4 comments about The Lucky Guide to Mastering Any Style: How to Wear Iconic Looks and Make Them Your Own.

1. I don't usually read style-guides but this book is so good. It is clear, visually and textually and I actually stayed up last night thinking about what I already own that I can put together in new ways. It's a really nice, encouraging book that has the same supportive tone of the magazine and the same wealth of ideas. I love this book and am definitely giving it as gifts this X-mas.



2. this could be the only fashion guide you will ever need. there are many styles to choose from and they can all work for everyone. it makes achieving these looks so simple and creates an understanding of each one.
   i recommend not getting stuck on any one of the styles but being open to all of them. this guide simplifies each style so much that it makes you want to try each one
   after following this book you may just be set for life. the styles in this book are timeless and beyond the constant changes of fashion.
   every girl from teen and up should have this guide book.



3. The book is on par with what they do every month in the magazine; it is filled with gorgeous, cool outfits. The book is divided in to chapters according to a particular look; ie, bohemian, bombshell, euro chic, American classic, California casual, etc. Along with Harper's guide on fashion this is a total must have.



4. I just got this book in the mail today and flipped through it at work. I am looking forward to carefully combing through its pages tonight at home. :)
   
   QUESTION: Are the outfits that the 'Lucky Girls' are wearing in each style profile comprised of items that they own from their own closets, and if so, what are the labels for those items? My guess is that the clothing belongs to them, but if so, where did they buy them?
   
   I'm a little disappointed that the book doesn't have quotes from them talking about their outfits and why they chose them, what they like about them, and how those items reflect their style.

5 comments about Thinking with Type: A Critical Guide for Designers, Writers, Edit & Students (Design Briefs).

1. This is one of only a few type books that I have read and was one of the most enjoyable. The concepts of typography are presented in an easy to follow flow and language that anyone can understand while not 'dumbing down' typography to a point that designers won't enjoy the book.



2. A fun book to read to learn about how types we're created (author and history).
   Really like it.
   I guess only people in the graphic design world will like this book.



3. A nice book for bathroom reading, but hardly a desk reference or textbook caliber tome. Look for "Design form and Communication" by Rob Carter for a more thorough source on all things type related. Pick this one up for 10 min refresher reading while you're..killing time.



4. I like this book a great deal. The next time I have a chance to use this in a class (to teach) I will. There are lots of good examples, the language is clear, and it's not too ethereal or esoteric. I think it's a great introduction to typography and laid out very well.



5. I love type, but I lack an educated background on its use. I was so looking forward to learning about such details as when to prefer a sans-serif versus a serif in certain situations, how people react to various different families of faces, prescriptions for when to apply different types of layouts, and so forth.
   
   When I got was a partially complete history lesson on how different types of faces and families evolved, an introduction to grid layouts with very little prescriptive advice, and weirdly, a brief editorial primer teaching how to mark up the printed page with pen.
   
   To its credit, the book is full of examples of layouts. As I read, I expected any minute I'd penetrate the entry level "Here we see an example of a layout" to the real meat, but it never ever happened.
   
   To the author's credit, the book was meticulously assembled and was clearly the product of a great deal of effort. And, this is not the first design-related book I've discovered that lacked meaningful depth.
   
   But to any practicing designer looking for some guidance for taking their use of type to the next level, or understanding beyond his own innate instincts when to apply certain techniques, this is not the book for you. In fact, I'm not sure who this book is for.

5 comments about The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, 2nd edition.

1. Tufte's book is a very fine book on data graphics.
   
   Although this book gives a lot of simple advice on how to effectively communicate quantitative information, it is not just a recipe-like book, as it also makes you think about a data graphic as something that is telling a story with numbers.
   
   Beware that not all advice given is easily applied using common office suites. This is by no means a problem with the book, it is just that the text is not at all software-oriented. In fact, you may start to see the limitations in the office suites themselves. So, for those who just want some fast rules to use in their favorite software, this book may not be enough, or even the most recommended one. For all other readers, I highly recommend it.



2. I returned to Tufte's first classic book of graphic design principles over 20 years after first discovering it. At the time, I was the corporate librarian for a major electric utility, and the explosion in the organization and creation of information by individuals with new personal-computer hardware and software was just beginning (I had an IBM PC-XT with 640Kb of RAM and two 360k floppies--no hard drive).
   
   Now, I wondered, aside from the masterpiece of graphic design that "Visual Display" of course still represents, did Tufte's theories of graphics design still apply in a world where those computers at our fingertips pack the power and sophistication of the best publishing equipment? The answer is yes: Tufte's guidelines are timeless and universal, and most of his examples predate the computer era and even the 20th century.
   
