1 comments about Daniel Eatock Imprint: Works 1975-2007.

1. Great book! I read they whole thing front to back the first day it came in the mail. This book will inspire any designer to think more conceptually about his or her work. This is not just another design book that will shortly be outdated, I see this one in my collection for many years.

4 comments about Hello, Please! Very Helpful Super Kawaii Characters from Japan.

1. Okay, I admit this isn't the most eloquent review, but I'm giving this book a shout-out because it is so amusing, adorable, funny. The authors classify these cartoony characters into five sections with an intro for each and an overall introduction prefacing it all. The intros were somewhat informative, not terribly deep in explanation but deep enough. I liked the variety and quantity of images they included and how their captions were set in a solid-color version of the character they are describing on that page. Great gift idea for anyone who likes Japanese pop art and cute, bubbly cartoons in general.



2. The immediate and obvious appeal of this book is seeing so many of these mascot characters "in the wild," but more importantly, the book provides context, explaining how Japanese aesthetics and traditions have affected the widespread adoption of these characters throughout the years. I really recommend this to anyone who is interested in Japanese culture and/or cartooning.



3. This is a great coffee table or gift book. Awesome photographs, beautiful design and insightful text. Totally captures the quirkiness of this aspect of Japanese pop culture...



4. ... a little bit poor in my opinion. I imagine something more sophisticated but it is ok

2 comments about The Serif Fairy: Explorations in the Word of Letters.

1. The Serif Fairy: Explorations in the World of Letters is a most unusual children's picturebook, featuring highly simplistic, two-color illustrations in which all creatures and things are represented by stylized letters and patterns assembled from letters. In this sparsely beauteous world, a little letter-fairy has lost her left wing. Her search to find her missing wing will take her from a great gate to a busy street to the shores of a placid lake. The text of The Serif Fairy is innocently charming, though complex enough to be ideal for young readers who are almost ready to move on to chapter books, yet the true appeal of The Serif Fairy lies in its ingeniously minimal, all-letter illustration style. Highly recommended.



2. THE SERIF FAIRY is a delight from every aspect. Though conceived as a children's book, it is also a teaching tool of the sort that makes learning fun while challenging both the adult reader and the child. Writer and graphic designer Rene Siegfried composed this fable in German (it is sensitively translated for us into English by Joel Mann) as a studio work for a course in communication design, the challenge being to create a readable and interesting story while introducing the child in each of us to concepts of the somewhat obtuse subject - typography!
   
   The Serif Fairy, 'a clever little letter-fairy', has lost her left 'magical' wing, disabling her ability to fly and to perform magic. She sets off in search of the lost wing, wandering through the Garamond Forest, the Zentenar Gate, the Futura City, and finally to Shelley Lake where, after falling into the water, she finds her lost wing and flies into the air, a revived magic fairy. Each of the images, from the construction of the fairy herself to the trees, buildings, bugs and animals she encounters are built from letters from the various typefaces (fonts) that we all know from the computer cascade of choices. Siegfried encourages the reader to find the various composed creatures and identify how they are created from letters by adding at the end of the brief book a concise but excellent description and illustration of each of the four typefaces used. Then on the inside back cover spread the designer shares each of the designed objects from car to crab with a simple lineup of the letters used in each composition.
   
   The design of the book is clean, elegant, and very intelligently presented. Some will ask whether the book will appeal to any child (or adult) not involved in the graphic design business. For this reader the answer is a resounding 'YES!'. Siegfried has managed to create an interesting tale while opening fresh lines of investigation for visual problem solving of the 'type' that fascinate children with inquisitive minds: problem solving in finding the inventive critters that fill the pages is enhanced by the reward of learning more about the new discoveries at book's end. This is a book that restores faith in the intelligence of readers - of any age. Another Mark Batty Publisher winner! Grady Harp, May 07

5 comments about The Joseph Cornell Box: Found Objects, Magical Worlds.

1. I got this at the Getty Museum, Joseph Cornell being one of my favorite artists. I loved the selection of clipart which I made copies of & used in my own collages. The box itself,well,I just like having it on display on a shelf in my room. There is also a very nicely detailed book with background about the artist as well as ideas for making your own box,by using the one in the kit (or making your own,which I'll probably end up doing.) A unique introduction to an equally unique artist,that would make a great gift for artistic types &/or fans of Cornell's work.



2. I think the book/kit is beautifully put together. It's a wonderful way for children and adults to learn about Cornell's life and work, gaining a sense of clarity about an artist whose personal mythology could so easily be considered inaccessible.



