Article by Martin Gibson – Twitter: @martingibson @embody3d - 20.03.2012

ISBN – 9781592537662

In essence Stop Think Go Do – How Typography & Graphic Design Influence Behaviour by Steven Heller & Mirko Ilic, published by Rockport is portfolio book covered by a mirage or thought provoking title. The title Stop Think Go Do is picking up on the street sign mentality of advertising and messages being about conveying messages to a given audience.

The book is structured in this spirit with 8 snappy chapters including: inform, advocate, play, caution, entertain, express, educate and transform.

In more detail:

Inform – parallel to educate but not exactly the same. It involves tweaking the audience by bringing to light an issue, essence, or concern that requires contemplation.

Advocate – the most common of all because designers are often called upon to create a messages that rouse an audience to support and therefore engage in an issue or event.

Play – what every design does, whether knowingly or not. What is moving around a word and image but a puzzle or game? This is the essence of the following sections; through play we learn entertain, express, inform and transform.

Caution – the most classic graphic design behavioural message genre. Keep out, no trespassing, wrong way, beware of dog, and other cautionary missives are designed to ensure health and well-being of one and all.

Entertain – the genre of behavioural design that everyone enjoys the most. No one is threatened by entertainment, which has various outcomes but one fundamental goal – to bring enjoyment.

Express – the largest growth area, for more designers are using graphically designed words and slogans as a means of expressing personal beliefs, philosophies, and manifestoes with the goal of influencing others.

Educate – a combination of all the categories here, except specifically it is the rubric under which more detailed knowledge messages are shared.

Transform – is an overlapping category whereby projects borne of play are transformations of what they originally appear to be. There pieces are sly and wicked, using visual puns and graphic manipulation to come in under the perception radar.

As you can tell by these sections that the categorisation of portfolio items is all over the place in Stop Think Go Do as of course a portfolio item can be both cautionary and entertaining so where do you place this item? This categorisation becomes so useless that as a reference guide it is unusable as a designer doesn’t looking for examples of works that are playful or expressive. More so these topic areas are inherent in the style chosen by the designer as one could have a playfully told safety message for the construction message or a cautionary detail at the opera.

Parts of me commend this book for going back to the core of graphic design, which is about communicating a message, it’s not just about being aesthetically pleasing on the eye. Other parts of me snuff at this book about it is just stating the obvious, like of course graphic design is all about communication and the chapter titles have some universality. Don’t think that Stop Think Go Do is a deep book about philosophy or education, this book is really a portfolio showcase with a wistful introduction, nothing more, nothing less.

Criticism aside, this book is pretty good. Let’s face it, this is a book about showing off sexy graphic designers from some of the top graphic design firms from all over the world. Stop Think Go Do really excels in this most important area, the designs are fantastic. As stated in the title the book is equally about the study of typography as well as the broader graphic design and you will find a lot of typographical experimentation. I was certainly taken back with this in a positive way. Unlike just having a few credit lines under each image I like how they have put a small blurb on the design to give a bit more information; it gives some critical insight to the artist and the purpose and this context is so important. The page size is relatively large and is printed on both back and white backgrounds to make certain design stick out or to present the designs in the best light; the print is great as well.

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Article by Martin Gibson – Twitter: @martingibson @embody3d - 20.03.2012

ISBN – 9781592537785

The Graphic Designer’s Electronic-Media Manual by Jason Tselentis, published by Rockport aims to educate traditional media designers like print and type designers to transition to the digital realm. This includes areas like type and colour application, composition, navigation and user interface, and customisation for different devices like desktop computers, tablets and smartphones.Chapters include:

1. The Digital Realm
2. Managing the Design
3. Format + Layout
4. Typography
5. Colour + Pattern
6. Image + Illustration
7. The Online Brand

The Graphic Designer’s Electronic-Media Manual really is a manual, it covers the whole scope of digital graphic design. Jason Tselentis, the author, is a professor at Winthrop University in South Carolina and has operated his own studio since 1996. How work has been featured in places like Arcade, Eye and How magazines. The experience of Tselentis shows throughout the book with a number of practical and experience driven examples which keep the book informative as well as entertaining.