   The guidelines boil down to the single principle of making design choices that result in the simplest possible display of complex data. While that may not sound profound, Tufte provides simple and practical rules for implementing sound design choices, and the resulting improvements in your documents and web designs will be noticeable.



3. I was able to read this fairly quickly. (stealing a few hours here and there at work).
   
   Although I did not find any direct solutions to my current problems - it definitely opened my imagination to consider new possibilities.



4. It definitely was interesting and educational to read and see Tufte's presentation on Visual Dispaly of Quantitative Information. He illustrates the good, the bad, and the ugly of graphic displays over the centuries. However, I was hoping to see more examples of current computer graphics that should be emulated in this edition instead of terse comments and skeletal constructs in this area.



5. A picture is worth a thousand words, but Tufte would rather right it all down. It would be funny if it wasn't so sad.
   
   This is a somewhat interesting book for the catalogue of historical visual presentations, but has little to offer someone working today. The most amazing thing about this book is its incessant use of verbiage instead of visual display.
   
   If Tufte intended his book as irony, then bravo.
   
   If you're looking for actual help in visual display using the tools most of us have at our disposal (not the extremely expensive software that Tufte suggests) then look elsewhere for help. I recommend:
   
   Presentation Zen: Simple Ideas on Presentation Design and Delivery by Garr Reynolds
   or
   The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures by Dan Roam
   
   Indexed by Jessica Hagy
   
   If you want to see great (and fun) visual displays on the web, then hit graphjam.com, zfacts.com and indexed.blogspot.com.
   
   I would also suggest a trip to the dentist over paying for one of Tufte's seminars. Getting your teeth drilled is more pleasant than a slide show of Tufte's sculpture garden accompanied by his pedantic narcissism.

5 comments about David Busch's Nikon D300 Guide to Digital SLR Photography.

1. I'd recommend a freind to buy the book.
   The book in addition to the a very concise description of every feature of the camera, it gives many small and helpful tips and ideas.
   
   Ram



2. If you have a D300 get this book.I moved up from a D70s,and It was a good move.The D300 Is a lot more complex and does require some study.David "ALMOST" makes the Nikon manual obsolete,a lot easier to use and understand.I get lost In the manual but the book makes It look easy.You will be missing a lot of features of the camera if you don't read this book.



3. I actually bought this book thinking that it would be like the Magic Lantern books. A small but well written and illustrated field manual. WRONG. It is a large, well written instruction book that shows you everything you could possibly need to know about the fantastic Nikon D300 camera. There is not a better book out there if you have a D300, but dont expect to slip this monster in your camera bag.



4. This book is for the person who knows nothing about photography and for those who think they know everything.
   It is most informative in the complexes of this camera and if, like me, you find some aspects hard to take in at first, the beauty of the written word is that it can be re-read.
   I've only got to page 63 so far but look forward to picking it up at every chance.
   Highly recommended.



5. If you have the D300, this is a must have book. Very thorough from front to back.

5 comments about Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art.

1. Okay, this is seriously one of the most brilliant books I have ever read, and I have Henry (who is also brilliant) to thank for introducing this to me. (Thank you, Henry.) Although this book has been around since '93, I suspect it's nowhere near as recognized as it deserves to be, but with time that will change, I hope.
   
   The full title is "Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art," and what Scott McCloud does is explain what we take almost completely for granted, not just about comics, which he convincingly raises to a fine art, but also about the way we 'see,' and think we see, the world around us, especially as it is represented in words and images.
   
   It's an important book because he talks in deceptively simple terms about how we perceive reality. McCloud shows the reader, through the seemingly "childish" mechanism of comics, how we think about what we perceive. Therefore, it's an epistemological text, and those are always of tremendous interest to me. It's also a book about how creativity works, and that's a central theme to my research. I've spent most of my adult life dealing with 90% of what he encapsulates in 215 densely packed (and highly entertaining) pages. Did I mention that the entire work is written in the form of a comic book? No? Well, it is.
   
   It purports to be about comics, but that is only the tip of the philosophical iceberg. It's a study of how to think about words and images, and how we have come to use them, not just in Western society, but also in the East. He calls this the "invisible art," the effect of the combination of words and pictures, and if you read this, you'll get a much better understanding of the term "closure," which is the phenomenon of what the brain does when interpreting the gaps between words and pictures (in comics, this gap is represented visually by the space between each frame of words and images). We make up a story in our minds to close this gap, and it's a crucial piece of the story-telling process, this 'silence' that leads the reader to decide what really happens.
   
