Book Groups
AIGA Boston's Book Group meets every other month in Boston to discuss a wide selection of design books. The group is run by volunteers and made up of 10-15 people. Books to be discussed are suggested by the members of the group, and then voted on and selected. Our group meets every other month on a Wednesday evening from 7:00 - 9:00 pm in Boston to discuss our books. These meetings are very casual and friendly. In addition to discussing the book, we exchange other ideas and information.
For more information on the book group, please contact Safoura Rafeizadeh at srafeiza@bu.edu. If you'd like to start and run a group in an area outside of Boston, please contact our VP of Community Development, Suzanne McKenzie, community_outreach@boston.aiga.org.
Our Next Meeting
Book to be discussed:
Handwritten: Expressive Lettering in the Digital Age
By Steven Heller and Mirko Ilic
Meeting Time + Place:
The Audubon Circle Restaurant Bar
838 Beacon Street, Boston MA 02215
February 20, 7:00pm
A few of the books this group have read are:
Empire: Nozone IX
Edited by Nicholas Blechman
All Access: The Making of Thirty Extraordinary Graphic Designers
By Stefan G. Bucher
Chip Kidd: Book One
By Chip Kidd
A Smile In Mind: Witty thinking in graphic design
By Beryl McAlhone & David Stuart
Book Group Member Book Review
Inside | Outside: From the Basics to the Practice of Design
Second Edition
Copyright 2006 by Malcolm Grear
Published by New Riders
in association with AIGA
Review by Safoura Rafeizadeh
Inside | Outside is a rare book of delightful honesty. It is refreshing to see that Malcolm Grear presents design using visual parameters. Consequently he maintains dignity for himself, his students, and his readers.
In writing on design, claiming to translate the "visual" to "verbal" defies the intricacies of each medium. In addition, versions of a "twelve-step system" for success, places the abstract concept of creativity against the pragmatism of "happy relations with clients." Attempts at both are doomed to fail the test of honesty. Inside | Outside stands above these issues with its honest premise, rare and refreshing.
Even in interesting books like With a Smile in Mind, a sound "verbal" concept becomes blurred and void of much meaning in its "visual" translation. Yet the book force-fits the visuals into its verbal categories; short of Malcolm Grear's delightful honesty.
Another battle can be observed in books like How to Be a Graphic Designer Without Losing Your Soul, juxtaposing creativity and business success. This results in admitted contradiction, followed by forced rationalization; again, short of honesty.
From its start, Inside | Outside takes the high road of simple honesty: "Art is a verb, design is a verb. Objects result, of course. But for the designer, the act of designing is the point; it is this action that must be studied and practiced and enjoyed for its own sake." How delightful, indeed. We designers do not need to apologize for our profession. We do not need to fear for the loss of our souls. We can simply enjoy designing. (Thank you, Malcolm.)
The fruit of decades of teaching, Inside | Outside presents design projects simple enough that their full complexity is rather tangible. As a result, unlike books which provoke oohs and aahs, we are engaged with concrete design concepts. We know the design objectives, what to watch for, and the significance of the challenge.
He emboldens us, as his students, with the possibility of achieving more than we ever thought possible. This is done by presenting a perspective of step-by-step evolution. He suggests that we trust our intuition, but not rely on it. Lovely advice that is simple, but does not simplify.
As I was sneaking out of a recent conference because I could not stand yet another sales talk, I recalled: "Just like what you do, and do it well." I then walked out with firm steps.
Book after book places the graphic designer against the client, with patronizing suggestions such as "Listen to the client." Inside | Outside places the designer in a choreographed dance with writers, photographers, illustrators, editors. Amazingly, happy relations with clients ensue. His story is the testimony.
Even stories of his callow youth are empowering with the bold humor of telling a know-it-all client: "You design it, I will bill you for it." Now he thinks: "If I do my job well, I can learn from the client and the client can learn from me." And then he explains what it means to do a job well.
Malcolm speaks of problem solving, but presents a profound philosophy we can design by, and live by. "If it [design] is approached as art, a certain dignity can be sustained to help ward off the venalities of the marketplace." "...to reveal photographic forms, not to display pictures." "There really is a universe in a grain of sand." "The strongest statements are the simplest." "Constraints become the mother of invention."
I salute his Father for his advice, and congratulate Malcolm for tolling the bell of honesty. We should all read Inside | Outside to protect our souls! Plus, it is fun and inspiring, with amazing works and solid design objectives.
The book itself is designed nicely, with respect and consideration of composition, good text type, column width responding to content (narration versus instruction). But despite the splendor, and how taken I am, I cannot forgive hyphenating the ragged text, placing text columns close to the binding, and using narrower columns for narrative text in the second half of the book.
