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I finished this book awhile back and finally had the chance to post something on the blog. Tom Kelley’s “The Ten Faces of Innovation” talks about IDEO’s design methodology by breaking it up into easy to understand archetypes. The book essentially explains how the company is big on user research (the anthropologist), rapid prototypes (the experimenter) and collaboration (collaborator). For the most part, this book is chock full of good info on how the company functions and is a good read for those interested in design thinking.
I just finished reading this book in just a couple of hours. Actually I power skimmed it since I”m familiar with the majority of the concepts covered in the book. So what do I think of Designing with Type? Well it’s a book for beginners and an excellent reference for those who are a bit rusty with typography. As a matter of fact, I think this is one of the best books on introductory typography out there in the market. And on Amazon, it’s only $16.47!
The book is easy reading and can be finished in a couple of days. The book covers all the important basics of typography such as type terminology, historical classification systems, designing with text type and designing with display type.
What makes this book so great is that they when describing the historical classifications, the authors provide a specimen sheet for each of the historical categories. Thus, it’s nice to be able to compare the difference between an old style typeface like Garamond to a modern typeface like Bodoni. Other bonuses in this book is section on type projects and a short but useful type specimen sheet. The only thing I would complain about this book are the chapters on color and traditional skills like copyfitting. Granted the subject matter for these chapters aren’t normally covered in an introductory type book, but still, it would have been nice to have a bit more in-depth coverage on the subject matter. But aside from these minor negatives, this books is full of typographic goodness.
I have to admit, I had high expectations from Steve Krug’s Don’t Make Me Think. After reading all the reviews on Amazon and seeing all the holds this book had in the library (which took about a year of waiting), I was excited to finally read this book. Was I disappointed? Somewhat but not really.
Krug’s philosophy in Don’t Make Me Think, states that we should design user interfaces that are obvious and simple. Hence, what Krug preaches is pretty much common sense but something that most people don’t realize or they probrably take for granted.
The book is divided into four sections. Part 1: Guiding Principles deals with how users scan information, interact with objects by muddling with them and how less is more on the Web. Part 2: Things You Need To Get Right deals with the design of navigation (Krug loves tabs) and the design of home pages (it’s all about hierarchy). Part 3: Making Sure You Got Them Right deals with the importance of usability testing (don’t test when the product is about to launch. Test in the beginning stages as well.) Part 4: Larger Concerns And Outside Influences deals with the politics of interaction design and is more of a chapter to vent and relate rather than offer any practical advice.
All in all, the book was an easy read and had a lot of good things to say. As to why I”m a bit disappointed, it’s because I was expecting this book to be the bible of interaction design. I’m sure that when the book was first published, it really rocked the web design world. But if you read other interaction design books, then you would be familiar with a lot of Krug’s ideas.
So today I just spent the past 3 hours online looking at design books. Despite the fact that I have a healthy design library sitting in my room and that I’m trying to save up, I broke down and bought three more books. I hate how weak of a person I am.
I heard Alan Fletcher‘s The Art of Looking Sideways is a tome of inspiration. For only $26.37 on Amazon, it seemed like a deal (especially if it’s a Phaidon book).
I like karlssonwilker’s work and I thought I found a deal on Hennessey Ingalls. But it turns out that I forgot to add in shipping and taxes. So now the total bill for this book is a whopping $40. Sigh.
There is a bunch of great deals for Why Not Associates ?2. Check out the Amazon Marketplace for the best buys.
After realizing that the library was closed because of SF Love Fest, I went to Borders to get some much needed relaxation from riding the L Muni (aka the love fest party bus). I noticed this book on the shelf and decided to take a look at it (actually I saw this on Amazon several months ago and wanted to buy it just for the cover alone). While skimming, I was impressed by the variety of illustrators and styles featured. A worthy buy for illustration students and professionals.
MrBokChoi 