5 comments about A Thousand Days of Magic: Dressing Jacqueline Kennedy for the White House.

1. I love reading and learning about Jackie Kennedy and feel she is the personification of elegance, class and grace. She was the EPITOME OF STYLE. For anyone that is an admirer of hers you won't be disappointed with this picture book (except I wish more photos had been in color so we could see her clothes in their natural hue). But it is evident Mr. Cassini is a very talented designer and Jackie was the ultimate subject. It is very easy to see why the world was obsessed with what she was wearing and how her style has influenced fashion for years on end. Great coffee table book.



2. I have always admired Jackie Kennedy for her style, grace and elegance. Therefore, Oleg Cassini's informative and illustrative book about the dresses he had designed exclusively for Jackie whilst being First Lady of America truly delighted me.
   
   Her reign (sadly) of a thousand days of "magic" was all too short for our mere mortals. A great coffee book table, I will always treausre it.



3. This is the BEST by far on Jackie Kennedy's simple but elegant fashion style. Oleg Cassini was personally selected by Jackie to design many of her outfits during her time as first lady. This book includes not only Cassini's finished articles of clothing, but also the original sketches he used in designing the clothes. On many pages he includes personal notes of thank you from Mrs. Kennedy, as well as requests for specific gowns or other items for special occasions. Not only was Jackie a fashion statement, she set the stage for years to come in the fashion industry! Oleg Cassini is a magnificent and world-renowned fashion designer, and will no doubt be long remembered for his fashion creations for Jackie Kennedy! The photos are stunning, and beautiful as ever...portraying Mrs. Kennedy all over the world wearing his designs. If you are a Jackie Kennedy admirer, Oleg Cassini follower, or a Fashion History buff; this is a remarkable book to add to your collection...more than worth the price!



4. I bought this book in 1995 when it first came out, it has held up beautifully, and is one of my all time favorite books about Jackie.

   A large, coffee table book that is filled with exquisite photos from Jackie's wedding day to President Kennedy through her time as First Lady, and her later years.

   Jackie has always been one of my favorite role models, and Oleg Cassini did one fantastic job in showing the sketches of clothing illustrations, as well as when and where Jackie wore them. He gives wonderful and detailed paragraphs of information that are respectful of Jackie. The book also has clear copies of the many letters of gratitude Jackie has written, as well as the many activities she was involved in.

   It is a true and dignified portrait of Jackie's greatest 1,000 days, and is a timeless treasure, showing the class, dignity, heart, and soul of a woman who will forever remain eternal.
   HIGHLY Recommended for the beautiful and dignified manner with which it is presented.




5. As far as I am concerned this is THE top book about Jackie's Fashions and I have either read, bought, or extensively reviewed all of them. This big coffee table book written by Oleg Cassini contains more information, better pictures and sketches than any other book about Jackie's fashions. In fact,I would say in some ways it is almost a biography of Jackie albeit a heavily illustrated one. Do not let the new influx of books about Jackie's fashions deter you from buying this book. The new books that came out around the time of the exhibit of her fashions at the Met are all ok . And Hamish Bowles book about the exhibit was the best of the three released during this timeframe. However none of these books match the lushness of Cassini's book!

5 comments about Book Arts: Beautiful Bindings for Handmade Books.

1. Ever since I turned from journal connoisseur to journal maker, I've been trying to find those rare books that teach me how to make interesting styles of books without the technical jargon and confusing stereo instructions written in some language requiring babel fish to decode.
   
   I prefer reading instructional art books that contain numeric step-by-step instructions and lots of pictures. After reading a few books in the stores on the subject and finding that most of them seemed to be written in that stuffy, old, college text book style with vary little pictures to reference, I was glad to find this little gem.
   
   Book Arts follows a project structure, meaning that it doesn't spend too much time on the history or rhetoric of bookbinding. Seckler drops you right into the process by quickly going over a few common terms (in list format, similar to my first introduction article) and giving you a general overview of common tools used in the process. After these 3 brief pages of introduction, she starts right on on the first project. There are a total of 12 different book projects, utilizing a few different types of binding techniques, ranging from easy (the first project is a no sew) to hard (two needle Coptic stitch binding). By name, these books are:
   
   * Memories of Paris (no sew)
   * Atlas' Secret Pages
   * Tag Flag Book
   * Chinese Star Book
   * Asian Serenity Book
   * Sewing Over Tapes
   * Long Tail Sally
   * Raven's Foot Binding
   * Geisha's Hideaway
   * Serengeti Piano Hinge
   * Two-needle Coptic Stitch Book
   * French Tunnel Vision Book
   
