Grid Systems: Principles of Organizing Type (Design Briefs)
by Kimberly Elam
List Price:
Our Price: $10.01
You Save: $9.94 (50%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Kimberly ElamEdition: Paperback
Published: 2004-08-12
ISBN: 1568984650
Number of pages: 112
Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press
Accessories:
Book Reviews of Grid Systems: Principles of Organizing Type (Design Briefs)
Book Review: Well-Designed To Sell
Summary: 2 Stars
Grid Systems had excited me to the point that I went to the store and bought it while my Amazon order was delayed in shipping (t'was never delivered). I tore into it with great delight until I reached about page 20. It was then that I started to notice an abundance of the same types of 'grid example thumbnails' with one-sentence notes. While, in the first half, these are informative, they just become page fillers that speak to the same principals again and again. There are far too many of them. It's clear that this is designed to make the book heavier.
My interest peaked again, though, when I got to Jan Tschichold's 'Die Neue Typographie' layout (as promised on the cover). There was an overlay of vellum with the grid for the piece. "Finally," I thought, "some applied theory!" But no. The overlay shows the grid and a triangle (mystery triangle to me- never explained). The accompanying 7 sentences do little more than to describe the piece and provide a history. This is par for the rest of the real-world examples in the book: A complex overlay with zero supplemental information on it.
This book is well-designed to sell if you flip through it or look at the Look Inside on Amazon because you'll think there are in-depth analysis for historical and popular works based on the grid. But there aren't.
Consider another option.
Summary of Grid Systems: Principles of Organizing Type (Design Briefs)
Although grid systems are the foundation for almost all typographic design, they are often associated with rigid, formulaic solutions. However, the belief that all great design is nonetheless based on grid systems (even if only subverted ones) suggests that few designers truly understand the complexities and potential riches of grid composition.In her best-selling Geometry of Design, Elam shows how proportion, symmetry, and other geometrical systems underlie many of the visual relationships that make for good design. Now, Elam brings the same keen eye and clear explanations to bear on the most prevalent, and maybe least understood, system of visual organization: the grid.
Filled with extensive research and more than 100 informative examples from the Bauhaus to Nike ads, Grid Systems provides a rich, easy-to-understand overview and demonstrates a step-by-step approach to typographic composition. It suggests design strategies that transcend simple function and reductionist recipes to allow grids to become a means of truly dynamic communication. Any designer, educator, or student will benefit greatly from this elegant slim book, chock-a-block full of colorful examples, helpful vellum overlays, and Elam's insightful analysis.
Art History Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Audiobooks on Cassette
- Audiobooks on CD
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- e-Books
- Engineering
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Medicine
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Graphic Design Basics
HelveticaRelease date: 2007-11-20; DVD
Best price: $14.98
Price in other shops:
How To Be a Graphic Designer Without Losing Your Soulby Adrian Shaughnessy
Princeton Architectural Press; Published: 2005-09-22; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.67
Price in other shops:
Grid Systems: Principles of Organizing Type (Design Briefs)by Kimberly Elam
Princeton Architectural Press; Published: 2004-08-12; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.98
Price in other shops:
Geometry of Design: Studies in Proportion and Compositionby Kimberly Elam
Princeton Architectural Press; Published: 2001-08-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.95
Price in other shops:
Forms, Folds, and Sizes: All the Details Graphic Designers Need to Know but Can Never Findby Poppy Evans
Rockport Publishers; Published: 2004-05-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $18.66
Price in other shops:
Stop Stealing Sheep & Find Out How Type Works (2nd Edition)by Erik Spiekermann, E.M Ginger
Adobe Press; Published: 2002-07-25; Paperback; Book
Best price: $16.99
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
The Elements of Graphic Design: Space, Unity, Page Architecture, and Typeby Alexander W. White
Allworth Press; Published: 2002-11-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $14.06
Price in other shops:
Stop Stealing Sheep & Find Out How Type Works (2nd Edition)by Erik Spiekermann, E.M Ginger
Adobe Press; Published: 2002-07-25; Paperback; Book
Best price: $21.49
Price in other shops:
Layout Workbook: A Real-World Guide to Building Pages in Graphic Designby Kristen Cullen
Rockport Publishers; Published: 2007-05-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $15.68
Price in other shops:
Universal Principles of Designby William Lidwell, Kritina Holden, Jill Butler
Rockport Publishers; Published: 2003-10-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $22.00
Price in other shops:
Meggs' History of Graphic Designby Philip B. Meggs, Alston W. Purvis
Wiley; Published: 2005-12-07; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $55.44
Price in other shops:
Typographic Systems of Designby Kimberly Elam
Princeton Architectural Press; Published: 2007-05-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.95
Price in other shops:
The Elements of Typographic Styleby Robert Bringhurst
Hartley and Marks Publishers; Published: 2004-10-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $16.86
Price in other shops:
Geometry of Design: Studies in Proportion and Compositionby Kimberly Elam
Princeton Architectural Press; Published: 2001-08-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.00
Price in other shops:
Making and Breaking the Grid: A Graphic Design Layout Workshopby Timothy Samara
Rockport Publishers; Published: 2005-05-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $15.64
Price in other shops:
Thinking with Type: A Critical Guide for Designers, Writers, Editors, & Students (Design Briefs)by Ellen Lupton
Princeton Architectural Press; Published: 2004-09-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.78
Price in other shops: