Archive notice: This article was originally published on June 18, 2010. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
Of course, there are people who have a natural feeling for appealing design and intuitively know what works well and what does not. But being able to implement such a design, a comprehensive design, oneself requires a great deal of knowledge – both about written and unwritten guidelines and about the mundane technical aspects of implementation.
Anyone who believes that simply launching modern software such as InDesign, Photoshop, Quark or even Corel Draw will automatically produce professional results will be disappointed. But where can one obtain the necessary knowledge to move confidently in the field of design and navigate the biggest pitfalls?
Instead of quitting one’s job and enrolling in a graphic-design course for the coming semesters, self-study is an option. Markus Wäger’s book offers a solid foundation for success in graphic design. Through worthwhile and illuminating examples, but also through its clear and relaxed choice of words, the reader quickly gains the impression that the guidelines for basic design are fundamentally quite simple and logical. And that is indeed true – one merely has to “have seen them once.”
After an introduction to the subject in general, it gets down to business. The author shows the relationships between form and colour, the use of typography according to purpose and message, and the foundations of design grids as the basis for functioning design. The reader also learns everything necessary to create error-free print files and communicate on equal terms with prepress.
From the Contents:
- Art and design
- Rules and what they are for
- Gestalt laws of perception
- Hick’s law and KISS
- Base area, proportion and aspect ratio
- Arrangement and weighting
- What is colour?
- Colour models, circles and spaces
- Image composition
- History of type
- The graphic designer as typesetter
- Typesetting and reading typography
- Some microtypographic dos and don’ts
- Design grids
- Corporate design
- DTP and prepress
The book goes far beyond the blunt enumeration of rules such as the golden ratio or explanations of DPI and pixels. At more than 600 pages, it creates a solid foundation for aspiring graphic designers and gives readers as comprehensive an introduction as possible. Naturally, the book cannot teach creativity, but it can teach an intuitive approach.
Graphics and Design – The Comprehensive Handbook
Markus Wäger
Galileo Design
620 pages
ISBN 978-3-8362-1206-9
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