   So what makes this book so much better than many others? Well, for starters, it meets my top 2 criteria for instructional art books. The book is printed on glossy, full color paper and includes more than ample pictures and samples of hand made art books using the instructions within. Each project gives a complete materials list as well as easy-to-follow, step-by-step instructions (some numeric and others not) that help you create the featured book from scratch. She also includes any corresponding templates for many of the binding projects. Seckler wrote the book in plain, friendly English and she offers many friendly suggestions while you attempt the projects. Depending on what my mood is, I can create a simple project and be done within a few hours or spent a lot more time on a more complex project.
   
   My favorite projects in Book Arts include the Asian Serenity and the Piano Hinge Books. I also enjoy the no sew book as it's one of the nicer hard-bound book projects that doesn't require sewing with needles and a steady hand. On a side note, a great thing to do and use for the piano hinge books are chopsticks. They make perfect binding sticks! I'll frequently go to Chinese restaurants and horde everyone's chopsticks so that I can use them as the sticks that get bound into the piano hinge books.
   
   Another big benefit to this book is its reasonable price. At $16.95 USD, it gives you a broad and artistic look at how to make several different styles of books with minimum knowledge and tools. Doug and I were talking the other day about how some books out there are written in such a way that they expect you to have nothing but the best tools and the most expensive leathers or materials to put into your books, not to mention the time and dedication needed to make such a tome. With Book Arts, you can start creating your own books with tools and materials that fit within your own budget.
   
   I will admit that this book is geared to the art crowd, so many of the projects may look and feel a bit more artistic or "different" than your average everyday journal. But don't let that turn you away from looking at the book for what it is, an instructional device that gives you a quick overview of all the different types of books you can make and how personalized creating these books has become. The projects are standard enough that you can select the materials that you want to use to make each of your books personalized; you can either tone it down or spice it up, however you desire.
   
   [...]



2. This book is not the one that will teach you how to bind a book. It is more like a photo album of "artistic" book designs, but they are too artistic to be really used as a binding for a book you'd actually like to read.
   The designs presented can be used to create decorative book objects, that's if you manage to get how to do it, as the instructions are very scarce.
   
   I also have Hand Bookbinding: A Manual of Instruction (Paperback) by Aldren A. Watson, and this one I can recommend, it's very instructive.



3. Of the several titles on this subject I've recently acquired, this one might be my favorite. It's a little warmer in tone than some I could cite, it covers a wide range of books and binding techniques, it's very well-illustrated, and it's approachable and yet never condescending. If I had to recommend single source, it would probably be this one, because it is broad and the potential for everyday applicability seems highest here.



4. This book is rather thin for the price, although there are full color photos on nearly every page. The bindings were neat, if you're into the style suggested by the picture on the book cover. I am not, so "beautiful" is too strong a word. I was expecting something broader in scope and less kitschy.



5. Perfect for Artists book class, a bit more advanced than the scrapbooking fad/craze. Would encourage all true artists studio and student to buy!

5 comments about Dynamics in Document Design: Creating Text for Readers.

1. I purchased this book several years ago when I was writing my book, Book Design and Production -- and I recently checked to see if it was still available, and I was shocked to see it still in print. (I'm appalled that John T. WIley published it in the first place.)
   
   The author claims to be an "Internationally recognized expert in document design." Well, there was obviously no one remotely qualified in typography associated with this book or in the studies used to illustrate the many points on "readability" contained in the book.
   
   Many of the sample texts use Courier, a fixed width "typewriter" typeface as the basis of readability studies. Well, first of all, hardly any text is set in Courier and as a fixed-width typeface it is not appropriate for most typesetting projects. The worst case is a study claiming to show that "justified" type is less "readable" than ragged right type. Of course, when text is set with Courier and the justification is accomplished by adding spaces between words, it is certainly true that the justified type is nearly unreadable. But this is not the case for text in books and magazines. In contrast, Colin Wheildon's Type & Layout: Are You Communicating or Just Making Pretty Shapes has well designed, frequently repeated tests of reading COMPREHENSION (not "readability") that shows that well set justified text provides substantially higher comprehension levels than ragged right text.
   
   While there is some merit to many of the comments and suggestions in the book, much of it is seriously flawed with wrong conclusions and poorly structured surveys -- who cares what people "feel" about a document. It's far more important to know if they UNDERSTAND what they've read. So many of the surveys are simply using the wrong basic assumptions and surveying the wrong attributes. (It's like asking if a car has "nice" tires when you want to know if it has a comfortable ride.)
   
