5 comments about 1000 Symbols: What Shapes Mean in Art and Myth.

1. 1000 Symbols came highly recommended to me from one of my professors in one of my classes on symbols. It was billed as one of the most extensive collection of symbols ever published. Given my interest in archetypes, mythology, and dream symbolism, I was intrigued so I put this book on my wish list.
   
   1000 Symbols takes a slightly different take on symbols than other reference books on my shelf. All of the symbols included are actually illustrated, which is extremely useful when looking up a particular image. Moreover, each of the entries is presented detailing the historical usage of each item. For easy reference, the book is divided into categories and subcategories such as Characters and then various parts of the world or Living Creatures and then various types of animals. It really is a must have resource for anyone wanting more information about symbols.



2. Love this book, how it's set up, love the index, but most of all love the descriptions of various cultures' ideas about same symbol, a smorgasbord of meanings providing options for personal symbolism and spirituality.
   
   Good book.



3. This book has great explanations and meanings for almost every symbol you can think of. The explanations transcend through many cultures and religions to show you what things mean to different peoples. It talks about signs and symbols as well as the symbology of certain animals, plants, colors, numbers, etc. This book does not give many exapmples (pictures) of symbols, but that is not completely necessary for the purpose this book serves. This book is an amazing reference for artists in all mediums. I strongly recommend this book.



4. I am sorry to report of my disapointment with this title. While it does contain some interesting research, the symbols illustrated are all modernized graphics. The use of traditional and historic depictions of the symbols would have made this work much more readable.



5. This book contains symbols that no other book contains. If you are a artist you can draw them. It contais biblical, and mythical people, flowers, and herbes, and their meaning. I thought think this book is wonderful and beautifully illustrated.

No comments about Dore's Angels (Dover Pictorial Archive Series).

No comments about Flowers (Pictura).

3 comments about Heroes of the Negro Leagues (with free DVD: Only the Ball Was White).

1. I purchased this book for a young boy age 13 and I also have one myself. This book and DVD is an excellent, fun history lesson for a child or pre-teen to reference at his or her leasure. It's an easy read and a great reference for people of all ages who want to know more about the Negro Baseball Leagues! A must have!



2. This book preserves an important aspect in the history of baseball and in African American history, and it does so in a riveting way. A sincere and fascinating tribute -- and a handsome one, to boot.



3. If you have any interest in baseball, you'll definitely want to have this book! Created by very talented men, this is a book to keep.

5 comments about Exploring Interface Design (Design Exploration Series).

1. It's short concise and to the point. That's what I like in a book. I think it's good for an introduction book, but has a lot of useful information for the seasoned veteran.



2. I bought this book for a class 2D interface Design class I was taking and even though I was "coerced" to buy it, I'd say its pretty decent.
   
   It runs you through Interface design concepts rather competently, but that's where I have a problem with it. It never seems to push itself or the topic matter very hard. Its good reading but a bit dry and tedious in parts ... in fact it's as if it where ... (surprise, surprise) a text book ...
   
   Nothing about it really stands out to me, there are no color illustrations and even the actual illustrations are unremarkable. Overall its a competent but unremarkable book. It will get you up to speed on all the things you need to know and i think it makes a decent reference book but outside of that I wouldn't spend money on it unless it was dirt cheap.
   
   Try "Don't make me think" by Steve Krug instead



3. I teach a course in User Interface Design. I have used half a dozen different textbooks, never finding one that had the desired balance of theory and practice. I have just finished my first pass through Marc Silver's book and am please to report that I have finally found my book.
   
   The book is very well written. Each chapter starts with an overview of what he is going to tell you and ends with a summary of what he has told you.
   
   I would recommend this book to anyone that wants a good initial overview of user interface design both for Internet based application as well as client based applications.
   
   Robert Springer, PhD



4. This is an excellent and thoughtful book on interface design. It's very practical and covers a lot of ground- how to create clear navigation, visually organize elements on a page, format text, improve your writing style- basically how to create interfaces that are intuitive for users. I especially appreciated the many images that illustrate examples of both good and problematic design, and the suggestions on how to improve them. The exercises really help you think through the most elegant solutions to different design problems.
   