   Scott McCloud combines semiotics (the discussion of the meaning of signs and signifiers), art history, rhetorical analysis (why it's so brilliant), cognitive and neurological research (another reason it's so brilliant), with an analysis of art and literature's influence on human social dynamics. The synthesis he reaches makes the invisible, visible, and will help the reader understand how comics evolved and where they come from. Hopefully, it will give the reader a new appreciation for the comics art form.
   
   I have studied the theory behind virtually every aspect of what he's talking about, except comics, and so I know the sources he's relying on to get to the information he's condensed for the reader, and I also know you won't like those sources, but you will like this book because it's accessible in a way semiotics, rhetorical analysis, and the finer points of art history, are not. But if you read this book, that's part of what you'll be reading, and you'll be glad you did.



2. As previous reviewers have mentioned, Scott McCloud is passionate about comics; part of the purpose of writing the book, it seems is to justify the argument that comics are indeed art. I found this a moot point, although his evidence was interesting. Another reason behind the book, it seems, is to explain the message behind comics: the epistomological leaps we take when we read them, the artisitic decisions made when they are created, and the evolution the art form has taken. This was not only the strongest and most interesting part of the book, but also much less preachy.
   
   I enjoy comics, from 19th century broadsheets to the Sunday funnies and the occasional graphic novel. Until now, however, I never really thought about the conscientious decisions the artist makes between realism and meaning when drawing them. Similarly, I had never critically thought about the fundamental differences between Asian (especially Manga) comics and Western comics. McCloud has shed much light on these topics, and explains these differences and decisions clearly, without pretense.
   
   Avid readers of comics, aspiring comic artists and purists may find McCloud a bit pedantic - for the novice such as myself, I was fascinated, as a whole new world has been opened to me through his explaination. Why the four stars then? I took a star for his argument about comics as "art". I suppose there are those who believe comics are not art (or are "low" art at the most); while I disagree with this (and side with McCloud), I thought the argument was out of place, and ultimately moot. Still, a recommended read.



3. You don't wanna miss this lesson guys. Mccloud just forgo himself. A must-have book for all comic readers.



4. This is an important book that everyone should read. I would give it twenty stars if I could.
   
   I've long been interested in both art and comic books (I have collected them for over 50 years). While the library shelves are full of wonderful books that explain what traditional artists are trying to do and why they succeed, I've often found the books to be pretty boring. In recent years, such books have gotten bogged down into abstruse language that is much less appealing than the art which is the subject.
   
   But in those years, I've never seen anything that was very helpful in discussing the rules of comic art, except some books about pop art when that was popular that examined how the pop art was different from comic art. Naturally, I was blown away when I found that Understanding Comics is a far more comprehensive, thoughtful, and accessible book about interaction with art than I have ever read. Although the subject is ostensibly comic strips and comic books, it's clear to me that that Mr. McCloud has a deep and powerful understanding of all art. Some of his conceptual displays of where different forms of art fall in different dimensions of choice (degree of realism, abstraction, and message) are unbelievably powerful.
   
   I hope that some art historian will stumble on this book and recast the history of art to explain and relate different styles to one another using this book's methods. There would be a lot more art lovers if that were the case.
   
   Ultimately, the book's main benefit is to help the reader appreciate that comic art can be a higher and more effective form of art than either pure images or written words by requiring a mastery of more elements . . . elements that are more powerful in grabbing attention and conveying meaning.
   
   Yet the book stays in humble form, a comic book. The powerful ideas sneak up on you as Mr. McCloud deconstructs the elements of comic art expression into chapters on defining what kind of art comics are ("sequential art" for short); explaining where various comics fall on the spectrum of reality, story, and abstraction; the way we fill in the spaces around the lines and between panels with our minds, allowing us to participate in creating the story and the experience; how time is expressed in various ways; the role of lines in creating our understanding and responses; how words and images can interact; a conceptual look at creating comic art; the effect of color; and a synthesis of the book in historical and conceptual terms.
   
   If you want to enjoy both traditional art and comic art more, read this book. It's the Rosetta stone for non-artists in appreciating the images, stories, and messages that artists want to share with us through these media. You'll never be the same . . . and the change will be good for you!
   
   Bravo, Mr. McCloud!



5. This is the type of book that looks at a genre and sees it's roots clearly in the basic structure of art and human perception. This is not a book about costumes and secret identities, but about how comics use the basic human archetypes and symbolic language to speak to us in metaphor. THIS BOOK WILL SHOW YOU HOW TO APPRECIATE ART, NOT JUST COMICS. Every art student should have this in their library.

5 comments about 2009 Children's Writer's & Illustrator's Market (Children's Writer's and Illustrator's Market).

