: A visual smorgasbord of inspiration.

A dynamic exercise in creativity, The Word It Book works on three levels: as a collection of stimulating challenges, a compendium of contemporary design, and a look behind the creative process of successful designers.

Each month Bryony Gomez-Palacio and Armin Vit, founders of the design blog Speak Up, put forth a different word such as "saturated," "tease," "rebel," "public," "empty," or "pleasure." Designers everywhere are challenged to interpret the word in a single graphic that's witty, observant, wise, serious or humorous. The best of the best are compiled here.

You can use these visual interpretations from top designers to rev up your own creativity, and then try the exercises for yourself. If you're a designer, wordsmith, or simply someone who likes to approach things from a different angle, take a look inside and start to create your own meanings.

About the Author

Bryony Gomez-Palacio is co-founder of the design firm Nice. Currently, she divides her time between working for clients, pursuing her own ventures, and teaching at the School of Visual Arts. Born and raised in Mexico City, Armin is a graphic designer and writer now living in Brooklyn, New York. He has written for AIGA's VOICE, Emigre, Eye, Creative Review, HOW and STEP magazines among others. He is a former faculty member of Portfolio Center and currently teaches at the School of Visual Arts. He has lectured on topics ranging from typography to branding. He currently works at Pentagram. Armin and Bryony together founded UnderConsideration and Speak Up, and most recently The Design Encyclopedia.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: How (April 9, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1581809255
• ISBN-13: 978-1581809251
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #791,593 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Creative inspiration, September 8, 2009

By	Bakari "Wedding & Event Photographer, Mac User" (Sacramento, CA) - See all my reviews

I have summitted a few pieces to Word It in the past. I'm not a designer, but I admire the art and work designers produce. So I dab into graphic design as a hobby from time to time.

The Word It Book like others have said is both whimiscal, sometimes edgy, and above all an outlet for free creative expression. The beauty of the project is that it's not about competition or selling something, but it's more about expressing yourself, and sometimes making a statement. It's like visual poetry without lines and stanzaz of words. It's great to see the site still going going on. I just submitted a piece yesterday after picking up the book on my library shelf. I'm spending this week getting re-acquainted with its content, and maybe I'll try to submitting more pieces in the coming months.

If you appreciate graphic design and visual fun, this book is well worth the purchase.

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book to have around for inspiration., September 28, 2008

By	J. Wheat - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The cool thing about this book is that the entries came from different readers of the site. You get a totally different angle from each entry and it is interesting to see where different minds took different words.

5.0 out of 5 stars Great coffee table book!, July 30, 2008

By	B. Pierson - See all my reviews

This book is a great addition to your coffee table collection. Fun, artful, witty, thought provoking. Graphic designers have put images to the meanings of specific words.