These illustrative guides produced by Rockport really are my favorite books written. They have enough information to keep you interested and well informed, yet it is not too vague that you don’t learn anything and it is not too detailed like a rule book that gives you no scope to innovate. Tselentis uses a variety of media to communicate his message including screenshots, photographs, diagrams, sketches and tables which are utilised in great effect. As an example in the format and layout section it has a nice diagram explaining the commonly used screen sizes and aspect ratios used to help you with web development using overlaid transparent boxes, it gets this detailed! This section also covers areas like framing of pictures, padding, using tables as a layout guide and even navigation menus.

The aim of this book is to help transition traditional designers to the digital world and it does extremely well. A chapter that is a good example of this is the section on typography where they talk about web safe fonts and browser compatibility and rendering, really core knowledge areas for making a website that are pivotal to a beginner. Equally this book is great inspiration and training to young designers who are interested in transitioning to the web or app development. I can’t think of a greater audience for this book than web developers who can nail the apple script or C+ but don’t know how to engage and interface their design to the market.

The examples used are just great at illustrating Tselentis’s main points, I can’t praise or recommend this book more strongly. It is near essential reading for all junior web developers or people curious about website design.

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Highlights in Armstrong’s career include designing for high profile Australian companies, Qantas and Cochlea as well as international companies such as Philips and Electrolux. Blue Sky’s commercial success is based on a holistic approach that considers more that just functionality or aesthetics. Armstrong comments: ‘These have been major milestones in my career and while both exciting and challenging… have been quite humbling experiences’.

Expanding on his interest in medical design Armstrong comments: ‘We are interested in developing designs in the Medical and Bio tech area which will assist patients in realising a greater level of physical comfort when using technology and contribute to promoting to their well-being’.

‘The thinking that distinguishes Blue Sky is the belief that a company must convey their brand promise to customers via every touch point. Design is no longer limited to narrow product offerings but encompasses every aspect of a company’s contact with its customers. We call this ‘Experience Design’ where the design delivery goes beyond a narrow production line thinking, that has typified the approaches to design in the past. Important to us is that the design delivery be considered within the contextual setting that relates to the experience of the end user. The implication of this in the rollout of any design brief, is that design is delivered in an integrated way so is taken through to all aspects of the branding and organizational strategy. In this way design takes on a completely new meaning, its empowerment drawing from the many design synergies within its contextual setting.’

The Blue Sky philosophy is all about design outcomes that focus on end user experience and creating value for clients and their customers. Armstrong maintains that business is successful when it has deep knowledge and understanding of customer needs.

Outlining his future vision when he takes up his position at Monash University, Armstrong comments: ‘ I’m very keen to continue my work in the Medical and Biotech category. It’s an area of significant challenge and has the opportunity for close industry collaborations with global companies whose head offices are here in Australia.

‘I’m also interested in putting together some international research collaborations with companies in Europe and the USA to ensure our research projects are based on world’s best practice in consumer product and appliance design’. Armstrong will be commencing his new position from April this year.

He comments: ‘There are a number of outcomes that make the position exciting for me. There will be the opportunity for exchanges of ideas and processes between the team at Blue Sky and the students and researchers at Monash. It gives me the opportunity to explore exciting and challenging ideas that under the normal commercially driven demands of a design practice, we rarely get to explore. I’m also attracted to the freedom provided by University research, with the possibility to investigate concepts and ideas that in industry would not be possible. I like the idea of pursuing risk taking investigations that have the potential to yield greater returns in terms of IP and revenue generation for the University’.

For more information and interview with Professor Mark Armstrong please contact:
Marie Geissler
0416 285 727
02 9380 5510
marie@geissler.com.au

Based in the USA, the International Design Awards (IDA) exist to celebrate the world’s most visionary designers, discover new and emerging talent, and promote the appreciation of design worldwide. Charlwood Design was awarded alongside international design teams from 65 nations including Samsung, Fuse Project and RKS.

“We are thrilled to see our design gaining international praise and I am very proud of all the work our studio put into the product, from invention of the plunger filter through to the elegant design in production.” Charlwood Design CEO, Paul Charlwood says.
The 321 Water bottle has also been recently featured in the Hollywood blockbuster The Hunger Games undoubtably because of the innovative, futuristic design.

