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Although communication, not aestheticism, was the primary concern, one can still argue for the overall visual design of the prehistoric artists. With the 1584 Gutenberg Printing Press, graphic design took on a whole new meaning. Now, text, coupled with visual appeal, could reach a wider audience than ever before. Although the use was – at first – primarily for Biblical and other important writings, the trend would soon spread to visual-appeal. Graphic design, as we know it, didn’t reach its boom until the computer era. With companies finding it increasingly necessary to have a corporate identity solution, visually-pleasing logo, and an online presence, graphic designers are definitely getting all the work they can handle.

Today, graphic design and website design are two separate but closely related entities. Most all websites offer some visual appeal – that is, they include graphical elements. When one understands this, they can really begin to grasp the widespread effect that graphic design can have. Creating something with aesthetic appeal is a laborious task, when one considers all the elements of graphic design, along with the viewing audience. Attempting to convey an emotion or theme is especially difficult. Special consideration to the following principles is necessary – mood, style, message, and hierarchy.

Moreover, one must consider the audience. Although anyone can view a website, logo, or corporate identity package, only a few are really in the ‘target audience.’ With graphic design’s worldwide appeal, designers have developed geographic markets in which to showcase their talents.

With Ireland’s technology boom, a widespread graphic design industry has developed. A Google.com search for “Irish Graphic Design” yields almost 2 million results, a true testament to this unparalleled growth.

David Davis, is the lead developer and project manager of Redfly Studios LTD. Graphic Design Ireland. For more information visit http://www.redflystudios.com

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Advertising Design and Typography Review

If you understood my headline maybe you don’t need this book as you’ve probably reached a level of deep typographic and design awareness but if your not quite sure then this fascinating title is well worth buying.

Every year there are several new books on design published and I tend to group them in two categories: over-designed with images afloat in a sea of white page space and (most annoyingly) small text type and even smaller captions so you can only read the book in sunlight, the other category includes books with good, solid, editorial perspectives that get to grips with the subject matter and present design concepts: practical and theoretical, with clarity in a well designed format. I think Alex White’s book definitely falls into the latter group.

With 1500 plus illustrations the book is the opposite of those titles that seem to think that just a few large images will do. Nearly every spread has fourteen lines of text, either side of the gutter with the illustrations making a border round them. This main text sets out ad design concepts and the images show practical examples. Fortunately all the illustrative material is captioned. I did notice though, that on a few pages, with so many ad reproductions, some are too small to take in the point being made about the headline or design.

The three ad sections: Strategies; Design; Typography basically cover print advertising and there is a short overview of billboards, TV, radio and web design. The section that really interested me was Typography. In sixty-five pages White packs in a remarkable amount of type knowledge, so much, in fact, that on first reading you’ll probably miss a lot. For instance, on page 169, there is an ad by the great designer Herb Lubalin and next to it the same ad with a couple of vertical red lines added to show how Lubalin optically lined up the stacked headline. Page 198 has block of display text and on 199 the same text is vastly improved by using nine examples of typographic finesse. This sort of content is very typical of the practical ideas and suggestions throughout the book.

The title was designed by the author and well printed (with 175 screen) on gloss paper. Considering it is about design I thought it rather odd that the cover, title, imprint and contents pages were rather subdued in their presentation but a minor point when considering the wealth of information in all the other pages. White’s book is just the thing to help you knock that bright idea into a classy graphic reality.

***SEE SOME INSIDE PAGES by clicking ‘customer images’ under the cover.

Advertising Design and Typography Overview

The most comprehensive overview of advertising design strategies on the market today!

* Best-selling design author has unique philosophy and expertise
* 1,500 full-color illustrations showcase outstanding advertising design from around the world
* Unique comparisons of print, web, TV, and other campaigns–which techniques work best?
* Ideas for forging corporate identity through advertising

This unique, comprehensive overview of advertising design strategies, written by a best-selling, award-winning designer, will help students and professionals in advertising, design, and typography understand and use persuasive visual messaging. Design principles such as unity, contrast, hierarchy, dominance, scale, abstraction, and type and image relationships are covered in depth. Readers will also learn how print design compares to television, web, and interactive design, and how to apply each style to create persuasive designs. The extensive section on typography offers essential information on how readers perceive type, typographic history, principles, and practice. Helpful appendices include an extensive glossary, bibliography, and art director’s checklist. Complete with more than 1,500 examples and illustrations of outstanding advertising design from around the world, Advertising Design and Typography is a groundbreaking book that will train the reader’s mind to! see more accurately and more critically–ultimately changing the way designers think and develop visual ideas.

Available at Amazon

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Cipe Pineles: A Life of Design (Norton Book for Architects and Designers) Review

As a student of graphic design, I could have not been more fortunate that this book came out when it did, it was my only research source for a design project I did last year. After reading it, I felt as though I knew Cipe personally. Scotford’s account is rich with sensitivity and detail, and is well-organized and well-written.

Cipe Pineles: A Life of Design (Norton Book for Architects and Designers) Overview

The life and work of the first woman art director of a mass-market publication, an early role model for women in design. One of the unsung pioneers of American graphic design, Cipe Pineles was art director of Glamour, Seventeen, Charm, and Mademoiselle magazines between 1930 and 1960, helped to create the institutional identity for Lincoln Center in the 1960s, and taught generations of students at Parsons School of Design. Tracing Pineles’s career from young immigrant to “ranking” female in the design world, Martha Scotford chronicles her professional life at a time when few women were involved in design and assesses her contributions to graphic design and magazine design in particular.

Available at Amazon

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