No comments about Countering Design Exclusion: An introduction to inclusive design.

5 comments about Digital Color and Type (Working With Computer Type).

1. I love this book because as I 'journey' through it's pages it becomes a living testimant to what he is teaching. He plays with the layout of the text in a playful yet informative and engaging way.
   
   Another thing is his obvious preference for 'teach by example'. Instead of trying to force the reader to wade through miles of bla, bla text he drops that approach entirely. Instead, the reader is granted endless exposure to examples and graphics.
   
   Also, I'm impressed by the way he's formulated his literature. Even though the book is about the visual side of life he's able to bring the information alive in constantly conjuring up visuals as one reads through the book.
   
   Overall, very informative and educational in a fun engaging sort of way. Nicely done!



2. We used this book in college web design classes. Very useful for color design choices as to what color schemes work, and what dosn't work on a web page. You cant help but learn something from this book. You will be susprised as to what color combinations work well together. Two thumbs up!



3. One reviewer said it, aimed to graphic designers but can help web developers.
   It is OK, the book is mostly examples of colors and text. Can be used as a reference book but I wouldn't say I learned anything new or gained anything from this book.



4. I have enjoyed reading this book and applying the different techniques on various Motion Graphic Video Productions. I highly recommend buying this book!

   Greg Reyes / Producer / DVCreations.tv




5. This book starts off with a brief introduction to type, colour theory and factors which influence legibility. Then there is a rather large section with examples of different combinations of background and foreground hue, value and saturation, with comments about what works, and why. There are sections on both obeying and breaking basic typographical rules. Lots of well commented examples in the last section of the book. I liked this book. It has a nice layout, and insightful comments. The examples are good, but print-based. Still, as an introductory book to colour, type and legibility, it could prove useful to web developers as well.

2 comments about Pin-Up Dreams: The Glamour Art of Rolf Armstrong.

1. Archie Dickens, Gil Elvgren, and Rolf Armstrong...they make up the "Holy Trinity" of glamour and pin-up artists. There isn't artist working in the pin-up field today that doesn't owe something to these men. Pin-up Dreams focuses on Armstrong, the earliest of the trio, born in 1889. Armstrong's prolific career included over 200 magazine covers for publications such as Photoplay, Screenland, and College Humor, and over 200 calendar images. Armstrong would begin his art education at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1907 and this book features some of Armstrong earliest charcoal work from the period. Armstrong moved to New York to pursue a career as a commercial artist when he got his first credits illustrating covers for long defunct magazines such as Puck.
   
   Due to an injury suffered as a child, Armstrong was unfit for military duty in WWI but made his contribution in other ways such as by painting recruitment posters. In the 20's, Armstrong was doing a great deal of commercial work, illustrating his beautiful women hawking products such as Orange Kist and Nehi soft drinks, Tudor Plates, Blue Bird grape juice, and many others. Throughout the teens and 20's, the bulk of Amstrong's women were done in facial portraits. As we move into the 30's and 40's, Armstrong has now developed the glamorous pin-up style he's most well known for. The Armstrong woman is beautiful, demure, and always stylish. The thing that stands out about his work to me has always been that his women are painted in the latest fashions. His work from this period is my favorite. Page 109 of the book displays one of my most favorite Armstrong paintings entitled "Song of India" showing a semi-nude, raven haired beauty dressed in wispy, silky robes, fluttering in the wind against the back drop of ancient India. It's a striking, evocative piece.
   
   But less you think that Armstrong was strictly a pin-up artist, this book shows otherwise. There is a marvelous pastel of The Frankenstein monster, done during the filming of Bride of Frankenstein that is just a treat to behold. There is even a photograph of Boris Karloff, in full Jack Pierce makeup, posting for Armstrong. Other celebrity portraits in the book include Constance Bennett, best known for the Topper movies; Mary Astor of The Maltese Falcon, and James Gleason, a great character actor who appeared in over 125 films in his career. Armstrong himself road the celebrity circuit and counted actors James Cagney and Henry Fonda among his friends. While the authors make the clear distinction between glamour and pin-up artists, Armstrong did certainly do his share of risqué pin-ups, including many nudes. One great piece in the book is "Hold Everything" showing an embarrassed brunette clutching her dress close to her that has just fallen off. There are a number of great WWII era pin-ups just like this one in the book.
   