ISBN – 9781592537372

Complete Digital Illustration by Laurel Saville and published by Rockport combines traditional handcraft skills with the latest digital technology to help you create engaging images. But this title is a lot more than some design compilation it includes designer and studio profiles, step by step tutorials and even checklists for successful practices. In a world inundated with logos and simple posters and cheesy newspaper graphics this book aims to recover what seems like the lost art of illustration. The profiles and tutorials are not only action packed, but they are interesting and are written in a very personal manner. Complete Digital Illustration is split up into 2 main sections: Creative Image Making, followed by Commercial Image Making, creative meaning the development of illustrations and commerical image making being more about how to transform this craft into a business. Some of the profiles and topics in these 2 areas include:

Creative Image Making

- Ian Wright, Michael Gillette, Jasper Goodall which talk about their influences
- Paul Davis, Marlon Deuchars, Shonagh Rae on mixed media and techniques
- Anthony Burrill, Brett Ryder, Seijiro Kubo and Paul Burgess on revival, appropriation and reuse
- Kam Tang, Spencer Wilson, Laurie Rosenwald on the power of the drawn mark
- Joe Magee, McFaul, Josh Gosfield on photo graphic image making

Commercial Image Making

- Mr Bingo, Adrian Johnson, Pietari Posti, Natsko Seki on ideas and problem solving
- Holly Wales, Asako Masunouchi, Oliver Hydes, Matt Wingfield Studio on the digit versus the digital
- Sanna Annukka, Sasha Barr, Serge Seidlitz, Marine on where fashion and music collide
- Jon Burgerman, Simon Oxley, Jeremyville on the art of character design
- Jim Stoten, Emily Alston, Craig Atkinson on commercial art and personal projects

The candidates who have contributed to this book are all top notch working professionals. Amongst them there are a good mix of both western and eastern artists and this gives the book a great global mix as the different artists bring unique philosophies to their craft. All the portfolio items and examples, which are well presented and captioned, also reflect this global reach of professionals. These graphic illustrations use a wide variety of traditional and digital mediums to communicate to their audience. There is a huge amount of diversity, these interviews don’t get boring for a second, although I do recommend pacing yourself through the title to get the most value from it. The topics covered are interesting despite their quirkiness at times. Unlike many other books, the topics are somewhat advanced but still approachable for anyone including students to grasp.

Some of the tutorials include:

- Insider Tips
- Idea Generation
- Surviving a Placement
- Keeping Clients Happy
- Negotiating Fees
- Winning Awards

The advice given in the tutorials is actually broken down into even smaller tips. This tips are awesome to say the least. They are extremely practical and very correct and informative. This is good advice given by professionals who have proved it in the field. They don’t hold back, glorify or gloss over anything. These few tips are worth the price of the book alone.

Complete Digital Illustration is evidence that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, as this cover certainly isn’t pretty or elegant. The book is a greta all rounder that gives you a good mix of practical advice, industry insight through interviews and inspiration from portfolio items. It is by far the best illustration book I have seen to date and highly recommend it for both students and professionals and in particular graphic designers who want to push themselves to the next level. So if you feel like all your design possibilities are dependant on what Adobe offers you in the next CS release, maybe this book will inspire you to open that old pastel, marker or crayon case once again and have fun mixing and matching technologies and mediums together.

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Article by Martin Gibson – Twitter: @martingibson @embody3d - 14.02.2012

ISBN – 9781592534821

One Show Interactive Volume 14 by The One Club and published by Rockport reveals the best interactive advertising and new media in 2011 as judged by the premier One Club for Art and Copy, a non-profit organisation founded in 1975 to recognise and promote the design industry. The ever-growing competition sees thousand of entries from the best creatives around the world. Budgets have increased, and the general scale of projects have increased and so has the quality. The book is split up into the following judges categories: Best of Show, Judges Choice, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Interactive merit.

The thing I like about the One Show Interactive books is that you get a great sense of diversity as people approach advertising and design in so many different ways, using so many different mediums. In this book you will find posters, websites, tv campaigns, billboards, apps, games, you name it, all competing for one grand prize. The types of work can include: ecommerce, corporate image, direct marketing, self promotion and much much more. I wont spoil this title by giving you the winning entrants this is best for you to explore. Like all One Show Interactive titles it features the designer, the client and other credits that contributed to the project and for the major prizes a brief description.