   There are many better books on design of documents and typography. This book isn't one of them.



2. Simply put, this is a "must have" book for any technical communicator or graphic artist at or above the masters degree level of education--or anyone who deals with advanced visual design/rhetoric. It has a wealth of references and research to back the theories explained in the text, and Schriver is one of the field's leading experts.
   
   The book will come across as "too much information" for people who are only passively interested in document design, and that's okay. There are shorter, less detailed books out there for those "casual" readers with no interest in research, reference, history, or background material. (The Allen & Bacon series "Designing Visual Language" springs immediately to mind.)
   
   The book's only shortcoming is that it is becoming a little dated, 12 years old at the time of this review. An expanded 2nd edition with new materials related to online design and multimedia would be welcome--if not a whole new book in and of itself.



3. This book is the most useful one I've found on the subject. Design books of all stripes (document-design focused or otherwise) have a tendency to provide "principles" without ever providing real support for said principles. Books will be loaded with recommendations that may or may not be well supported by data, quantified or at least well documented study results, etc.
   
   Schriver's book does exactly the opposite, and this is why it is longer than many others. It is impossible to read about Schriver's document design principles and not know exactly where they came from. Virtually every recommendation is, for once, well supported by research findings. This book never tells you to do something without first explaining why it should be done.
   
   If you're looking for a short-and-sweet book that conveys the most basic principles of document design ("principles" that may in fact be a designer's personal preferences), this isn't it.
   
   If you're looking for a book that will help you make better design decisions and help you understand why to make these decisions over others, then this is the book for you. After all, it isn't so unusual for professional designers and others in the workplace to have to explain exactly why they've made certain choices over others, and this book can help.



4. This book could be cut off to more than half pages it is now. The information is over explained and reader gets bored.
   
   Better luck next time!



5. The reviewers who say this book is wordy and over-long just don't get it. This is not a "how to do it in five easy lessons" handbook. If you find a book like that - burn it! Books like that are usually self-published by amateurs who don't understand the complexities of the field, and they are worse than useless. In fact, they are often filled with advice that has been so oversimplified that it is actually wrong. You CANNOT learn document design in five easy lessons.
   
   Conversely, Schriver's book is a refreshingly thoughtful, well-researched, and comprehensive overview of document design. It starts with the history and philosophy of document design and continues through contemporary needs and trends. It contains especially strong advocacy for usability studies, including documentation of those conducted by the author and her colleagues. It's about time we document creators stopped "blaming the user" and started taking responsibility to make improvements when documents are hard to understand.
   
   Document design is a relatively new field of study, so the comprehensive timeline of its development is a gold mine, especially since no author has attempted it before. This type of in-depth research is sorely needed.
   
   Schriver explains things in a way that is clear and compelling, with lots of thoroughly documented examples and supporting charts, tables, and graphics for clarification. And her research spans several decades, which is invaluable for tracking the evolution of document design. She has produced an unparalleled work which will be the benchmark against which other books are measured for a long time.

3 comments about How To Draw Crazy Cars & Mad Monsters Like a Pro (Motorbooks Studio).

1. This book was written and drawn by some of the original artists of Ed Roth's studio. It doesn't get any closer than this, great book!



2. My kids just loved this book. They are both aspiring artists and have done some great work since Christmas!



3. I bought this book for my husband, after several refferals from other hot rod friends. This book is better than described.

1 comments about Brandscapes: Architecture in the Experience Economy.

1. The topic of this book is extremely entertaining. As any reader can
   imagine from the title, it's about landscapes as byproduct of branding.
   Well known recent projects in the US (few Europe) by star architects are
   analyzed in the context of city branding, museum branding, and corporate
   branding.
   
   Branding has been out there for long time, but what's particularly
   interesting in recent phenomena (gist of this book) is that the
   architecture (or formation of its process) is used as a vehicle to
   branding. Klingmann was able to pull together diverse discipline groups
   and abundant resources to make that claim.
   
   Another major voice in the book is about "Experience Economy." Basically,
   how product developers and brand strategists have evolved their nature of
   products and point of advertisement into consumer based satisfaction.
   That in mind, Klingmann pulls together solid evidence of the
   architectural role.
   
