Design Elements: A Graphic Style Manual

This book is Awesome (yes, with a capital A). I've studied graphic design for quite some time, and I HIGHLY "Design Elements" to any level designer. If you're just getting interested in the topic, picking up a copy of Samara's works is the way to go. The layout is fun and intriguing, while the subject matter is highly engaging yet informative, providing a comprehensive overview of basic design principles. Moreover, inspiration is plentifully throughout the length of the text, as each chapter contains spectacular examples demonstrating the topic-at-hand.Buy it -- Read it -- Highlight the livin' crap out of it -- Enjoy it!

This is a fantastic book that I continue to digest. I highly recommend it to everyone from Graphic Designers to Instructors. It is so full of information and examples and inspiration (and it is presented in a non-cluttered way also). It covers the basics like graphic design elements, typography, and layouts, but it doesn't stop there. It also covers thinking outside of the box in both literal and abstract ways of designing to capture your audience's attention. I think this book is a must have for every Graphic Designer.

Great textbook, but riddled with so many typographical errors it's unbelievable. One single run of spell check would have fixed most, if not all, of them. I really struggle to believe the writer knows what they're talking about when every other spread has an incredibly obvious error on it. Not only are they grammatical in nature, but there are a few times when there is an illustration that explains some rather complicated concept, and the caption/explanation is explaining the concept in the wrong order or paired with the wrong illustration entirely. You have to read it with your thinking cap on to filter through the errors and get at what the writer is actually meaning to say, rather than what he actually says.Good material. Poor presentation. I hope any subsequent editions fix the stupid errors so readers aren't left bewildered.

From the design elements of a unique placement of page numbers in the margin to very colorful representations of design elements, this book is well-worth the price. Far to often, other books attempt to explain color rendering and shape meanings without investing in professional demonstrations of the concepts. The mechanics of type, the texture of form and space, and composition strategies are well presented. A veteran graphics designer will find this book a refreshing creativity stimulant, and the new designer will find this book a genesis of ideas. I reach for this book whenever I need some brain/eye design candy.Ok, the book was not perfect. My technical communication background is the source of my quibble with the author's choice to use a light gray type in the body text against a white page. When the reader struggles with the difficulty of the read, there is a reduction in the transfer of information. It is as if to say, look only at the color because all the information is in the graphics - yet there was good information presented in the body text.

This book is so concise, and the explanations really well-worded and illustrated, that I have actually come to love it. It is forming the foundation of my understanding of graphic design, and in doing so sheds new light on design in general. It is dense, so expect to spend some time making your way through it. However, it is refreshingly lacking in any of the superfluous text so many authors include in their books; you won't find any personal stories or words of encouragement within these pages. What you will find is a reliable demystification of the fundamentals of graphic design. Kudos and thanks to Timothy Samara and Rockport publishers for producing such a great reference.

Good Content but graphic design needs improvement in typography.The preface with the beige text on a black ground at the small size is extremely hard to read which is a shame because of the subject matter. The Introduction is readable. The book has sections on Form & Space, Color, Typography, Image, and Layout that have really good content but the text with the examples is also too small. The information is good for teaching but the text is a good example to students on why you have to consider the purpose for your text, apparently it was too cut down on the ammount of pages and price.Terminology in Graphic Design is interchangeable so when there is a difference it is customizable but the information in this book does a good job of explaining the subjects it discusses so that students can adjust to their situation. The chapters on Form & Space and Color are real good. Personally the 20 Rules and later How to Break Them should be gone over with students so the teacher can put their own input in on them. They are not necessarily wrong but can be misinterpreted or misunderstood.

I have a hard time reading text books, but this one is pretty good. The author is entertaining, and the book is visually interesting - much more so than other design books I have purchased in the past. The language is understandable, and the chapters move in a logical order. If you're looking at this book for a class, get it; it's worth the money. If you're just looking for an awesome source of reference, get it; it's a great resource.

I would highly recommend this book. The type is small but not unreadable. I didn't know a thing about graphic design and this book has helped me tremendously. It covers all of the basics thoroughly and is more interesting to read than most other graphic design instruction books I have seen. There are good examples of every concept presented, so you can see exactly what they are trying to illustrate. It covers everything from choosing text to overall layout, color selection, etc.

Excellent livre qui présente différentes techniques graphiques et leur effet sur la personne qui regarde. Pas de pelletage de nuage. Si vous lisez l'anglais, c'est un très bon livre.

Being a non-schooled, part-time graphic designer, who's learnt everything on his own during about 10 years of doing print-design, this book has provided quite a useful resource. I just bought it, and it certainly isn't completely perfect (small gripes, such as too small print and at times a bit messy layout that perhaps aimed at something artistic but fell short), but for its price, it has already done some wonders and has given me quite a lot of food for thought.Actually, inspired by this, I designed a nice propositional layout and managed to get a good contract doing the design for a 250-page text book with loads of pictures, graphs, tables, and all those nice, giddy little bits that one can spend a ton of time with. For me, this book has been quite educational and reasonably inspirational, though if you've been through a formal education in design, this might not be up to scratch. But for every self-taught designer, I would heartily recommend this nice little piece.I suppose the main gist of what I would say is that if you're thinking of whether or not you should buy this, my advice would be to go ahead.

I bought this book to help me understand more about design and the principles behind "good" design. I say good because it is subjective, but there are some overarching rules that exist. I especially like the "Twenty Rules for Making Good Design". These rules, or guidelines, which the author reminds you that you can break are words to design by.I would give this book a higher rating if it had more ideas about how to actually put together a pamphlet or how to design a flier etc. I will reread this book and try to get more out of it. It is a dense book packed with lots of information and examples. I would recommend it to someone who is serious about design and has some time to get their head around the principles.I also Liked the Robin Williams Design Workshop 2 because although it doesn't go into as much depth as this book it is much easier to access the information and take away some clear applications without having to spend lots of time thinking though all of the exact reasons why you are using one font vs. another and all of the nuances of that decision. The Design Elements book is great for making you think that through, but sometimes I don't have time to think about all of the nuances I need to get the project done.

No issues.

great book which covers all you need to know in easily accessible form. Bought it for my graphic design son who rates it highly.