5 comments about Design for the Real World: Human Ecology and Social Change.

1. Papanek, like his mentor Fuller, took on a guru like status where rhetoric became more important than the reality. He bends facts and contradicts himself several places in this book.
   
   Here are a few that jumped out at me
   
   Misrepresentation of the facts -
   
   Page 89 - The Hyatt collapse wasn't bad design rather the builder changed the construction and inspectors weren't doing their job.
   
   281 - He talks about farm implement companies' negative reaction to his walking tractor proposal. Troy-Bilt Rototiller has around since 1937, was and is building a 10 HP tiller very similar to the one pictured.
   
   Contradicts himself -
   
   Page 6 he says, "Design must be meaningful. And meaningful replaces such semantically loaded expressions as ... "ugly"... "cute"...
   
   Page 93 - he describes gum as "tawdry
   
   Page 246 - He asserts that humidifiers are bad because they are "costly, ugly, and ... wasteful of water"
   
   Granted there are a lot of dangerous, overpriced, impractical, and generally unnecessary products on the market, but except for ranting about what he considers to be wrong, he doesn't offer much in terms of direction to others who want to be socially responsible.



2. I first heard a lecture by Victor Papanek about 20 years ago, shortly before this revised edition was released. He was a very impressive speaker, drawing from a seemingly bottomless well of ecological design ideas. His work has taken him far and wide and in the process allowed him to revamp many of his views on environmental design. This book is an extensively updated version of his seminal book on the subject. It has become a bit dated in the 20 years since its release, especially in regard to computer software design. But, most of the material he covers is still relavent to the present, as we have only begun to scratch the surface of sound ecological ideas.

   Having read the more recent books on ecological design by Sim Van Der Ryn and William McDonough, I was surprised to see that neither mentioned Papanek, who prefigured many of the ideas they present in their current books. Papanek long ago advocated the lease/use principle, which makes much more sense in a rapidly changing technological world than does the buy/own principle that continues to dominate our social thinking. Papanek notes the many cultural and psychological blocks we have created for ourselves when it comes to ecological design, but also illustrates how we can overcome these blocks with methods such as bisociation, first proposed by Arthur Koestler. But, what really makes this book stand out are the great number of illustrations that Papanek uses to demonstrate his ideas. This is one of the most practical books written on environmental design.

   While Papanek was an industrial designer, his ideas are equally germaine to the field of architecture and biology. He advocated a multi-disciplinary approach, feeling that our universities had become too compartimentalized and were stifling creativity, which needs cross-pollination in order to thrive. The book is as inpiring as his lectures. Papanek challenges the reader to explore new avenues, not continue to follow the status quo, which only results in creative dead-ends.




3. I first spotted this book while studying in Denmark last year, where my host parents had studied under Victor Papanek. I would have studied under him at the University of Kansas, if not for his untimely and unfortunate passing. This book is one of the best books on the principles and ethics of design. It illustrates both the designer's responsibility and the potential to affect real change in the world through design. This most renowned of works by Papanek focuses on industrial design in two parts: How It Is, and How It Could Be. Papanek encourages radical thinking in design, and most of the topics in the book are easily translated to architecture. To my knowledge, reading this book has never been a required part of the core curriculum at the School of Architecture and Urban Design here at KU, but in my opinion, it should be.



4. one of the best books on design ethics till date!



5. It has been many years since I read this important book. I hope this book will be made a compulsory read for all design students. If only more designers would adopt Mr Papanek's approach to socially-responsible design, the world will be a much better place to live in.

No comments about Official Handbook Of The Marvel Universe A To Z Volume 6 Premiere HC.

2 comments about Painter in a Savage Land: The Strange Saga of the First European Artist in North America.

1. PAINTER IN A SAVAGE LAND; THE STRANGE SAGA OF THE FIRST EUROPEAN ARTIST IN NORTH AMERICA is a top pick for any art history collection: it offers a well-researched yet lively survey of one Jacques Le Moyne de Morgues, the first European artist to travel around the U.S. capturing its wonders I pencil and paint. In 1564 he and three hundred other French Protestants landed off the coast of Florida - he was one of the few to live the experience, returning home to create dozens of illustrations of America's Native Americans. A powerful, highly recommended art history, this also deserves a place in any collection strong in early American history.
   
