The Non-Designer's Design Book (4th Edition) 4th Edition

by Robin Williams (Author)

525 customer reviews

ISBN-13: 978-0133966152

ISBN-10: 0133966151

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For nearly 20 years, designers and non-designers alike have been introduced to the fundamental principles of great design by author Robin Williams. Through her straightforward and light-hearted style, Robin has taught hundreds of thousands of people how to make their designs look professional using four surprisingly simple principles. Now in its fourth edition, The Non-Designer’s Design Book offers even more practical design advice, including a new chapter on the fundamentals of typography, more quizzes and exercises to train your Designer Eye, updated projects for you to try, and new visual and typographic examples to inspire your creativity.

Whether you’re a Mac user or a Windows user, a type novice, or an aspiring graphic designer, you will find the instruction and inspiration to approach any design project with confidence.

THIS ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO DESIGN WILL TEACH YOU

The four principles of design that underlie every design project
How to design with color
How to design with type
How to combine typefaces for maximum effect
How to see and think like a professional designer
Specific tips on designing newsletters, brochures, flyers, and other projects

The Non-Designer's Design Book (4th Edition)

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Product Details

Series: Non Designer's Design Book
Paperback: 240 pages
Publisher: Peachpit Press; 4 edition (November 29, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0133966151
ISBN-13: 978-0133966152
Product Dimensions: 0.6 x 9.9 inches
Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (525 customer reviews)
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,289 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #84 in Books > Arts & Photography > Graphic Design
- #737 in Books > Textbooks

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Top Customer Reviews

A Good Reference to Have

ByJeffrey Leeperon November 24, 2001

Format: Paperback

As mentioned in the introduction to the text, this book is not for professional designers. This book is intended for those of us who need to put together a flyer, presentation, or newsletter, but we don't have the background in design. The design the author refers to is the design of the printed page.
The author explains simple principles that help us see what makes for a good design like proximity, alignment, repetition, and contrast. There are plenty of before-and-after examples to show you exactly what she means. The explanations are also very understandable. Williams does not preach to you, but rather helps you see the different elements which can make the visual more effective.
There are also some quizzes with answers in the back. Included is a short bibliography so the reader can get more information if he or she chooses.
There are some problems with the book. One, it discusses the use of color, but there are no color pictures to illustrate the point. The author knew the illustrations would no be color so asks you to visualize this in your head. It wasn't the most helpful here.
Also, towards the end, she uses some editing/printing jargon that she never explains. If the reader does not have a design background, why mention leading if not explained?
Overall, I find this book to be very helpful. Knowing the elements I should be looking for ensures that my experimenting with flyers is more productive and effective. I would recommend this book to anyone needing to create newsletters, flyers, and the like.

0Comment 108 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Sensible and Practical Advice for Layout and Typography

ByBob Carpenteron October 28, 2001

Format: Paperback

Robin Williams provides a practical introduction to the classical principles of design in this pamphlet-sized book. Her discussion of layout is organized around four basic design principles: Contrast, Repetition, Alignment and Proximity. Each is presented in its own chapter with plenty of you-can-do-it-at-home examples. The typography section explains the principles of Concord, Conflict and Contrast, based on Williams'classification of type faces by style (Oldstyle, Modern, Slab Serif, Sans Serif, Script and Decorative), weight (Light, Bold), Shape (Narrow, Wide), and spacing. A discussion of color is notably absent; the roots of this book in early grayscale Macintosh computing show through.
Williams's book should hit the mark for amateurs creating one-page designs such as simple web sites, brochures or business cards. Set aside an hour or two to read it and do the exercises, and your designs should improve immensely. Mine have.

11 comment 86 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Read this book before you publish anything!

ByAmazon Customeron March 10, 2000

Format: Paperback

If you pick up this book looking for that on-the-edge-physical comedy that made Robin Williams one of the worlds most famous comedians, boy have you got the wrong Robin Williams! This author is one of the leading authorities on visual design and presents her information in a clear, concise, no-nonsense (well almost)kind of way. Her book is a valuable resource even for people who think they are familiar with aspects of design or have been told that they, "have a good eye," so don't be dissuaded by the title. As an experienced journalist, the book brought back a lot of my earlier newspaper layout training. It put into plain language the principles for which I had no name other than, "that just doesn't look right." The principles of proximity, alignment, repetition, and contrast are highlighted and expounded upon in each section. I found the section on typography to be extremely interesting and I find myself looking for examples of contrasting type all around me now.
Visual examples of weak design and what can be done to make the design better are on nearly every page, and make the subject matter very clear. The author maintains that most beginning mistakes in design are tied to mistakes in Contrast Repetition, Alignment, or Proximity (C.R.A.P). That sounds about right. If you are going to publish any document (print or electronic) this should be the first book you read before you do.

0Comment 57 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Worth the extra money--this edition is even better than her earlier works

ByMarried Widowon January 26, 2015

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

I teach graphic design courses at a local community college and this updated edition is well worth the extra $2 (from the previous edition). It still provides easy to understand examples of the concepts she covers then explains why these are important. But its updated graphics gives it a much more professional yet friendly feel and she cut back on cuteness that seemed to diminish the level of knowledge within it.

11 comment 27 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Serious design for anyone -- not just beginners!

Byyardenon December 16, 2000

Format: Paperback

Don't be fooled by the title -- "The Non-Designer's Design Book" is a serious book that can be useful to anyone. In a slim volume, this book distills to the very essence principles that seasoned design professionals use. This is NOT Design for Dummies, it's Design-for-Wannabe-Designers, and it's not kidding.
Writer Robin Williams delivers a powerful design seminar in fun-book disguise. Her tone is light, encouraging, and creative, and her information is killer. I've read many books on this subject, and I learned many things in "The Non-Designer's Design Book" that have never even been approached in other books.
Williams begins with the basics, using examples and redesigns to illustrate design principles that will teach you how to make an effective newsletter, brochure, business card, or advertisement every time. She then moves into more complicated subjects such as typography (no kidding -- I've never read anything about typography in any other book) that will serve to further refine your design projects.
This book is not for the casual reader -- it is guaranteed to revolutionize the way you see, think about, and design any print media. Williams has written a clever, incisive lesson on design, while managing to be entertaining and encouraging. This book should undoubtably be a part of your complete designing education!

0Comment 46 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Most Recent Customer Reviews

Five Stars

this book is very helpful for my Web Design Course.

Published 19 days ago by Linh

Delivered as stated. :o)

The quality was as reported and this book arrived on time.

Published 19 days ago by TIFFANY ANN

Five Stars

Great book to learn some basics

Published 27 days ago by Elizabeth Simmelink

Great information-easy to understand and apply

This book is great for anyone interested in learning more about graphic design. I bought it for my job and flew through it quickly.Read more

Published 1 month ago by Sarah

Five Stars

Great book, awesome condition!

Published 1 month ago by LucasMoore

Full of practical, useful advice

This book is perfectly named, offering an easily digestible “crash course” in design for the non-pro or part-time designer, with tons of genuinely useful ideas, all clearly...

Published 2 months ago by Amazonaholic

Definitely worth the read.

Published 2 months ago by Cindy M.

Helpful for anyone who handles presentations

Good intro book to design, especially useful for teachers who want to make presentations that don't suck.

Published 2 months ago by Jason R.

My go-to book!

Great book! I've given this book out several times to employees who aren't experts at developing content.

Published 2 months ago by Valerie H

An absolutely wonderful design book that does exactly what it states it ...

An absolutely wonderful design book that does exactly what it states it will do: Introduce practical and actionable design lessons to non-designers.

Published 2 months ago by Michael M. Mayer

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