Layout Workbook: A Real-World Guide to Building Pages in Graphic Design

Design is the visual synthesis of ideas. It captures thought and language, transforming them anew. Design also commands the imagination and intellect, creates connections, fosters under- standing, and provides meaning. Compelling examples of visual communication solutions range from simple to complex, trivial to significant. Design shapes the visible environment and delivers information to everyone within it; it is functional, conveying messages with purpose. Design is always present, taking on myriad formats, including print, digital, and environmental. Engrained into the fabric of cultural experience, design affects daily life in mundane and extraordinary ways.

For the designer, design is a creative journey —a process of discovery —that is fueled by inspiration and creative passion, as well as the desire to enrich and ignite communication. Designers are the engineers and craftsman of visual messages. They contribute their learned and innate knowledge, critical thinking and analysis abilities, and acute aesthetic and visual skills to the process. Design is an intriguing, evolutionary field, and the designer must constantly adapt to satisfy and challenge the ever-changing needs of communication.
Although design and designers continue to advance and diversify, the basic foundation of design practice lies in the understanding and application of the fundamentals of layout. The following pages are dedicated to these fundamentals, examining the function and importance of visual communication. The book illuminates the broad category of layout from function, inspiration, process, and intuition to structure, hierarchy, and typography. The objective is to educate and inspire as well as promote creativity, while encouraging the design of strong, thoughtful, and informative layouts. Featuring primarily print communications, each chapter aims to engage the viewer emotionally, intellectually, and visually—sharing the wonder of design.

Book Details

• Title: Layout Workbook: A Real-World Guide to Building Pages in Graphic Design
• Author: Kristin Cullen
• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Rockport Publishers; 1 edition (May 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592533523
• ISBN-13: 978-1592533527
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 8.9 inches