   Diane C. Donovan
   California Bookwatch



2. Miles Harvey once again provides an example of excellent storytelling; not only does he give life to an important but relatively unknown period in our collective history, but he excels at crafting a story that subtly ties the past to the present.
   I like his exhaustive research, and how he can stick to the facts while exploring possibilities and make relevant the lives of people who previously felt so distant.
   His treatment of indigenous Terra Floridians speaks to his ability to examine people and places from more than one perspective. He knows how to engage a reader!

4 comments about German Expressionist Woodcuts (Collections of Fine Art in Dover Books).

1. very happy with the contents but would like to have known if prints were actual size?



2. An excellent introduction to German Expressionist Woodcut artists and easily worth the price.



3. wonderful collection of woodcuts- like all dover books, it is a great buy!



4. Some much to see, feel and love in this rare compliation of some of the best art to be created in this century. I'll open it for any kind of creative inspiration i need, and it has never let me down!

2 comments about DISNEY'S MAGIC EYE.

1. I really love these books. I am fascinated by the technique used to get the 3-d affect. I have everyone out.



2. I've always loved to look and figure out what picture is inside that one. I love the way it just comes alive and htere are so many layers to some of them. It was a great book.

2 comments about Fraktur Mon Amour.

1. If you like typefaces, typography, books, printing, or even if you just like beautiful and interesting design, cough up the rather pricey asking-price and buy this book immediately. You will love it. At first glance, it looks like a missal or prayerbook. Unlike missals, however, the page edges are done in PINK rather that red, and that little fillip more or less sums up what this book is about: why serious and foreboding typefaces have become the badge of gangs, rappers, and super-hip types everywhere. And why blackletter is now commonplace in packaging, storefront awnings, and endless other sites.
   
   In addition to the thorough presentation of some 300 typefaces with dates, designers, and origins, you will find a facing-page design using the typeface. Many quite well done and some even exciting. Of course, I'm not the first to find the book spectacular. It won the Type Directors Club of New York's 2007 Award for Typographic Excellence. It should also get some kind of prize for campiest title for a typography book ever.
   
   The book was originally printed in Germany, and at the bottom of each typeface sample page, there is a German text (translated in the introduction). It is quite a ridiculous text, something about a diplomat eating a pie, but in fact many pages have variations on the text, some of which are even more hilarious. Of course, you'll have to be able to read German to appreciate these, so you might want to consult Amazon's selection of German instruction books.
   
   In short, this book is a classic "sleeper." When I ordered it I was expecting a rather straightforward, perhaps dry book about blackletter typefaces. What I got was a thoroughly delightful and entertaining romp through type and design. Yet a book that was also full of information and even scholarly in its details. Not to mention a CD-ROM with 100+ blackletters.
   
   Just be careful, you may find it addictive. I did.



2. I read a review of this book months ago in Eye magazine, and waited impatiently for the new edition to come out. The wait was worth it. Judith Schalansky's love of blackletter is clear on every page. Each spread shows one blackletter font - the character set and a pangram on the right side, and a graphical arrangement on the left. The new edition contains 333 such spreads, which is an astounding collection. (Who knew there were so many blackletter fonts?) Anyone interested in typography or calligraphy will find this book a delight to page through.
   
   I have only two complaints. First is the paper. It is less opaque than I'd wish, so there's substantial show-through from page to page. (This is hard to avoid; in a book with 720 pages, the paper must be fairly thin.) Additionally, there is a disappointingly high number of flecks in the paper, which can be rather distracting when looking at the type. Second, many of the graphical compositions fail to give much sense of the specific font's "feel", and some are little more than wasted space. However, there are also some which are both intriguing and informative.
   
   I'm glad I got a copy, and thank Ms Schalansky for her dedicated work!

5 comments about The Magic Kingdom: Walt Disney and the American Way of Life.