   The chapters on menus and controls and navigation are great for reference, explaining the advantages and disadvantages of common interface tools. I also really enjoyed the chapter on creativity and idea generation, and look forward to trying out the suggested techniques.
   
   The author has a friendly, entertaining, and easy-to-read style. For students or people who are new to the field, this book is an excellent comprehensive introduction to interface design. And for people who are more experienced, it's a great reference and source of inspiration. I'd definitely recommend adding this to your library!



5. This is an excellent book. It works on many different levels. It gives the artistic and psychological theory of interface design and it offers nuts-and-bolts practical information on working with clients and getting projects done. It works as an instructional text for a beginner and it works as a reference for a practicing professional.
   
   In addition to providing a solid and comprehensive foundation in the principles of design, this book provides innovative and orignal design ideas and creativity boosters.
   
   And it all comes in a well organized, well written package!
   
   As an instructional designer (and big fan of design in general) I will keep this book in arm's reach between my books by Donald Norman and Jakob Nielsen.

No comments about Basics Design Colour (Basics Design).

3 comments about Papermaking (Dover Books on Lettering, Graphic Arts & Printing).

1. A one-stop resource for the history and technique of this ancient craft. Want to know when the first paper mill was established in your state or Country and what was used for raw material? Look it up in the detailed chronology. A must have book for any paper aficionado!



2. Everything you've ever wanted to know about papermaking and more. This book has a lot of detailed information about the history and techniques of papermaking all over the world, but is so detailed it can be very tiresome. Definitely reads more as a textbook than light reading.



3. "Dard Hunter is still recognized as the world's foremost authority on paper and papermaking. This is the classic work on papermaking, used as a text and reference in classrooms, museums and libraries." More historical than how-to, you'll find just about every aspect of papermaking covered in this book. Over 320 illustrations show actual pages from rare books and scrolls from every corner of the world, scenes of past and present-day papermaking, tools, materials, and watermarks. A two-page map illustrates the text to trace the 1000-year journey of papermaking from China to Europe, and a chronology of paper and paper related developments over 4500 years.

5 comments about Japanese Prints: The Art Institute of Chicago.

1. A true pocket-size book of Japanese prints from the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, this little guy packs in a good size punch in terms of number of woodblock prints (276 in all). Only 4 "x 4 ½" in size, the color reproductions of the prints are surprisingly good. Good and bright colors and one print on each page. Yeah, they're small, but you don't need to squint, and hey, you can stuff it into your pocket easily. The book is divided into four print categories - Primitives", "Courtesans", "Actors" and "Landscapes" and contains many less-known ukiyo-e artists - Eishi, Shunsho, Buncho, and many others that you would not see in other usual publications on Japanese woodblock prints. At the end of the book, there is an index on Kabuki actors represented in the prints and one on all the prints in the book (the latter is a rather interesting one). A nice "little" book filled with some pleasant surprises.



2. I agree with the other reviews when they say that it is nice, but a very small book. I hadn't paid attention to the size when I ordered it. It is very informative, though, and I did learn a lot from it



3. Many or the pictures are only 1-1/2" x 3-1/4".
   The largest are about 2-1/2" x 3-1/4".



4. I was terribly disappointed in this book, because it is so tiny, and your eyes have to have 1200 dpi scan to really see everything. Why would an art museum such as the Art Institute of Chicago allow such a one-off throw-away book be published? If you want to see anything, you have to purchase another book. Too bad.



5. This filled a space in our collection of art books to research our collection of prints.

5 comments about Icon: Art of the Wine Label.

1. This is a great book for any wine enthusiast. It is the ideal coffee table book to have out when your friends stop by. The book is interesting and a great conversation starter. I really enjoyed this book. Of course, it didn't have every wine label I was looking for, but it did contain many of them. This book would make a perfect gift for anyone.



