About Design
Insights and Provocations for Graphic Design Enthusiasts
Gordon Salchow, Michael Bierut, Katherine McCoy
- 208 Pages
- October 2, 2018
- ISBN: 9781621536543
- Trim Size: 6.12in x 6.12in x 0in
Description
Here is a definitive, expansive observational, and knowledge-infused treatise that is expected to be particularly engaging for students and educators as well as for design practitioners.
About Design offers an enlightening and opinionated, albeit concise, excursion concerning many facets of the field of design. It emphasizes the discipline of graphic design, while incorporating a taste of the author’s makeup. The content will tempt any readers who may be marginally inquisitive concerning visual art, design, and the web of “creativity.”
This informative, and sometimes scrappy, expedition is founded on the author’s fifty-five years’ entrenchment in design practice and higher education. Consequently, there are many pointed and sometimes novel perspectives, but it is essentially grounded on the commonly acknowledged doctrines that exist within the field. Some of the particular chapter topics deal with:
- Defining the elements of visual form
- An analysis of the concepts of aesthetics and creativity
- Establishing some usable guidelines for effective designing
- Outlining many factors that are involved with design education, including a sketch of its history
- Miscellaneous related subjects, such as considerations of what makes something exceptional
The aforementioned themes, along with others, are interspersed with interludes that challenge certain long-held assumptions, provide contextual references, offer insights and suggest some fresh ways to analyze how we see, choose, inspire, and do.
Authors
Reviews
“Gordon Salchow celebrates a half century of teaching and design experience. Part biography, part history, and part tutorial, About Design is an engaging philosophical dissertation on design education.” —James Craig, graphic designer, author, and educator
“What Salchow has distilled from his distinguished career is not your standard design ‘how-to,’ but something more like a memoir or even a philosophy of visual form—clear, quirky, personal, and humane—filled with inspiring insights for teachers and for their students.” —Chris Pullman, AIGA medalist and senior critic, Yale MFA Design Program
“Impassioned and vivid, Gordon Salchow’s About Design condenses decades of insight into an eloquent analysis of graphic design—balancing purpose with artistry, intellect with spirit—and allowing for creative magic along the way. Its invaluable perspective is truly a gift from this master educator to all of us who strive to articulate and inspire.” —Nancy Skolos, author and professor, Rhode Island School of Design
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