   This is a fascinating look at one of the true giants of illustration. The book features over 300 full color paintings by Armstrong, printed on heavy stock paper. An outstanding book from Watson-Guptill.
   
   Reviewed by Tim Janson



2. This book is not just a biography of Rolf Armstrong, it is also a commercial art history and fashion history of the first half of the 20th century. The book takes the reader through the decades in text and pictures. It is extremely well written-I got so caught up in his life story that I even got a little teary-eyed when he died. Especially interesting to me were the pictures of the advertisements of the time. Rolf Armstrong was beginning his career when color printing was starting to be used for magazine covers. The pictures of Armstrong's work are fabulous! Due in good part, I'm sure, to the fact that Armstrong's work itself was fabulous. The pictures of his 3,000 pastel palette were almost as interesting to me as his artwork, although most of the pictures he posed for, he posed with a brush and paint palette because he thought it looked better. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in art and/or the early 20th century.

1 comments about Scrapbook Lettering:50 Fun to draw alphabets from the nation's most creative scrapbook lettering artists..

1. This book is relatively new on the scrapbooking scene, but already I find myself pulling it off the shelf frequently. It is great to be able to create my own titles in the ideal lettering styles, sizes and colors for each page, rather than having to rely on letter stickers and die cuts.

   Scrapbook Lettering starts with a short, helpful introduction that runs through basic tools and techniques, then illustrates the process of freehand lettering. The main body however is devoted to the 50 alphabets. Each font has a two-page spread devoted to it that features its use in sample layouts. The authors are very thorough about explaining the simple techniques you will use to draw each alphabet yourself. Suggested theme pages that go particularly well with the alphabet are included, along with variation ideas & tips. I love the last ten alphabets, which are organized chronologically according to which decade they best complement ý great for those heritage pages!

   Hereýs what I discovered after practicing with other creative lettering books: the font styles that can be ýfleshed outý from a basic outline alphabet tend to have a fun, casual feeling to them, but quickly run out of designs for more formal titles and pages. The impressive thing about Scrapbook Lettering on the other hand is that the alphabets are designed by about 20 different published lettering artists, so there is enough style variety that you can match a font to suit any page from wedding albums to baby books. You can draw more than half of them completely freehand; with the rest you will need some help from photocopiers, grids or some tracing paper in order to accurately transfer the lines and maintain the precise look of the fancier fonts.

   Some scrapbookers, who are used to completely freehanding the more casual styles of other lettering books, may feel that this is too much trouble to go to for a page title. My advice would be not to give up so easily on your artistic instincts! I think that if you find a more technically involved alphabet that you think would put the perfect finishing touch on your memory page, you should invest the little extra effort it will take to transfer it with grid paper or enlarge with a photocopier first. It will be worth it.
   -Andrea, aka Merribelle

1 comments about The Encyclopedia of Antique Postcards/Price Guide (Wallace-Homestead Price Guide).

1. I have enjoyed reading this wonderful book from cover to cover and refer to it often! This well organized book takes the reader through the history of postcards; provides valuable suggestions for beginning collectors; instructions for preservation, restoration, & framing; includes background information on artists A to Z; artfully displays 1100+ common to rare postcards; and includes a price guide, a glossary, and an extensive bibliography.

   Susan Brown Nicholson's, "The Encyclopedia Of Antique Postcards" is a ~must have~ reference tool for all postcard collectors!

No comments about Machine Embroidery for Babies and Tots.

3 comments about Vinyl Will Kill: An Inside Look At The Designer Toy Pheomenon.

1. THIS IS AN AWESOME BOOK IF YOU ARE INTO VINYL TOYS OR ENJOY ART FROM THE LIKES OF PETE FOWLER, TIM BISKUP, AND NATHAN J AMONG OTHERS. IT COMES WITH THE BOOK, A KILLER POSTER, AND A SWEET DECK OF CARDS!



