Robin Williams Design Workshop, 2nd Edition - Softcover

Williams, Robin; Tollett, John

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0321441761 ISBN 13: 9780321441768

Publisher: Peachpit Pr, 2007

Synopsis

Learn design theory and practical know-how from the award-winning author/design team, Robin Williams and John Tollett! Robin Williams introduced design and typographic principles to legions of readers with her best-selling Non-Designer's book series. Now she and designer/co-author John Tollett take you to the next level of creative design with practical advice and lessons in composition, visual impact, and design challenges.

Presented in Robin and John's signature style—writing that is so crystal clear, it's accessible to absolutely anyone—and illustrated with hundreds of full-color design examples, the ideas in this book tackle design theory, visual puns, and layout and graphics strategies for real-world projects. Developing designers will appreciate the authors' imaginative approach and well-chosen examples.

• Discover practical and effective design principles and concepts—and how to apply them to virtually any project.
• Learn why some designs are attention-getting and others are not.
• Learn how to choose just the right look—corporate or casual, classic or trendy—for specific types of projects, such as business cards, letterhead and envelopes, newsletters and brochures, logos, advertising, and more.
• Test your design acumen by comparing before-and-after examples.
• Find a wealth of inspiration for your own design projects.
• Gain insight into the design process by studying the work of guest designers, who offer their personal commentary and insights.
  

About this title

Review:

If you just stumbled into design, maybe via a hobby that grew into a career, and you want to improve your work without having to enroll in a degree program, this book can bridge some of the gaps in your acumen. Not really a primer on basic facts, Design Workshop is more like a guide to style.

The first chapter quizzes readers on mostly technical, basic details of design (like dpi), all of which can be found in Williams's previous publications (for example, The Non-Designer's Design Book). Readers will be dismayed, possibly annoyed, that the quiz answers are not provided. Even if not knowing the answers means that you need remedial help, it feels like a bit of a tease.

The next chapters show how to use stock images, or your own images, to increase the visual impact of your piece (basically through an increase in contrast). The best part of this section, and the book as a whole, is the "before-and-after" approach in the examples; they're like a series of makeovers. The captions effectively describe what was changed in the image, and how it improved the design.

The book applies a similar set of makeovers to various types of design projects: logos, forms, newsletters, tables of contents, etc. In the final section, seven designers, including coauthor Tollett, break down the process that they went through on a job of their own.

Self-taught graphic designers probably would make the best audience for this book, but designers who are of their own "school of thought" might find fault with some of the tenets that are put forth. Graphic design by nature is a subjective enterprise--at the mercy of "styles." What you get in this book is more of a "desktop-publisher style" (many of the drawings are clip art, for example). There's a lack of sophistication in the design of the book, as well as in the illustrations of posters, letterheads, advertisements, and other applications that are used as examples. On the other hand, this same open, naive look gives the book an inviting appeal, and makes it perhaps a bit less daunting than style guides, such as Robert Bringhurst's The Elements of Typographic Style, that are intended for die-hard professionals. --Angelynn Grant

Topics covered:

Style advice for design projects, including:

• Logos
• Business cards and letterhead
• Invoices and forms
• Advertising
• Billboards
• Web sites
• Tables of contents and indices
• Newsletters and brochures
• Flyers

About the Author:

Robin Williams has written dozens of best-selling and award-winning books, including The Little Mac Book; The Non-Designer's Design Book; Robin Williams Mac OS X Book; Mac OS X Tiger: Peachpit Learning Series; Robin Williams Web Design Workshop; and many more. Through her writing, teaching, and seminars, Robin has educated and influenced an entire generation of computer users in the areas of design, typography, desktop publishing, the Mac, and the web.

John Tollett has coauthored numerous books with Robin, including The Robin Williams Mac OS X Book, Panther Edition; three editions of The Non-Designer's Web Book; Cool Mac Apps; Robin Williams Web Design Workshop; and Macs on the Go! John has over 30 years' experience working as a professional designer and illustrator. Mos of his current projects involve web design, digital video production and editing and DVD design.

About this edition

• Publisher: Peachpit Pr
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0321441761
• ISBN 13: 9780321441768
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 279