   Good books tend to be either extremely informative or imaginative.
   Reading the book, I had pleasure of doing the latter. Branding, in my
   mind, at the basic level comes down to "art of seduction" or "art of
   persuasion", dealing the issues of contemporaneity. There are probably
   gazillion different veils to seduce, Klingmann's book does not focus on
   one particular way of seducing. The real strength of the book, hence is,
   its open-endedness to imagination.

3 comments about Art and Design of Gama-Go (Gama Go).

1. I was dissapointed in the size of the book. It's only a little over 6x6. It does have alot of pages tho. If you like their tee shirt art then this book is for you. That is all that's in it.



2. purchased as a gift and was so entertaining almost kept it for myself. disigns incredable.



3. The art of Gama go is super cool, i have bought it because of the tim biskup art work which i knew more about, but the design studio has lots of other cool stuff, a must see!

3 comments about The Idea of Design.

1. I know that designers sometimes would like to have a 1 minute answer, because design is still seen in the most cases as a practical discipline. But this book, even now a few years old, was one of the first important design readers which had been focused on the future,.. and theories, models are essentially more complex if the environment is also getting more complex. I would recommend thsi book for all designers as well as students who will be designers. It is a little theoretical, but it is worth while to read.



2. Good for overintellectualizing and pontificating idealistic principles of design; bad for any concrete examples. Sure, fanciful ideas of design's capacity to revolutionize social, environmental and cultural change is a splendid idea, but I'll need you to show me something that manages to accomplish that first. And hold all the airy, abstracted philosophical fluff please!



3. The Idea of Design is more the philosophy of design than anything else. It's true benift that is great for anyone in industial/graphic design and architechture is that it show a variety of view points. Romantics often get so caught up in their own vision they fail to see things from a different perspective. From reading the book I have learnt two very important lessons. (1) The most brilliant design resides in nature. Try as we will, our insight to solve one problem leads us to an ocean of social, economical and environmental difficulty. (2) In the past lies a higher understanding in which we often ignore. Before one creates, the designer must contemplate the change it will make in culture/society. This why studying a variety of different perspectives is imperative. Social responsiblity is hopefully making a comeback. Extremely interesting points are made in the essays, bearing in mind that you can grasp the daunting complexity of often abstact ideas.

5 comments about The Goblins of Labyrinth: 20th Anniversary Edition.

1. I bought this book for my girlfriend, that loved it when she was little, but lost the book in a moving.
   
   This book is really charming and very imaginative. The explanations and names of the creatures are very amusing, the illustrations are amazing, and the talent of the author shows.
   
   However, it is more a goblin catalog than a fantasy book or novel, so be sure of what you are buying. It is an artbook, not a tale or a novel. It can be enjoyed anyway by young and old, I think, but it is what it is.



2. Brian Froud, the creative genius behind Jim Henson's The Labyrinth, presents his concept illustrations for the film in this beautiful book. Written as a long-lost "archeological find," this book catalogues a variety of different goblins who allegedly lived 60 million years ago. It was a delight to see some of the original sketches that would eventually evolve into puppets from one of my favorite movies as a child. The best part was the afterward. There's not too much content, but I love the idea of a whimsical brainstorming session with Jim Henson in the back of a limo and the evolution of David Bowie into Jared the Goblin King. This is a great coffee table book for any fan of The Labyrinth.



3. I am very happy with my purchase. It was given as a Christmas present along with the World of the Dark Crystal. If you are or know a Jim Henson or Brian Froud fan than this is a must have.



4. I order 2 books from the vender. To my surprise they came as if they were worth gold. Of course to me they were. but they were bound in heavy plastic packed to protect them and shipped in heavy in cardboard. I will order from this vendor anytime I see their name on a book I want, even if they are not the least expensive,because these 2 books I ordered from them have absoultely no tell tail signs of being used.
   To see pictures of these books please go to laneiam@aol.com and see shared pictures dated 1/6/08



5. As always Brian Froud out did himself. He is so talented. The only thing I am not sure of is how long this book will last if viewed quite a bit. the stitching isn't uniformed through out the book.

No comments about New Media Design (Portfolio Series).

3 comments about Disney Dossiers: Files of Character from the Walt Disney Studios.

1. This book is a must for any Disney enthusiast! Great photos - fun comments and a wealth of information about almost every (but a few are missing) Disney character from the movies from the last century!



2. My daughter is using this for a resource for her classes at the Art Institute - Computer Animation Major



3. This is where ones expectations can color ones opinion. Although a nicely done book, I thought there'd be more depth into what went into the creation of the character, more background, etc. Instead, this is more like a children's book written for the more adult fan.