2. Jeffrey Caldewey and Chuck House's Icon: Art Of The Wine Label is also a highly recommended, distinguished guide which offers a collection of work by the modern masters of wine label design who have for decades helped define global wine label design strategies around the world. Icon is a collection of some of their best works, providing both an artistic assessment of the art of iconography to examples of 120 wine labels and bottle designs complete with their distinctive branding qualities.



3. This book was not only interesting to read, the artwork and dedication to all aspects of wine was unbeleivable. This is one I will read over and over again. Ok, maybe I will be just looking at the pictures...



4. ICON - the embodiment of spirit, matter, and time. In Einsteinian terms, ICON would be the equation that sums time, space, matter, and ideology.

   ICON is a tour de force, a signature piece representing the extensive body of work by two of the wine industries brightest stars, Jeffrey Caldeway and Chuck House, package designers.

   One once told me that the contents of a barrel, brown bag for a label, sans introduction, sipped from a coffee cup in your kitchen, will defy distinction by most and keep both the wine and the consumer most honest.

   But we of sophistication desire more than honesty, and more is ours in ICON. To the vast universe of wine, the package brings order to chaos, diminishes chance, dispels mystery, stamps a caste, creates distinction, and strokes your ego and those of others. We assume the package as an intimate expression of Self, much in the same way one would don a designer creation. Albeit, a label does nothing to alter the wine.

   In this treatise of wine package history, we are reminded that necessity is the mother of invention. Order to chaos produced the first labels. Labels of origin, distinction, and personality followed. It wasn't until recent times that ego drove the package, and Ego is the stuff of ICON.

   This book reveals both Jeff and Chuck as modern day alchemists, intently stirring their witches brew of ego, dream, soil, anxiety, money, sweat, clone, ambition, microclimate, and desire, distilled into an amalgam of glass, cork, paper, and ink which will transform total of Past into the largesse of Future . . . a responsibility from which all but the most tempered would shrink.

   And whom amongst us do we charge with this lofty responsibility? It must be entrusted to those select few who have the creative talent, skills, will, and ability to lift mere grape juice to the pedestal upon which it currently resides. Package designers must do for others what they are incapable of doing themselves.

   Jeff Caldeway and Chuck House are gifted Iconoclasts, challenged with creating an artistic expression which will herald not only the product but, moreover, the totality of the person, the sole of the winemaker, the beast that lies within. We find the authors delving into a very intimate and complex process of discovery. Needs. Wants. Values. History. Family. Dreams. Hopes. Fears. Stuff. From all this they must derived a package that projects not only the person and the product, but also an expression that potentially becomes a fulcrum on which success and failure balance.

   Drawing from ancient beginnings, Jeff Caldeway and Chuck House have successfully bred charm and aristocracy into the great wines and spirits of present day, inscribing pedigree after pedigree that will endure. Page after page brings to mind another example of success that can be directly attributable to the profound influence their package had on the wine selection process.

   The depth and breadth of their body of work clearly place Jeff and Chuck at the forefront of the wine package business for more than three decades, leaving a legacy most others could only hope to achieve. ICON secures their place amongst the elite who's creativity exceeded all those before them, who's work will not soon be eclipsed.

   Art, beauty, and finesse abound. ICON elicits something that is deeply satisfying, much like a well-turned ankle or great music. Printing, inks, paper, photography, binding are all first cabin. ICON is a calling card, a testament, and an example of excellence that the authors expect from themselves and deliver to others.

   We are blessed to have such a fine compendium to grace our lives, the likes not often achieved. It is a gift, a reference, a history, a conversation maker, and a commanding centerpiece for any lover of wine and art. I would recommend you add ICON to your collection and see how long it stays on your coffee table! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. Share it with a friend.




5. A designers must have! Great inspiration on pushing the envelope in packaging design. Jeffrey Caldewey and Chuck House are the top of their field and it shows in every design. A great gift for the upcoming holidays. Everyone from wine connoisseur to artist will enjoy this book.

No comments about Today's Botanical Artists.