Graphic Design Reference

Title: Graphic Design Reference

Author: Bryony Gomez-Palacio and Armin Vit

Price: £34.99

Now many books say that ‘We are the essential guide to Graphic Design!’ or ‘The Bible of Graphic Design! no other book out there is good enough to beat us!’ etc. However this book is a MUST have for any serious Graphic Designer! and that is saying something, When i first saw this i looked at the price and thought £34.99 is alot of money for some printed piece of paper bound together, and to be honest with you i still think £34.99 is alot of money these days, however this book is worth every penny in my eyes.

For anyone who has some knowledge in the design world but they could do with abit more help with either university projects or actual briefs in the real world, this book has to have the first place on the book shelf.

The chapters cover everything that is essential to Graphic Design. From Fonts straight through to printing and bounding. The two authors (Bryony Gomez-Palacio and Armin Vit) have included and covered all areas of the design industry and slapped it all together into a handy (not a small book) which is a brilliant must read/purchase what ever you want to call it.When i was a student at college, i remember one of my teachers saying to me,

“You will never be a great Graphic Designer if you do not understand the power of typography!”

And at that time i did’nt understand anything about Typography, until i actually got my head into gear and learnt the ins and outs of this area!When i got to University i thought this is the time to really work on what i want to do! Then i came up across a different teacher who kindly said to me;

“If you want to do anything correctly with your time here you must MUST understand the rules of the grid system or you will fail this course!’

This may seem abit harsh and abit mean however looking back at this now i understand what the two teachers were trying to push me to get the best out of my work! For students reading this it may be the same tale, however it is true, Graphic Design is all about creativity and brain storming, but there are certain rules that have been laid out of which to follow, Grids and Typography are the rules that needs to be learnt and used in every design project. Which brings me back to this book, the chapters are designed to give you knowledge into both these areas and many more, the chapter on typography starts right at the origin of type itself and runs throught perfect examples and how to deal with different fonts and how they can work together etc.

The chapter on Grids works in the same way, it gives you insights from the most simplest grid to extreme complex formats, which you can work from on current and future design briefs.With this book i believe it deserves the Price tag in many many different ways. For anyone who is studying Graphic Design and needs a helping hand with increasing knowledge this is a book that will help you cover all the areas of which you will need to know. You can buy other books to which only covers one certain subject in more depth however if your wanting an all rounder ‘Graphic Design Reference‘ is the book for you!

Marks out of 10, i’d give this a 10 out of 10 if not more!

Advertising Outdoors Watch this Space

Title: Advertising Outdoors Watch this Space

Author: David Bernstein

Price: £23.70

This Book goes through all past and present Large Outdoor advertising campaigns of which companies such as Calvin Klein, DKNY, Guinness etc have produced.

I think in every designers mind they would like to have there work produced on a massive scale outdoors so that everyone can see it, i remember thinking when working on some design briefs what would this look like on a side of a building? One day this could happen to you if you are working for a large company such as Coca Cola or even if you are starting out on your own company like myself. This Book shows examples of work which has fantastic impact and clever ideas. Using the outdoors to sell the desired products, such as Ad shells on bus stops, Billboards, Taxis and much more.

The Author, David Bernstein, has a good knowledge of outdoor advertising and chooses different styles of campaigns that companies have created to grab the attention of potential consumers.

Overal if your a student working on a brief that requires you to create an outdoor advertising campaign in order to promote the new product, or a designer working in a busy company this book is a great reference to this field of design. All i recommend is take a look at the product and jot down the craziest ideas that you can think of and see if this could work in an outdoor environment! Because some times the best ideas are the craziest!

Marks out of 10, i personally would give this book an 8 out of 10, some good inspiration and would certainly help you along the way!

Book Review: Logo Design Love – a guide to creating iconic brand identities

Title: Logo Design Love: A Guide to Creating Iconic Brand Identities.

Author: David Airey

Price:£15.40

With so many Logo Design books out there it becomes hard to find one which does not just display different styles of logos and that all, because anyone can just go online and search logos and you save yourself money. However Logo Design Love is far more than just displaying fancy logos, it goes through the whole design process from meeting with the clients, finding out what they really want from both you as a designer and the logo that you are creating right through to displaying the final product.

The chapters covers everything that you as a logo designer needs to consider for example how much do you charge for the logo, now before i started designing logos for my clients i was abit unsure of how much do i actually charge for my work, after purchasing this book it made things clearer on what things i should take into consideration when talking money. I did’nt want to over charge the client and definatly did not want to undercharge for my work, at the end of the day you have worked hard to get to where you are now!

There are alot of helpful and useful tips to take away from this book, even if you are an experienced brilliant Logo designer or a student of design i would not push this book away.  Looking back at some past work of which i have produced i now think that if i looked at the work from a different perspective i would have got alot better result, but then again you can argue that you are learning new skills and getting better at what you do so the only way is up!

Overal i think that if you are seriously wanting to improve on the branding aspect of the design industry this book is a must buy! With a price tag of only £15.40 from amazon you cannot go wrong! Marks out of 10, a high 10 out of 10!