1. If you want to take a trip down animated cartoon memory lane as well as look behind the scenes to find out how they were created, Watts' mistitled "The Magic Kingdom" is definitely NOT the book for you. For that trip I highly recommend Leonard Maltin's delightful and highly informative "Of Mice and Magic" (Revised and Updated edition). "The Magic Kingdom" is about Walt Disney the man and is of real interest only to those who are researching his life -- which I am not. So, I'll leave the critiquing of this book as a biography per se to those reviewers who have read similar books about him.
   
   However, when I was a child, I lived through many of the events that are mentioned in this book and watched many of the cartoons and the animated feature-length movies discussed by Watts, including those that were made before my time as reruns on television cartoon shows or in the movie theaters. Based solely on the material Watts presents in this book, you would think that Walt Disney Productions (Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, et al) was the only company making animated cartoons during its Golden age of the late 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s. The only other animated cartoon studio that Watts mentions anywhere is Terrytoons -- and even then merely as a company that some of his employees came from or went to and nothing about the creations that came from it. And what about the equally creative Loney Tunes (Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, et al)? Not a word. Not a single word!
   
   As to what Disney did, I find Watts' presentation quite frustrating. As a small child, I remember the craze for Davy Crocket paraphernalia. But that was AFTER I saw the premiere of the revolutionary weekly television program "Disneyland" that changed the eating habits of so many families back then. Watts presents the section about Fess Parker as Davy Crocket and all the sales of coonskin caps, etc. it led to BEFORE he discusses the original broadcast of the "Disneyland" that launched it.
   
   But Watts' greatest failure is his total lack of illustrations. Cartoons are VISUAL! How can you explain the birth and evolution of Mickey Mouse or the creation of the feature-length "Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs" WITHOUT illustrations? And not merely those of the finished product, but also the many sketches, etc. that led to its creation. Animated cartoon are essentially a series of (until very recently) mostly hand-drawn illustrations. What makes Maltin's "Of Mice and Magic" so delightfully informative is he does not merely give a dry, textual, explanation of the storyboard for a particular cartoon, but also shows the actual illustrations on that storyboard with the written comments of the directors, writers, etc. about certain characters.
   
   This book does give much information about Walt Disney that books such as "Of Mice and Magic" do not; for example, his development of Disneyland in Anaheim, and the already mentioned "Disneyland" television program which was not an animated cartoon. But with the very confusing presentation of his facts and total lack of illustrations, this book is a long, tiring, and frustrating read for the amount of information in it. Alas, Watts might give us some of Disney's kingdom, but absolutely none of his magic. .



2. As I am doing research into the American Dream and the lifestyle in the mid century, I found this book usefull for citations in my thesis. It is also an enjoyable read for fans of Walt Disney and the effect that he and his products have had on our cultural society.



3. I've read the Gabler, Thomas, and Manheim (Quest for Community) books, and about 3 other books on Walt, and this was the best. Fantastic!



4. Easily the best biography out there on Walt Disney hands down. It will never be topped. It neither kisses his hiney as Bob Thomas' studio sanctioned biography does, nor does it discount him as merely a low brow populist (as Richard Schickel did), nor lies about him as some sort of communist spy in order to sell books. Not only is this biography even handed, but Mr. Watts makes brilliant connections between Walt and his time that no other biographer had the insight to do. This is a fair, balanced, well organized, incredibly entertaining biography that really brings the real Walt Disney to life. Steven Watts is a genius biographer.



5. I have read 4 biographies about this man ("An American Original," "The Disney Version," Mosley's "Disney's World: A biography," Eliot's "Hollywood's Dark Prince") and now I realize that I should have acquired this book before, so I wouldn't need to read all of the above stated books.
   This book provides Walt's personal story, studio development, good and bad critics, Disney's place in history and his shaping of American culture. It is not biased, but gives a balanced view on a man and his company. It made me believe in this book, since I was very sceptical towards "truths" written in other Walt Disney biographies. In those, Walt was portrayed as either a perfect person, or a villain of the 20th century.
   The Magic Kingdom is the balanced truth and the best biography of a man that shaped American culture without a doubt.

2 comments about Easy Reversible Vests.