WIth 295 design packed pages and 1200 colour images on show One Show Interactive fails to disappoint. But One Show needs to be careful that their recipe doesn’t become stale, because it is certainly heading and for some is already there. In this addition doesn’t even tell you anywhere whatsoever what the book is even about! No blurb, nothing on the front cover, the introduction doesn’t tell you anything; it is if the books markets is only people who actually compete in the competition. Because if you were an insider you would have absolutely no idea what the book is about, and the title “One Show Interactive” doesn’t give anything away either. This book needs some spicing up and some formality. How about some judges comments or justifications? The problem is, is that if many of these prize winners don’t have any description or justification, the audience has no contextual information to judge or appreciate the work by. Context is everything; to many Picasso’s work is highly prized but to an outsider who doesn’t understand context or as I like to think, an alien, has no way of appreciating his work without knowing his ideation and philosophy. There isn’t any criteria of how they judge the works either, and you have to have some criteria otherwise the judges are just guessing of personal preferences and that just isn’t fair to the audience and I imagine to the entrants. What about some general tips to students or to people who didn’t fair as successful as the winners, or what about doing some analysis on the work and picking up on some industry trends. Do anything and I will take it.

The real audience of this book is really the people in industry. These creatives can find great value from this book for research and trends. This book has fantastic inspiration with beautiful designs, but this book needs to frame this competition better, because it is a good competition and needs to be presented in this way. This book shouldn’t be a class project compilation but rather like entering a museum or the judging of the Nobel Prize. For people in the know this book is a 4 and for everyone else it is a 2, so I am averaging it out to give it a fair 3.

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Article by Martin Gibson – Twitter: @martingibson @embody3d - 14.02.2012

ISBN – 9781592537372

365 Habits of Successful Graphic Designers: Insider Secrets from Top Designers on Working Smart and Staying Creative by Laurel Saville, Joshua Berger, Steve Gordon Jr. and Sarah Dougher and published by Rockport is a unique approach to providing buddying designers with insight on how to run a successful design business and how to be a successul designer from some of the worlds best. But does this book achieve this? In this review I am going to try and stay as positive as possible but it is hard not to be very frustrated by this book. Of course the books title ’365′ of course referencing the amount of days in a year suggests that you would read one number a day, a number being a handy tip being around half a page long followed by half to a couple of pages of pictures. But I just don’t seem people reading it in this way, I would suspect the audience would skim this book and find something that looks new and interesting or they might find something they can work on.

I only see this as a coffee table book that designers would read at lunch and have a laugh at how some of the things relate to their daily loves. Or a book a non-designer would buy for a designer thinking that it would actually help them be a better designer and that they might actually appreciate the gesture. I get the impression this is not the use-cases the authors had in mind for this book.

The huge issue with this book is quite simply it states the obvious. I have even shown this book to non designers and even they had the same reaction to me “well duh of course that’s what you should do”. Despite the huge volume of editorial content, all 493 pages long the book feels so empty. I feel like you could replace every mention of the word “design” and replace it with the word “business” and the book would be of equal value to a business student because of the general unoffending language used throughout. Here is just an example of just some of the tips used in the book (and I didn’t proactively seek these headings out, this is a fair representation):

- Design for change
- Digital design is about visualising data
- Anything but helvetica
- Look for the road not taken

It is these ambiguous headings that kind of set up the following half page up for limitations. Don’t get me wrong some of the advice stated is absolutely true (probably the far majority) and I think in some cases it would be very relevant to design students, but there’s a lot of competition for design education resources. I just can’t see students crying out for a casual light-hearted approach to learning about what should be considered professional and somewhat serious issues. It feels like they really had to push 365 Habits of Successful Graphic Designers to the brink to just get 365 unique and interesting entries and that is a really difficult task to start with. A better approach would be having less but more in-depth lessons that the market needs to learn. Ultimately books are about messages to people, give the people what they want and what they need to know. Do students really need to know they have to “look within” or “read a good book” or “bring something extra to the table” to be a successful designer? There is a lot of overlap and there are a lot of basic tips that could have easily been forgotten.

However let me end with a few positive elements of the book it would only be fair. The illustrations, photographs and design samples are wonderful, they certainly support the main arguments raised in the book. As mentioned previously for a lighthearted coffee table discussion this book might have found it’s place, it really would be great for this purpose. In the right hands, someone who can digest this information and really apply it might get a good kick out of 365 Habits of Successful Graphic Designers. In the books defence if anyone is going to be creative about how they can implement advice it should be a designer! Some students who like this general overview information might enjoy this book and also a professional might see this book as the ultimate checklist…am I doing this well? Can I improve on this? And so on…so while it is not the best book we have come across at Embody 3D, for some it might be able to fit in somewhere especially if you like to keep things short and not too technical.

