1 comments about New Apartement Design.

1. This book is full of photos of the works by various designers. There are no text content of any sort other than the projects' title/author/year. I am not a professional in the interior design field myself. When I first saw the book in the store, I fell in love with all the wonderful pictures of the art works. It may be an exemplary book for interior design students, or an idea book for someone like me who enjoy looking at modern design and products.

1 comments about The Designer's Eye.

1. Why this book has not been written before? its arguments are compelling, the evidence is before our eyes. Why was I never exposed to a similar book during my 8 years of studies at the Ecole des Beaux Arts?
   "The Designer's Eye" is about visual tradecaft. It shows on the same page, on the right side the way a building could have been, and on the left side the way it is. The difference between the 2 images is a visual detail, sometime very simple (say, a painted horizontal line) sometime more elaborate (say, a cornice). The visual result of this before and after approach is compelling.
   From time to time a little humorous vignette is added to illustrate with a non architectural detail - usually borrowed from women fashion - the visual point made on the page.
   The great strength of Brolin's book is that it shows real examples selected among a wide range of buildings. Some are architectural icons like the "Palazzo Nuevo" from Michelangelo, other are anonymous buildings like a suburban house in Pensylvania.
   Ninety percent of the book is visual, no long winded theory, just two images next to each other, and a few lines of comments below, in case ones doesn't get the point right away.
   The Designer's Eye demonstrates that no building needs to be visually unpleasant. A little care about the way things will look from the street will do wonder. Designers and builders who do not have instinctively this visual sensitivity would be well advised to borrow freely from Brolin's examples which are grouped by architectonic themes, facades, edges, details, etc.
   For those who think that they are already visually creative, a little reminder of all the tricks of the trade might also help.
   This book is a must for architects, remodellers, and more broadly for people interested in improving the visual quality of their own environment, at least when they have any control over it.
   I only regret that the book is not in colour, or may be on a CDROM. May be a future coffee table book edition?
   PS. I know why this book has not be written before. Without digital images and the possibility of modifying them easily this book would be impossible to produce. Previous books dealing with the same subject would have to ask the reader to imagine what the Michelangelo' capitol would look like without the "Grand Ordre" spanning two floors. Impossible to do without becoming terribly verbose, and therefore boring for the visually oriented.

3 comments about Inside AutoCAD 2002 (Inside).

1. I spent a long time looking for a good AutoCAD reference book. The problem I had with other AutoCAD references was that they based their teaching methodology on an creating an independent drawing. I'm sure this would be great in the classroom, but it was hard to translate the information to the projects I do at work. Basically, I needed a User's Manual on Steroids. And this is it! I've been using the book for 6 months now, and it's never failed to answer any of the oddball questions that come with using AutoCAD. Pretty amazing, considering how quirky the program can be. And it does it in straightforward language, unhindered by heavy doses of jargon. I would recommend this book to any 2002 user, especially to anyone who uses 2002 in their professional practice.



2. This new edition of Inside AutoCAD 2002 the best-selling classic by the collaborative team of David Harrington, Bill Burchard, and David Pitzer provides rock solid information on the latest changes and enhancements to the past two AutoCAD releases. Inside AutoCAD 2002 gets readers up to speed fast by clearly outlining what is new from the previous versions and showing how to apply these improvements to real projects. Inside AutoCAD 2002 explains how to use dimensions, explores 3D modeling, teaches how to plot, and uncovers dozens of other features just waiting to be utilized. From Attributes to Xrefs, Inside AutoCAD 2002 details the features that put readers on the fast track to AutoCAD success. 1264 pp. (1 CD-ROM)



3. This new edition of Inside AutoCAD 2002 the best-selling classic by the collaborative team of David Harrington, Bill Burchard, and David Pitzer provides rock solid information on the latest changes and enhancements to the past two AutoCAD releases. Inside AutoCAD 2002 gets readers up to speed fast by clearly outlining what is new from the previous versions and showing how to apply these improvements to real projects. Inside AutoCAD 2002 explains how to use dimensions, explores 3D modeling, teaches how to plot, and uncovers dozens of other features just waiting to be utilized. From Attributes to Xrefs, Inside AutoCAD 2002 details the features that put readers on the fast track to AutoCAD success. 1264 pp. (1 CD-ROM)

5 comments about Autodesk Inventor 10 Essentials Plus.

1. This is a 750 page, 9 chapter guide to learning how to use Inventor 10.
   The cover categorises the user level as beginner-intermediate, and that assessment seems realistic.
   
   I have so far worked through 4 chapters/200 pages. Each chapter has taken about 3-4 hours to read the information, and do the exercises. The later chapters are longer. The layout is generally clear, logical and comprehensible.
   The only exception is chapter one, which required several readings and revisits before I started to make sense of the file types and file organisation.
   
   The attached CD installed and worked without a hitch.
   
   The exercises so far are fairly easy, and interesting, and nicely demonstrate the intended points.
   
   The user interface of Inventor 10 bears little resemblance to AutoCAD, and AutoCAD users will require an open mindset to learn how to use it. For a start, there is no command line. It is almost entirely mouse controlled, with some input from keyboard shortcuts and function keys.
   
   The book itself has a quality feel, and despite its 750 pages, is easy to handle. The index is comprehensive. I expect that it will be a very useful reference manual.
   
   I have used quite a few software instruction manuals over the years, and I would say that this is the most impressive one yet. Recommended.



2. The book is a great reference as well as a great knowledge center for the program. I am new to Autodesk Inventor but not CAD. The books helps greatly with location of the different features and how they operate. An excellent book.