1. Some good articles, especially regarding things like query letters, and of course, the listings that make researching much easier.



2. A "must have" thorough book of guidance for any writer and illustrator. Very well done. If your efforts are directed to selling your work, buy this book.



3. I am a publisher author and illustrator, and I know first hand that this book works! How? Because it helped me to get where I am today! I have writers and illustrators asking me all the time how to get published, and I always direct them to this book. If you are a serious writer or illustrator, you NEED this book - not only does it have the names and addresses of countless publishers, it also has invaluable tips, and how-to's on everything from writing a query letter, to website design. I buy it every year, even though I no longer need it. I've purchased other "How to get published books" in the past, and none of them hold a candle to this one! Stop thinking about it and buy it!



4. This book has a wealth of information and is so much more than just a list of publishers. There are tips on what and how to submit a manuscript and interviews with first time writers. I am very happy that I purchased this book.



5. While the internet provides writers with almost everything they need to succeed, there is still nothing to be found online that compares to this essential guide. Each year, Alice Pope and her crew deliver the goods, by scouring the publishing world for book, magazine and multimedia publishers that accept work from children's writers. Trust me, every successful agent and submitting author in the children's book field has a dog-eared copy of this book on the shelf. Plus, the articles that accompany the listings are of invariably high quality. A must-have.
   
   Jon Bard
   [...]

5 comments about The Design of Everyday Things.

1. So often "design" books seem to go on about looks and "feel" yet only brush over the physiology of design. This book shows you how to think like a user, explorer like a user, error like a user and design for helping the user love your product.
   
   Anyone reading this book will instantly appreciate truly good design over the average mud we currently live in.



2. Having heard that this was the seminal work in usabiliy, my expectations were probably too high.
   
   Some of the principles laid out are indeed excellent and well illustrated.
   
   The structure of the book is - ironically - not crystal clear. As I am reading the book I find myself looking back at the table of contents to understand the structure.
   
   The writing style is slightly entertaining at first and you sympathize with the author hanging out himself as a clumsy and spacey academic. However, after the first 30 pages the rambling style and the somewhat unstructured content makes the book really boring. I had to push myself to finish it.
   
   What strikes me is the lack of other books in this topic. Despite my criticism I'd be curious to read Norman's new book.



3. very nice delivery very fast response. One of the best sellers at amazon.
   will do business any time with them.



4. Written by a Usability Guru, some of the examples are a little dated, but still valuable for today's usability issues. A good read and well written.



5. Norman has created an entertaining and enlightening treatise on the psychology of everyday objects. Why do some things work so well while others completely baffle? What distinguishes successful utility from frustration? How does one research and develop successful products? Most importantly, how does one avoid wasting time developing products that are doomed to fail? Many everyday objects are examined for their utility and user-friendliness. Norman uses three basic concepts, Affordances, Constraints, and Mappings to deconstruct everyday objects.
   If you are designing Web sites, user interfaces for computer applications, writing manuals, or creating anything that will be used by a human being, this book will help you succeed. Norman encourages you to remove your creativity and ego from the process by affording you the objectivity to examine the goal from the point of view of the user. He shows you how social and cultural constraints can be used to enhance products.
   An excellent book but you must understand that using Norman's advice requires no small amount of humility which makes it difficult to sell to established shops. For instance, I know a Web design team that uses the "don't make them think" mantra for many decisions. But they've been using it so long they think they know everything about the best Web interface design. Their prejudices get in the way of successfully developing half of their projects because they can no longer think like users and visitors. They might never be able to use Norman's advice because they'd see it as obvious and pedestrian.

1 comments about How to Have Style.

1. This is the most exhilarating style book I've ever looked at. You'll enjoy it. It would be perfect if we could see Mr. Mizrahi give himself the IM treatment in the final chapter. Enough with those sneakers and schlumpy black clothes!

5 comments about Envisioning Information.

1. Book is in good condition, shipped quickly. I am very satisfied with this process and result.



2. Tufte follows up his debut classic with an even more beautiful piece of graphic art disguised as a guide to ways to display three (and more) dimensions on a flat surface.
   
   While even more beautifully crafted than The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, 2nd edition, it has less in the way of practical guidance. Tufte's principle here can be reduced to this far-reaching but not so simply-implemented statement: increase the resolution of "flatland" (paper or computer screen) to show more data to increase clarity.
   
   As usual, the principle is lavishly illustrated with beautifully-reproduced examples of good and bad ways of envisioning information. In fact, I have found Tufte's principle and illustrations are useful ways of thinking about how to improve my own graphics, but I find my ability to implement them frustrated by the limitations of the design tools I use most: Excel, PowerPoint, Project, Word, wikis. That is a negative reflection on the tools, not on Tufte.
   