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Article by Martin Gibson – Twitter: @martingibson @embody3d - 14.02.2012

ISBN – 9781592536306

The Best of Letterhead & Logo Design by Mine Design and published by Rockport is another great graphic design book published by Rockport. There is really not too much to say about The Best of Letterhead and Logo Design as it is pretty straight forward. It is just a collection of logos and letterheads collated from a variety of graphic design firms and individuals from around the world. There is no educational component, nor is there any in-depth design analysis or interviews or even descriptions. But for seasoned designers these parts can often seem like padding for the real meat which is those juicy designs. This is where the book really excels, the designs are beautiful; I am almost tempted to say they are the best designs I have seen yet, which would be appropriate seeing it is a ‘best of’ book.

The designs are split up into the following categories:

- Professional Services
- Creative Services
- Retail, Restaurant and Hospitality
- Recreation and Entertainment
- Education, Health and Non-profit
- Miscellaneous

Someone from Rockport is certainly reading my book reviews as in the past I have been very harsh on how some of the older Rockport titles categorised designs based on aesthetic motifs or themes. For example having all the logos that contain dogs and animals together, or all the logos that are in circles together. When in reality it is design firms who buy these books and they want to quickly get inspiration from particular industries or perform market research. The Best of Letterhead and Logo Design addresses this need by using these industry categories.

If there was anything that I could possibly complain about in this book is more a strategic decision that was made to include letterheads. Many younger people believe it or not don’t even really know what a letterhead is. I consider letterheads to be a dying communication method. Even for startups the idea of having a standard letterhead seems like a bit of a luxury that old corporations use to exhibit standardisation and uniformity. A letterhead is used when you write letters to people…I don’t even remember the last time I did this, and aren’t letterheads used for faxes as well? Wait what’s a fax? Perhaps for these high calibre clients a letterhead might be a welcome addition. But I think in this day and age why not throw in a business card and other branding items. Why not even have a logos and email signatures book! This may seem silly but I tell you what I bet I have seen at least a thousand times more email signatures than I have letterheads in the last year. Just a thought.

Perhaps it is a bias of a worn book reviewer who can find it difficult to be excited and inspired about these graphic design collection books; but I feel like I have seen too many graphic design collations. Perhaps it is another personal bias since we are an educational blog to want to see more of an education focus. I know from experience there is so much to learn out there about logo design and theory and the current material is by no means comprehensive or resolved. But don’t let my personal afflictions get in your way as The Best of Letterhead and Logo Design is a fantastic book and I am sure if you don’t have a high quality graphic design book yet this would be a fantastic place to start. I can say first hand that I have used this book to help me with a few graphic designs I have been working on and I found this book to be of great value, so check it out!

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Article by Martin Gibson – Twitter: @martingibson @embody3d - 14.02.2012

ISBN – 9781592537501

46th Publication Design Annual by Society of Publication Designers and published by Rockport celebrates the most outstanding editorial design produced in 2010, created for editorial publications across all print, web and tablet platforms. From consumer, trade, corporate and digital magazines and newspapers. I personally found some of the magazine covers a little cliche, but it is the illustrations inside these magazines and newspapers which really took my breathe away. Some of them are so thought provoking and time consuming to produce. For example a data visualisation of Facebook’s network, or an intricate health diagram of the human foot which just communicated the intended message so powerfully. The book is split up into the following categories:

- Magazine of the year
- Members choice
- Design
- Photography
- Illustration
- Digital
- Spots, and
- Student competition

The designs, judged by 40 experienced visual journalists, are fun and innovative works, it is difficult to fault the quality. The works are presented with large images fully exploiting the large, beautifully printed pages. The book is very consistent in how it is laid out which is appreciated and of course mentioned the credits, category and client for each project.

You can find magazines featured like Go with the funny Tracy Morgan or sexy spreads with much loved Miranda Kerr, or perhaps the rough-edged Sylvester Stallone might tickle your fancy. Or perhaps the random nude and quirky cover designs will tickle your fancy. There really is something for every kind of artist out there. There’s even a sizeable chunk of Ipad magazine developments. Which was cool, but in essence it looked no different to a magazine or a newspaper it is just on an Ipad. Really a printed book is never going to communicate the touch and interactiveness that many of these Ipad magazine designs exhibit.