3. This book is a combination reference and how-to manual for Inventor 10. The book is helpful for both the novice and the power-user who wishes to understand the new features of this version of the software. Although some of the material in the book is also in Inventor's help and tutorial system, there is also some helpful original material on advanced modeling techniques as well as basic sketching and modeling. The book makes generous and appropriate use of screen captures to aid in the understanding of the concepts presented. The tutorials are presented in clear numbered steps and there are exercises along the way to test your understanding of techniques and commands. These exercises appear to be helpful, complete, and accurate. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in Inventor 10. The table of contents is as follows:
   
   1. Getting Started - Talks about the "Getting Started" screen, reasons for which a project file is used, how to create a project file for a single user, different file types used in Inventor, and application options.
   
   2 Sketching, Constraining, and Dimensioning - Teaches how to change the sketch and part options as needed, sketch the outline of a part, create geometric constraints, dimension a sketch, create dimensions using the automatic dimensioning tool, change a dimension's value in a sketch, and import AutoCAD DWG data.
   
   3. Creating and Editing Sketched Features - Explains what a feature is, how to use the Inventor Browser to edit parts, how to extrude or revolve a sketch into a part, editing features of a part, editing the sketch of a feature, making an active sketch on a plane, and creating sketched features using the cut, join, or intersect operation.
   
   4. Creating Placed Features - Shows how to create fillers, chamfers, holes, work axes, work points, work planes, and internal and external threads.
   
   5. Creating and Editing Drawing Views - This chapter helps you understand the drawing options and styles. You also learn to create and edit drawing borders and title blocks. The creation of base and projected drawing views from a part is discussed as well as the creation of auxiliary, section, detail, broken, break-out, draft, and perspective views. You'll learn how to edit the properties and locations of drawing views and how to retrieve model dimensions to use in drawing views.
   
   6. Creating and Documenting Assemblies - This chapter discusses the various assembly options, and the creation of bottom-up assemblies, top-down assemblies, subassemblies, and adaptive parts. It discusses how to constrain components together using assembly constraints, and how to edit those assembly constraints. Finally, you learn how to pattern components in an assembly.
   
   7. Advanced Sketching and Constraining Techniques - This chapter shows how to use construction geometry to help constrain sketches. It also shows how to create an ellipse, 2D spline, and a pattern of sketch geometry. You'll learn how to share a sketch, utilize the symmetry constraint and mirror tool, slice the graphics window, sketch on another parts face, change the display of dimensions, create relationships between dimensions, create parameters, and finally create a part that is driven by an Excel spreadsheet.
   
   8. Advanced Part Modeling Techniques - This chapter teaches you how to extrude an open profile, create ribs, webs, and rib networks, emboss text and profiles, create sweep, coil, and loft features, split parts or faces of parts, copy features within a part, and reorder those part features.
   
   9. Sheet Metal Design - This final chapter is a "capstone" which builds on knowledge of the previous eight. You learn how to use the Inventor sheet metal environment, modify settings for the sheet metal design, create sheet metal parts, modify sheet metal parts to match design requirements, create sheet metal flat patterns, and create drawing views of a sheet metal part.



4. I've just bought the book and have started learning Inventor 10. I started on page 1 and went on and so far it's been a great book for a person not knowing anything about Inventor. It's very educational correct, at least what I think. If this keeps up it will be a great book, so far I'm in chapter 3.
   So far I can really recommend the book.



5. Still the best book out there for whoever is serious about learning the essentials of Autodesk Inventor 10, the basics are well covered in detail, the examples and tutorials are to the point, and the effort is honest and impressive, the "Plus" part however, could have been expanded further, Inventor 10 has a lot of new advanced features that are of great value to the engineers and designers, hopefully the authors will get together and complete their excellent work by issuing an "Advanced" book.

1 comments about Wine & Design (Designpockets).

1. This is a small book, only slightly larger than a pocket book. While the book is full of pictures, the text is disappointing. All text is written in five different languages. In trying to meet the needs of so many, the book has fallen short in delving in the subject with any depth what so ever.

1 comments about Residential Design Using AutoCAD 2008.

1. This book is horribly unorganized, and full of typographical and grammatical errors. The basic premise is good--you are guided through a complete project from start to finish. Each subsequent exercise builds from the previous. However, Stine's instructions are inconsistent. Sometimes he's point by point; other times he leaves you searching the book--forward and backward--for information necessary to complete the task. Sometimes it doesn't exist! Often he falls into the trap of using jargon that beginners haven't been exposed to, and the book has no glossary for reference, and a very weak index. Stine's intentions are good. I blame the editors for letting his manuscript hit the printers.

No comments about A Generative Theory of Shape (Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2145).

3 comments about Professional Modelmaking: A Handbook of Techniques and Materials for Architects and Designers.

1. This text does prove and excellent `handbook' covering a wide variety of modeling techniques. While Trudeau does not tend to go into great detail, its treatment of each subject is practical and clearly presented. Though the examples may not provide new insight "for Architects" using traditional modeling materials (i.e. chipboard or foam core) it is certainly a valuable resource for product designers or other design professionals working in more involved mediums where such supporting texts are few and far between.

   Overall an good resource, especially for students interested in accelerating their model making experience.




2. I chose this book to help with a new model, and because the book's title claims it is "for Architects." The actual information for architects is meager and sophomoric. The book appears to focus more on sculptural models for product designers. Despite its title, this book had nothing to offer me.



3. I am a professional modelmaker. Initially I was glad to find anything written about the craft as a profession. After reading through it more than a couple of times, I beleive it to be a well written book. It is very informative, with its "hands on" way of explaining a topic. It is also filled with great photos. I highly reccommend this book to students or anyone interested in the design or engineering fields.

No comments about Lexicon of Garden and Landscape Architecture.

No comments about Pub Scene (Interior Angles).