A call for a divorce? No, at least he's honest. And we all should keep a man who is loyal to an object that resembles a heart, although an upside-down one!
For more information on the book group, please contact Safoura Rafeizadeh at srafeiza@bu.edu. If you'd like to start and run a group in an area outside of Boston, please contact our VP of Community Development, Suzanne McKenzie, community_outreach@boston.aiga.org.
Our Next MeetingBook to be discussed:
Handwritten: Expressive Lettering in the Digital Age
By Steven Heller and Mirko Ilic
Meeting Time + Place:
The Audubon Circle Restaurant Bar
838 Beacon Street, Boston MA 02215
February 20, 7:00pm
A few of the books this group have read are:
Empire: Nozone IX
Edited by Nicholas Blechman
All Access: The Making of Thirty Extraordinary Graphic Designers
By Stefan G. Bucher
Chip Kidd: Book One
By Chip Kidd
A Smile In Mind: Witty thinking in graphic design
By Beryl McAlhone & David Stuart
Book Group Member Book Review
Inside | Outside: From the Basics to the Practice of DesignSecond Edition
Copyright 2006 by Malcolm Grear
Published by New Riders
in association with AIGA
Review by Safoura Rafeizadeh
Inside | Outside is a rare book of delightful honesty. It is refreshing to see that Malcolm Grear presents design using visual parameters. Consequently he maintains dignity for himself, his students, and his readers.
In writing on design, claiming to translate the "visual" to "verbal" defies the intricacies of each medium. In addition, versions of a "twelve-step system" for success, places the abstract concept of creativity against the pragmatism of "happy relations with clients." Attempts at both are doomed to fail the test of honesty. Inside | Outside stands above these issues with its honest premise, rare and refreshing.
Even in interesting books like With a Smile in Mind, a sound "verbal" concept becomes blurred and void of much meaning in its "visual" translation. Yet the book force-fits the visuals into its verbal categories; short of Malcolm Grear's delightful honesty.
Another battle can be observed in books like How to Be a Graphic Designer Without Losing Your Soul, juxtaposing creativity and business success. This results in admitted contradiction, followed by forced rationalization; again, short of honesty.
From its start, Inside | Outside takes the high road of simple honesty: "Art is a verb, design is a verb. Objects result, of course. But for the designer, the act of designing is the point; it is this action that must be studied and practiced and enjoyed for its own sake." How delightful, indeed. We designers do not need to apologize for our profession. We do not need to fear for the loss of our souls. We can simply enjoy designing. (Thank you, Malcolm.)
The fruit of decades of teaching, Inside | Outside presents design projects simple enough that their full complexity is rather tangible. As a result, unlike books which provoke oohs and aahs, we are engaged with concrete design concepts. We know the design objectives, what to watch for, and the significance of the challenge.
He emboldens us, as his students, with the possibility of achieving more than we ever thought possible. This is done by presenting a perspective of step-by-step evolution. He suggests that we trust our intuition, but not rely on it. Lovely advice that is simple, but does not simplify.
As I was sneaking out of a recent conference because I could not stand yet another sales talk, I recalled: "Just like what you do, and do it well." I then walked out with firm steps.
Book after book places the graphic designer against the client, with patronizing suggestions such as "Listen to the client." Inside | Outside places the designer in a choreographed dance with writers, photographers, illustrators, editors. Amazingly, happy relations with clients ensue. His story is the testimony.
Even stories of his callow youth are empowering with the bold humor of telling a know-it-all client: "You design it, I will bill you for it." Now he thinks: "If I do my job well, I can learn from the client and the client can learn from me." And then he explains what it means to do a job well.
Malcolm speaks of problem solving, but presents a profound philosophy we can design by, and live by. "If it [design] is approached as art, a certain dignity can be sustained to help ward off the venalities of the marketplace." "...to reveal photographic forms, not to display pictures." "There really is a universe in a grain of sand." "The strongest statements are the simplest." "Constraints become the mother of invention."
I salute his Father for his advice, and congratulate Malcolm for tolling the bell of honesty. We should all read Inside | Outside to protect our souls! Plus, it is fun and inspiring, with amazing works and solid design objectives.
The book itself is designed nicely, with respect and consideration of composition, good text type, column width responding to content (narration versus instruction). But despite the splendor, and how taken I am, I cannot forgive hyphenating the ragged text, placing text columns close to the binding, and using narrower columns for narrative text in the second half of the book.
A call for a divorce? No, at least he's honest. And we all should keep a man who is loyal to an object that resembles a heart, although an upside-down one!