Like most competition books, 46th Publication Design Annual lacks criteria and justification. Also like most competition books, 46th Publication Design Annual doesn’t lack inspiration or publication merit. This title is well suited for all graphic designers, educators, students, corporate communications executives, editors and publishers. I would also throw in developers and engineers who have that great technical knowledge but need that design edge that is so important to differentiate your application or media to the audience; as there is a big pool of apps and online magazines out there.

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Article by Martin Gibson – Twitter: @martingibson @embody3d - 19.11.2011

ISBN – 9781592537433

Graphic Designers Essential Reference – Visual Elements, Techniques, and Layout Strategies for Busy Designers by Timothy Samara and published by Rockport

Starts with a good ‘How to Use this Book’ section.

Graphic Designers Essential Reference outlines some essential tools of the graphic designer including a good computer, sable brushes, swatch books with spot and profile colours, gouache, loupe, erasers, steel ruler and tringle, cutting mat, knife, lucite brayer and a bone folder. This is a good section and I enjoy how they note down a lot of traditional tools to be an equipped designer, but they really need to focus more on digital. I know traditionalists are going to hound me on this point but because of time restrictions and the digital way of communication the need for laptop and software is becoming increasingly important. Let me put this way a graphic designer can survive without a set of paint brushes but a designer can’t survive without a laptop.
The following educational section I believe is well orchestrated. It teaches in a basic manner the study of form and composition, colour, typography, scale, contrast and hierarchy. Not to mention principles of symmetry and asymmetry and working with photographs or images. The diagrams used in this section are brilliant it clearly explains the core concepts, and the pages aren’t too overbearing. I particularly enjoyed the section on choosing and combining typefaces as this is something I have developed personally by experience but to see a theoretical teaching of it really drew me in.

After this extended introduction of sorts the book then splits up into 2 core areas. The first is all about graphical elements which are illustrated in a swatch format, and the remaining half ‘Project Strategies’ shows how these principles are being used throughout projects.

Graphic Elements
Graphic elements is segmented into pictorial staples (like icons, patterns and image treatments), then chromatic concepts (colour palletes), then typographic stylings (fonts and combinations), then followed by layout strategies (like grid structures, cropping strategies and ideas on proportion).

In general the graphic elements section is well composed, there definitely could be more filtering by only showing a couple of the best and more unique concepts. At times the concepts can be repetitive and even at times amateurish. For example the swatches on photography where it shows different filters you can put on photographs seems to follow the ideals of the creators of Photoshop. As in we all know there are some crazy filters in Photoshop, but just because we can mathematically create crazy things it doesn’t mean stylistically we should use them. When would a top design studio ever digitally emboss or solarize an image? The textures on the other hand are great, the colour palletes on the other hand could use some work; some of them just don’t seem to work at all. But perhaps it is just my subjective eyes.

Project Strategies
Project strategies is split up into 4 sections like graphic elements, these include: first impressions (cover designs, advertising and website homepages), then setting the stage (editorial spreads, posters and advertising and retail displays), then the heart of the matter (packaging systems, content websites and extended publications), and then finally letter perfect (which is just a selection of typographical solutions).

Project Strategies on the most part is pretty good, I like how on each design it has a ‘visual profile’. The visual profile just uses graphic design buzz words to describe the piece which is actually pretty helpful and unique. For example: continuity, flow, modular, spatial, narrative, layered etc. etc. It is rare that I say this but the quality of some of these works is at times pretty average. I am used to getting design portfolios and books that just blow you away, but just some of these designs you wonder how they made the cut. Don’t get me wrong on the most part the standard is pretty good, there are just a few stray shooters that make you wonder.

Graphic Designers Essential Reference is good but not heart stopping. The educational section is really great; it’s almost a shame it isn’t any longer. It would be nice if they could interweave the three areas of education, templates and real like examples into one section because they kind of bounce well of one another. Although it is pretty weighty and is titled as a reference book it feels like things are just missing from it, for example where are borders or gradients for example? It is by no means a complete reference book but it is sufficient in delivering a good mix of everything. As a present or for design students I recommend this book, for professionals I would recommend a more in-depth title to use as an essential reference.

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