3. One of my design students brought the box part of this set into class as a base for a prototype this evening... while an interesting artifact, the concept of it is a bit frightening. Reducing Cornell's -- or any other artist's -- vision into an ersatz how-to kit not only undermines the brilliance and significance of the work of the artist, but completely defeats the process of artistic self-discovery and exploration on the part of the student. While this box-set looks good at twenty-feet, a better route would be to read-up on Cornell and other self-taught artists in more robust texts (Howard Finster, Ralph Eugene Meatyard, Jacques Henri Lartigue... all of whom have books on Amazon) and use this insight to forge one's own artistic path in life... one that derives inspiration from the artist themselves rather than from a how-to kit.



4. I wouldn't recommend this book necessarily to serious artists, but for a person beginning their first tentative steps toward collage and assemblage, this kit would be a good introduction. It includes a full-color book with lots of images and descriptions of Cornell's works and life. The kit itself provides materials for taking a first step toward creating found art. This would be particularly good for a young person as a way to introduce them to Cornell.



5. Interesting example of artists work but carboard box is flimsy and not as authentic as I expected. Looked better online.

1 comments about Masterpieces of Japanese Prints: Ukiyo-e from the Victoria and Albert Museum.

1. Unexpected earnings from the Great Exhibition of 1851 (at the Crystal Palace in London) were used to establish the following year the Victoria and Albert Museum, the world's largest collection of applied art and design. In 1853, Commodore Matthew Perry made his famous expedition to Japan, which had been isolated for 250 years, and set up trade agreements. Examples of Western technology (locomotive, telegraph, camera) were given to the Japanese, and Japanese artifacts to Westerners. Of particular impact were Japanese woodcuts of the 17th through 19th centuries, called ukiyo-e or images of "the floating world," tens of thousands of which ended up in museum collections throughout the world. Many (perhaps most) American and European artists and designers were influenced by the then-strange stylistic traits of these prints (crisp black outlines, bold flat areas of color, asymmetrical arrangements, and dramatic cropping), among them such people as Whistler, Manet, Degas, Toulouse-Lautrec, Gauguin, Aubrey Beardsley, and Frank Lloyd Wright. "All my work," wrote Vincent van Gogh to his brother, "is in a way founded on Japanese art." This stunning volume is a full-color treasury of 130 of those woodcuts (introduced and annotated by scholars) from the many now in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum. (Copyright © by Roy R. Behrens from Ballast Quarterly Review, Vol. 14 No. 3, Spring 1999.)

3 comments about The Charm of Charms.

1. The Charm of Charms
   Beautiful, beautiful book. Perfect for the lover of charm bracelets.



2. This book is filled with interesting information and beautiful photographs. It's perfect as a coffee table book as you'll want to look at it again and again.



3. This is simply a jewel of a book.
   
   For any of us with wistful memories of our mother's magical charm bracelets (and the romantic stories associated with each tiny carved golden object) the lovely CHARM OF CHARMS brings it all back.
   
   The stories are fascinating, the jewelers the best, and the history indispensable for those of us currently addicted to charms (and you'll find some of the best in these pages).
   
   The beautiful people, the stunning photographs, and the luscious color make this a PERFECT HOLIDAY GIFT. They ship overnight!

5 comments about ActionScript for Flash MX: The Definitive Guide, Second Edition.

1. I received this book in three days, which was a fast delivery. I am still working on this book, but I must say I like this book.



2. This book looks pretty good and the first chapter was very promising. However I must tell my experience so at least people don't waste time and get frustrated like I did.
   
   The very first example of the book, the Multiple-Choice Quiz will NOT run on latest Flash CS3. It turns out that Flash CS3 (ActionScript3) decided to kill backwards compatibility and throw away the onRelease method for its buttons. So you get a bunch of compile errors. I managed to find out by myself that with AS3 you must use addEventListener to handle clicks to SimpleButton.
   
   Anyways, the line:
   
   totalOutput_txt.text = "Your final score is: " + totalCorrect + "/2.";
   
   Is not compiling either with the error:
   
   1120: Access of undefined property totalOutput_txt.
   
   The totalOutput_txt is being created by "reflection" with the line:
   
   createTextField("totalOutput_txt", 1, 150, 200, 200, 20);
   
   But it looks like Flash CS3 does not like this. Again, another compatibility problem with CS3...
   
   There goes my first star out. Now comes my second start out:
   
   This book assumes that you DO KNOW how to play with FLASH, how to play with the timeline, etc. It does make a good effort to guide you through the steps to create the movie frames, etc, but I felt that I needed a flash designer near me to explain me what was going on.
   
