	Graphic Design

Graphic Design: The New Basics

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Graphic Design: The New Basics

(18 customer reviews)

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Description

How do designers get ideas? Many spend their time searching for clever combinations of forms, fonts, and colors inside thedesign annuals and monographs of other designers' work. For those looking to challenge the cut-and-paste mentality thereare few resources that are both informative and inspirational. In Graphic Design: The New Basics, Ellen Lupton, best-selling author of such books as Thinking with Type and Design It Yourself, and design educator Jennifer Cole Phillips refocus design instruction on the study of the fundamentals of form in a critical, rigorous way informed by contemporary media, theory, and software systems.
Through visual demonstrations and concise commentary, The New Basics shows students and professionals how to build interest and complexity around simple relationships between formal elements of two-dimensional design such as point, line, plane, scale, hierarchy, layers, and transparency. The New Basics explains the key concepts of visual language that inform any work of designfrom a logo or letterhead to a complex web site. It takes a fresh approach to design instruction by emphasizing visually intensive, form-based thinking in a manner that is in tune with the latest developments in contemporary media, theory, art, and technology. Colorful, compact, and clearly written, The New Basics is the new indispensable resource for anyone seeking a smart, inspiring introduction to graphic design and destined to become the standard reference work in design education.

Product Details

Author:	Ellen Lupton
Hardcover:	248 pages
Publisher:	Princeton Architectural Press
Publication Date:	May 01, 2008
Language:	English
ISBN:	1568987706
Product Length:	9.1 inches
Product Width:	8.2 inches
Product Height:	1.0 inches
Product Weight:	2.3 pounds
Package Length:	9.1 inches
Package Width:	8.1 inches
Package Height:	1.1 inches
Package Weight:	2.25 pounds
Average Customer Rating:	based on 18 reviews

Customer Reviews

Average Customer Review: 4.0

( 18 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

57 of 65 found the following review helpful:

Great book for the non-graphic designer Apr 25, 2008 By K. Lee
This book is a great overview for the vocabularies of print design. Technically, I am an illustration student, but I have been taking graphic design courses at my school. That being said, alot of the stuff being covered here would fall under the basic design courses at my school: Design 1 and Design 2. The information in this book ( I've read 2/3 so far) covers basic compositional structures, hue/ value/ saturation, and other good fundamentals, but doesn't give you more than a paragraph. This is a GREAT coffee table book to give you ideas on your current project, but it is by no means textbook-grade learning for graphic design. It simply does not go into enough depth in order to become a great learning tool. I just wish there were more professional examples rather than student-created ones.

23 of 27 found the following review helpful:

Disappointing Feb 19, 2010 By Louis B. Dina
I was very disappointed in this book. Given the title, I expected more cohesive guidelines and analysis on assembling the "New Basics" into my designs. To me, it was primarily a showcase of work done by the authors' students, some of which I enjoyed, but I didn't find it very helpful or insightful. In fact, I returned it for a refund.

Also, I found some of the type so small as to be unreadable, which for experienced designers, I found surprising. Not high on my list, obviously. I expect a title and/or subtitle to deliver on its implied promise. Perhaps I totally misunderstood the intent of the book, but I expected something that would weave these so-called new basics into a whole, provide direction, and help me produce better designs. Maybe that happens over the course of time in class, but I didn't see that happening in the book.

If you're looking for guidance and direction, I don't think this is the book for you. It wasn't for me.

24 of 30 found the following review helpful:

Finally, a current book on graphic design Jun 10, 2008 By reader and maker
When Ellen Lupton released her wonderful book, "Thinking with Type," I adopted as a required text for my college typography course. Not only did I admire the thinking behind the writing and structure, but my students LOVED the book.

When I learned about this new book written with Jennifer Cole Phillips I pre-ordered it immediately. Now that I've read it, I'm thrilled with their effort and am eager to use it as the text in my Graphic Design 1 class.

This book provides current examples that both illustrate classic principles of Graphic Design and explore the edges of current design thinking. I appreciate the use of student examples rather than just using professional, commercial work. There are plenty of annual reviews of commercial work by publishing houses such as Rockport. The student work tends to take more risks and be more provocative. It will provide more room for discussion, debate and inspiration in a classroom setting.

While not extensive, the text in the book is concise and well-written. Paired with the bountiful examples, it makes the subject accessible to graphic design students or to anyone interested in learning more about design on their own.

The book introduces enough about typography to whet one's appetite for more (check out "Thinking with Type" for that) and introduces basics about Motion Graphics ("Moving Type" by Matt Woolman was and still is great for learning more - it is out of print now but still relevant if you can find it.)

Princeton Architectural Press should be commended for producing such a quality book at such and affordable price.

8 of 9 found the following review helpful:

At least the title wasn't The ABCs of Graphic Design Sep 14, 2010 By Thomas John Zakrzewski
I bought this book sight unseen, based on the authors' reputations and the mostly good reviews. Sorry to say it, but the textual content of this book is the verbal equivalent of bad stick figure drawings badly layed out. I can only conclude that right-brained graphics-oriented people shouldn't be allowed to explain what it is they do. For me, this book has too many statements that are so abstractly vague or universally applicable as to be meaningless, plus a fair share of contradictory statements, some within a paragraph and others within even a single sentence.

Zooming out, if you are looking to this book for cohesive, practical guidelines for implementing these "New Basics", look no further than the back cover where you'll find the chapter names listed, each of which represents a basic graphic design element. Then go out and analyze some award-winning designs with these chapter titles in mind. The example designs reproduced in the book seem to be mostly a showcase for the works of the authors' students. I found many of them quite pleasing, and since they made it into the book, I assume they are "good design". Based on what I learned from the text, I can't really say.

4 of 5 found the following review helpful:

The short course...to the long road. Aug 04, 2008 By JUST ONE
Congratulations to Ellen Lupton for her contemporary take on the keystone of our visual culture: Graphic Design. This book is as good of a summary of the necessary skills and practices that are essential to contemporary communication design as I have ever seen. I was educated in graphic design in my undergrad by the legacy of modern design and Bauhaus pedagogy, even in the wake of the sweeping technological change that was occurring all around us. This book finally catches up on a curriculum and approach that would make sense for today. After working professionally as a graphic designer for 5 years, I'm currently enrolled in a graduate program for media design. My studies have shown me that graphic design is just the beginning, but a very necessary foundation for all kinds of design practices that our dynamic world requires. I would also commend her development of the Graphic Design Basics website which features exercises designed to supplement the topics covered in the book. Together the site and book represent a fairly off the shelf curriculum that would serve any designer(beginner to advanced) well to follow. All that would be left is years to practice...

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