2. this is one of the best books of toys design that i see nice book i recomend it



3. This book was better than i have imagined... it comes with a poster, a cards set and the book itself, but lacks that does not come with a vinyl figure at all, like fusion from IDN pro comes. Anyways it has lots of interviews with the toys designers, and the book itself has a great design effort!
   So many figures, source of inspiration for any character designes such as me, or for serious toy fans!

1 comments about Mixing Messages.

1. It's 2:40 in the morning; I'm recovering from a nasty headcold. What could possibly have me awake and typing?

   I've poured over 175 beautiful pages for the last day, and now I just want to read everything she's written.

   Delving into the graphic design industry, its history and heroes, particularly since the advent of the Macintosh and desktop publishing both inspires and entertains.

   A fabulously researched book with exquisite reproductions and wonderful design of its own.

5 comments about Goya.

1. While I learned much from Hughes' opus, at book's end I was still left with the same nagging question I had at the beginning: But with the exception of his "Disasters of War," for which the answer is obvious, why is Goya's art still attracting so much attention today? I subsequently found the answer in a 288-page gem, one whose title suggests that it does indeed go beyond the focus in Hughes' book. To those who want to learn yet more about the art itself, I highly recommend Prof. Fred Licht's Goya: The Origins of the Modern Temper in Art (Icon editions).



2. A great biography, full of informative details on Goya's life (his beginnings in particular), and, of course, a brilliant study of his works (especially the etchings, which do need explanation when you are not a specialist). Interesting insight on Spanish society of the 18th and 19th century. The style is lively and straightforward, as is always the case with Robert Hughes whom I consider the greatest art critic alive.



3. Robert Hughes' book reaches the goal of describing not only the wonderful paintings and drawings of Francisco de Goya, but his life, feelings, beliefs. This makes it possible for all those who are interested in studying Goya's life and work a deeper understanding of the man behind - and beyond - the works.



4. Mr Hughes' writing skills - which include a peppering of modern analogies, a sharp wit and an uncensored vocabulary -combine with a considerable feeling for his subject to enliven this book on Goya. Apart from his artistic expertise and technical knowledge of art generally, his sympathetic explication of the many works referred to bring the reader to a state of warm understanding of the evolution of this major artist. In addition, the non-expert, as I am, comes away with a better understanding of the Spanish and Spain. A most enjoyable read.



5. Usually I look for the artist's art in a monograph book, not his story (assuming the art itself would tell it more deeply anyway).
   But his writing is enjoyable: humorous, down to earth, cynical and sober, yet you feel through all this the passion and ambition of Goya.
   I find the his sober treatment of Goya as a not-so-idealistic fellow to actually inspiring - that he achieved what he did WITH all the real-life compromises he had to make.
   Makes you laugh at the ridiculousness of people's meanness, wickedness, arrogance, and downright cruelty. You laugh because you cannot cry.

3 comments about War Movie Posters: Illustrated History of Movies Through Posters.

1. This is arguably the finest entry in the Bruce Hershenson published series of film genre graphics books. Though all of his volumes are impeccable in style and presentation, this book approaches film advertising illustration not only as art, but as world history. Instead of compiling war film posters in order of their release year, they are here presented chronologically by the time of the actual war itself, adding profound depths of sociological and psychological perspective to the long sad history of hell on Earth. I write this review not for all the film buffs out there or poster collectors or illustrators, but to historians, to all teachers and students of the human journey. Here, from flag waving to burning, are the images of war as hope, promise, necessity, waste and despair. More than the films themselves with all their shooting and shouting, these posters silently command and provoke our senses all the way to the last shreds of wonder.



2. This is the eighth book of Movie Posters that I have purchased from Bruce Hershenson and each time I remark on the extremely high quality of the reproductions. This is obviously a job done from the heart but the visual aspects of the book strikes something in the sub-conscious and suddenly you are back in some cinema watching that movie again. More than just a coffee-table book but a reference source and one to take to work and get a discussion going as an alternative to football. A great read and highly recommended.



3. Bruce has done it again. In one book he has included the best and most graphically appealing posters from the greatest WAR movies of all times. Not only does he have the U.S. posters but many times he has selected the foreign poster that has better graphics. When you view this book you will be "transported" back to the films that you loved. I had forgotten about many of the great WWII films that I saw as a kid until seeing Bruce's book. How will he top this??