   Anyway, I was looking for a book like: Flash + AS for Java Programmers, but I guess I am asking too much. If anyone has a recommendation for me, please reply in this comment!



3. This book proved to be valuable for looking up new ways of implementing Action Script into my Flash projects. There were many examples of action script that can easily be found in the books index.



4. Was going through my books looking to get some space on the shelf for new ones and had this in my hand ready to go but for some reason couldn't do it. I hadn't done Flash/Flex (Flesh? Flax?) in a couple of years (moved mostly to C#) then recently I got a chance to do the quirky & kludgey beast of computing again with Flash8 and This Old Book Still Had The Goods.
   
   If you don't own it, buy it. If you are thinking it's past its prime... buy it anyway :)
   
   Oh, gotta say this: if you're thinking of buying into FMS... buy Wowza instead - it's more flexible and it's not priced as arrogantly as the ancient "Adobe" server.



5. Hands down, the best ActionScript book in my library. Good for building a solid understanding of AS, but definitely not for someone looking for a few quick tricks, effects or tutorials.
   
   A good book for coders, but designers will probably want something far less intense.

3 comments about Fashion Now 2.

1. This book is a good one but I expected more. I purchased it thinking it would have info about fashion lines and such yet all it has is the history of the desginers and in size 1 font. You have to strain your eyes read it. But still it was very informational (is that a word?) and I did learn a few more designers names.



2. I knew about fahion books published by Taschen during a Fashion Course I took last Summer in Italy. I got this one and another titled Fashion History and let me tell you that they offer really great books considering their price, quality, photos and the information presented about the topic.
   This book contains a summary of the biographies and work of the most renowed Fashion Designers and the emerging talent on the Fashion Industry. I suggest to keep it not only as a reference book but also as a guide for further research.



3. this is one of the best fashion books out there. a breif discription of all the best designers in the industry. a good reference to keep.

5 comments about Icons Of Fashion: The 20th Century (Prestel's Icons).

1. Icons of Fashion: The 20th Century is a very edgy and sophisticated book. It takes on a unique approach about the icons of the 20th century. The content of this book is not in chronological order but rather in theme and designer ranging from the 1900s to 2000.
   
   To details of the pictures to the interesting facts of the earliest designers made me want to read more about the book. Reading about the designers, on the side of the book, there is a timeline about their life and businesses, which was really helpful, considering I had to write an assignment about the different designers and I could just refer back to the timeline.
   
   I loved how the book gave pictures dating back to the 1900s to today. It was really interesting to see how fashion goes in a circle. For example, the belt around the waist, that just came into fashion two years ago. Also the design, the little black dress.
   
   This book is very helpful and I suggest it to anyone who is interested in the fashion Industry becuase it was interesting, colorful and very educational.



2. The history of the 20th century can be revealed through its fashion trends, and Gerda Buxbaum Icons Of Fashion: The 20th Century proves this with an overview of fashion trends and revolutions. Yes, there are the icons of fashion to testify to these changes: Chanel, Karan and others - but also fine photos capturing styles ranging from body stockings to military and cocktail dress; all contained in an excellent overview blending visuals with a running commentary on fashion's influence.



3. The history of the 20th century can be revealed through its fashion trends, and Gerda Buxbaum Icons Of Fashion: The 20th Century proves this with an overview of fashion trends and revolutions. Yes, there are the icons of fashion to testify to these changes: Chanel, Karan and others - but also fine photos capturing styles ranging from body stockings to military and cocktail dress; all contained in an excellent overview blending visuals with a running commentary on fashion's influence.



4. The history of the 20th century can be revealed through its fashion trends, and Gerda Buxbaum Icons Of Fashion: The 20th Century proves this with an overview of fashion trends and revolutions. Yes, there are the icons of fashion to testify to these changes: Chanel, Karan and others - but also fine photos capturing styles ranging from body stockings to military and cocktail dress; all contained in an excellent overview blending visuals with a running commentary on fashion's influence.



5. I have only just begun this book (20 pages in), and I am enthralled. So many fashion books are written chronologically, so this book, arranged by theme and designer, is an interesting change. The pictures are gorgeous, many of them are in color, and every other page contains an essay on various topics. The topics range from an influence on fashion, a particular designer, themes in collections, or a period of history. Included are also short timelines of the careers of designers from the last century. This book covers a wide range of topics, and gives the reader a comprehensive look at the past century in fashion. I would not recommend this book for someone who wants a chronological look at the development of fashion trends, because the articles skip from the thirties to the Victorian era to the twenties. It is interesting, colorful, and even educational.

No comments about The Urban Cookbook.