   In any case, enjoy Tufte's books now for the portable affordable art that they are, and hope for the tools to catch up soon.



3. Nutshell review - This is a beautiful resource on presenting information in a myriad of ways with many examples of good and bad design. Beautifully illustrated.



4. Every time I go back to this book I get something more out of it. Over the past 10 years I've been through my copy a couple of dozen times. If communicating information is important to you, you should take a look at this classic.



5. This is my 3rd favorite of Tufte's books after Visual Display and Visual Explanations, but it would be a good addition for any Tufte collection and still contains useful info.

5 comments about The Lucky Shopping Manual: Building and Improving Your Wardrobe Piece by Piece.

1. This book is an excellent primer for those such as myself who may be slightly clueless on the fashion front. For me, it's a bargain alternative to a personal shopper (I wish!).
   
   The book has loads of pictures that offer plenty of ideas for new outfits and spark your creativity. I like this book as it is not pretentious or condescending. The authors offer advice for styles that will bridge seasons and outlast fads.
   
   I found the "build your wardrobe" and "in the fitting room" sections useful as well. This book does not go into vivid detail about body types nor is it the be all/end all. You could combine Lucky Shopping Manual with Pocket Stylist or The Science of Sexy and be completely educated.



2. The Lucky manual is a helpful tool for pairing shapes of every piece you can buy for your wardrobe and does not limit you to the time when the book was written. I would have liked to see a section on coordinating fabrics like: What in the world goes with a linen skirt besides cotton? And maybe a little more guidance for getting color and pattern combinations right.



3. It took me awhile to get around to buying it, but once I did, I wasn' sorry. It really gave me a lot of ideas about how to put pieces together. The advice (for the most part) is pretty applicable across a wide variety of body types, ages, etc. It really isn't about looking young so much as it's about looking modern. Once I read this, I realized that some of the clothes I had been hanging on to were older silhouettes that weren't right for my body, or weren't updated. Reading this gave me the courage to clean out my closet and pitch things that weren't right. The sections on jackets, suits, sweaters and pants, in particular, gave me a lot of good ideas about how to dress for work. I had fallen into a rut of wearing plain black pants + whatever top and now I have some inspiration to try different things. And, the section about how to pack for a 3-day trip was GREAT for me, because I am a chronic overpacker. Now that airlines are charging people who check ANY bags, I need to learn how to pack for short trips in just a carry-on, and the Lucky Manual's tips were VERY helpful.
   
   I do have a couple issues with the book. One is the swimwear section. There's not really a lot of helpful advice for what to do to solve particular body problems. It's more a focus on how to pick out two cute pieces and make a swimsuit, and there seems to be an assumption that everyone has a cute little figure that will look great in anything. Since pretty much everyone I know over age 25 has some issue they're trying to solve when they shop for swimwear (my thinnest friend, who looks great, is now fretting about "aging cleavage" if you can believe that) - I think this section could have been a LOT more helpful. Although most advice in the book is very commonsense, there were a few little things here and there that seemed to indicate a bias towards the young and skinny - but honestly, it wasn't a huge part of the book and I was able to get past it. The other issue I have is that some of the suggestions (wearing a huge, poofy fur trapper's hat with a conservative streamlined coat?) are just too funky for me, or really for much of anyone. In big metropolitan like New York or L.A., maybe some of these looks would look chic but in my town, they're what crazy bag ladies wear, and people would not be doing double-takes because they thought you looked hot. That being said, there were only a few of the "huh?" looks in here. Most looks were very attractive and really inspired me to branch out of the rut I was in.
   
   One more tiny thing - I am not sure who did the photographing for Andrea Linett's profile in the book, but she really did not look very good. The pictures of her were not flattering and made her look strange, in my opinion. I have seen other pictures of her where she looked better, but maybe those were older pictures? In any case, she may have great style in real life but the profile of her in the book was anything but convincing of that, for me.
   
   Anyway - bottom line, I think this book is a winner. Lots of great ideas in here for women of all sizes and ages.



4. I absolutely loved this book! It's a great how-to guide for updating your look to avoid becoming a fashion don't! I went shopping this weekend and used several tips from this book and therefore avoided purchases that are not flattering to my shape. I am excited to clean out my closet and gradually rebuild my wardrobe!



5. This is a fun book to look at because it has a lot of pictures of outfits and ways to combine things, but I do not recommend it for petite women. Many of the clothes featured would not be flattering to a petite frame or available in petite sizes.