How To Be a Graphic Designer Without Losing Your Soul
I want to post about a book (or two in the next few days) which I own, and I believe are staple books for any serious designer out there to at least read, if not own for their book collection. The first one is How to become a graphic designer without losing your soul by Adrian Shaughnessy. Let me fill you in on who Adrian Shaughnessy is before I cover some of the information / advice he gives in his book.
Adrian Shaughnessy is a graphic designer and writer based in London. In 1989 he co-founded the design company Intro. Today he runs ShaughnessyWorks, a consultancy combining design and editorial direction. He is a founding partner in Unit Editions, a publishing company producing books on design and visual culture. From 2006 until 2009 he was the editor of Varoom, a publication devoted to the critical appraisal of illustration.
Adrian writes regularly for Eye and Creative Review magazines and has a monthly column in Design Week. He also occasionally contributes for The Wire magazine. He hosts a radio show called Graphic Design on the radio on Resonance FM.
The book: In the book Shaughnessy addresses the business side of being a designer, for designers that actually want to earn a living from their labour of love, and who want to avoid becoming hired drones in the work force, knocking out soulless work with no concept. It combines practical advice and philosophical guidance to young (or seasoned) professionals who want to embark on actually making a business of their design work.
From how to manage the creative process, to the first step of successfully interpreting a design brief. How to generate ideas when you've hit a designer's block. No-nonsense strategies of setting up, running and promoting a design studio, finding work and collaborating with clients.
The book also includes inspiring interviews with ten leading designers, including Rudy VanderLans (Emigre), John Warwicker (Tomato), Neville Brody (Research Studios), and Andy Cruz (House Industries).
The second edition is out now, the charcoal grey cover with cyan highlights (blue cover is the first edition). Even though it is a type heavy book, the design layout breaks it down for you and makes the book easy to read, as if anything less was expected?!
You can get your copy here.
Adrian writes regularly for Eye and Creative Review magazines and has a monthly column in Design Week. He also occasionally contributes for The Wire magazine. He hosts a radio show called Graphic Design on the radio on Resonance FM.
The book: In the book Shaughnessy addresses the business side of being a designer, for designers that actually want to earn a living from their labour of love, and who want to avoid becoming hired drones in the work force, knocking out soulless work with no concept. It combines practical advice and philosophical guidance to young (or seasoned) professionals who want to embark on actually making a business of their design work.
From how to manage the creative process, to the first step of successfully interpreting a design brief. How to generate ideas when you've hit a designer's block. No-nonsense strategies of setting up, running and promoting a design studio, finding work and collaborating with clients.
The book also includes inspiring interviews with ten leading designers, including Rudy VanderLans (Emigre), John Warwicker (Tomato), Neville Brody (Research Studios), and Andy Cruz (House Industries).
The second edition is out now, the charcoal grey cover with cyan highlights (blue cover is the first edition). Even though it is a type heavy book, the design layout breaks it down for you and makes the book easy to read, as if anything less was expected?!
Comments