1. I bought this book to use in a class on paper piecing. It's a good intro to paper piecing and the vests are great. There are three major pattern styles--but endless possibilities. I made my Mom's birthday vest from the pattern in this book, and I made a sewing vest for myself out of quilt scraps. These are art vests and if you don't wear vests--they look great hung on the wall too. Carol Doak is clear and accurrate and she doesn't leave out any of the steps. Vests, paper piecing, a creative jumpstart--are all here--what more could you want? Mary Z. Cox the accidental quilter



2. Another of my cherished Foundation piecing books - my second Carol Doak one. What a lovely selection to choose from. I hope vests don't go out of fashion too soon. These are all very special. Vest patterns in a number of sizings and styles are included but the techniques can be used on any pattern you have. Well worth having.

5 comments about Complete Maya Programming: An Extensive Guide to MEL and C++ API (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Computer Graphics).

1. I bought to learn the maya api--I did not use the mel section.
   While this title may be one of the best maya programming books, it has
   some problems, foremost of which is typos in the code sections. Note that
   Code Examples are availible on the website, and there is an errata section.
   Mostly--you can work around the shortcomings. Read it with the autodesk
   docs--they supplement each other well--



2. The book gives you a good insight into Maya programming. The MEL part seems to be quite good, but the C++ part is organized by a couple of examples. Altough they are useful lots of things are missing. A short reference, I would say, 10-20 pages of the API would be perfect.



3. I search the information about programming in Maya for weeks. This book is essential for maya programming (MEL and C++ API) and I only find it about this theme.
   
   I recommend buy the volume II (Complete Maya Programming, Vol. II: An In-Depth Guide to 3D Fundamentals, Geometry, and Modeling ) and is great book too. If you going to buy this book, read after the second volume.
   
   Excuse my english.



4. I was looking for a book that starts from basic stuff and easy to understand.
   this book is a big help



5. You can indeed learn more by pressing F1 on Maya itself. The C++ API part (the one I was interested in) is really short and the examples rather simple (you can read it all in few hours).
   
   The book is ok, but should be called "Very Basic Introduction to MEL and C++ API" and not "An extensive guide to MEL and C++ API" at all.

5 comments about Drawing Shortcuts: Developing Quick Drawing Skills Using Today's Technology.

1. Every once in awhile, a life changing book comes along. I've been creating Architectural Illustrations for over 40 years using airbrush, water color and pen and ink. I've never felt comfortable doing quick sketches. Jim's book clearly delineates the tools and techniques needed to produce drawings fast and on-site. Living in New Orleans, I'm involved in a lot of post Katrina planning and development. These new skills are an invaluable asset for my continued survival.
   
   Richard L. Gardner, New Orleans, LA



2. There are lots of good tips in this book. It is one I recommend to my architectural drawing students. It is very good on how to make quick presentations and it shows several midias and how to use them. As most of the students use 3d software for final presentations right now, I think this book is a very good motivation for using traditional midia techniques during process work. Making good and quick drawings for explaining ideas is a very useful skill and this book helps.



3. I got this book after participating in a Web Seminar with Mr. Leggitt. I think this is a very good source for anyone that would like to hone their quick drawing skills or look for different approaches for doing presentation drawings from all levels of detail. It might even give you a few ideas about using technology to your advantage to produce quick drawings. I would definately recommend this book to a beginner or students in architecture school. I know that students are always looking for ways to product great looking drawings in a minimal amount of time.



4. Very dissapointed in this book...especially since he is an advocate of Sketchup (which is why I anxiously wanted this book). I think some of his shortcuts are ok, but I found the book very, very repetitive (almost painfully) and the authors rendering style is just simply BRUTAL! I mean, it seems as if every one of his renderings include happy,smiley 1980's rocky mountain-type scale figures and all of the scale children hold teddy bears! His library of projects lack any pizzazz and there's just no sophistication to his rendering style. The most tedious read of the year for me.



5. I was left with the feeling from the other reviews that this book would be great for architects, which it is not. It is more for an art student. If you want a better book on architecture drawing get "Color Drawing: Design Drawing Skills and Techniques for Architects, Landscape Architects, and Interior Designers, 2nd Edition" by Michael E. Doyle