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12/10/08--13:17: The Elements of Typographic Style (chan 1775581)



Renowned typographer and poet Robert Bringhurst brings clarity to the art of typography with this masterful style guide. Combining the practical, theoretical, and historical, this edition is completely updated, with a thorough exploration of the newest innovations in intelligent font technology, and is a must-have for graphic artists, editors, or anyone working with the printed page using digital or traditional methods.

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12/10/08--13:19: Interview: Chuck Anderson (chan 1775581)



Kicking off the EMPRNT launch, we decided to take a second to chat with Chuck Anderson of No Pattern fame. Ready to release his new book Wandering Off Into Space, we learn what other designers and books inspire his work.

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12/10/08--13:20: Grid Systems: Principles of Organizing Type (Design Briefs) (chan 1775581)



Although grid systems are the foundation for almost all typographic design, they are often associated with rigid, formulaic solutions. However, the belief that all great design is nonetheless based on grid systems (even if only subverted ones) suggests that few designers truly understand the complexities and potential riches of grid composition. In her best-selling Geometry of Design, Elam shows how proportion, symmetry, and other geometrical systems underlie many of the visual relationships that make for good design. Now, Elam brings the same keen eye and clear explanations to bear on the most prevalent, and maybe least understood, system of visual organization: the grid. Filled with extensive research and more than 100 informative examples from the Bauhaus to Nike ads, Grid Systems provides a rich, easy-to-understand overview and demonstrates a step-by-step approach to typographic composition. It suggests design strategies that transcend simple function and reductionist recipes to allow grids to become a means of truly dynamic communication. Any designer, educator, or student will benefit greatly from this elegant slim book, chock-a-block full of colorful examples, helpful vellum overlays, and Elam's insightful analysis.

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12/10/08--13:25: Designer Holiday Gift Guide (chan 1775581)



Holiday shopping is always tough. Shopping for a gift for a designer is even tougher. You could cop out and give a boring gift from a run-of-the-mill department store. Or, you could take a second to check out our list of unique, design related items that a designer might appreciate more than just another gift card.

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12/15/08--05:10: Indie Publishing: How to Design and Publish Your Own Book (Design Brief) (chan 1775581)



"Indie Publishing’s" special focus on the visual design of books makes it unique among publish-it-yourself manuals. Readers are taken step-by-step through the process of designing a book to give it personal style as well as visual coherence and authority. Design principles such as scale, cropping, pacing, and typography are explored in relation to each example, along with commentary on how to create effective title pages, tables of contents, captions, and more. The book aims to inspire readers with examples of print projects similar to those they might undertake on their own. Sample designs include a picture book, artist’s portfolio, exhibition catalog, poetry chapbook, novel, and zine. Indie Publishing addresses the important business aspects of independent publishing – from how and why you should get an ISBN number to creating promotional materials and using the internet to market your book. This comprehensive, illustrated guide concludes with a curated portfolio of the most exciting examples of independent publishing from the contemporary scene, reproduced in full color.

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12/24/08--08:50: Abz (chan 1775581)



Delightfully unpredictable, ABZ is a wonderbook of typography, graphics, and symbols. Julian Rothenstein (creator of our Gift division s popular Redstone line of cards and calendars) turns his idiosyncratic eye towards eccentric alphabets, emblems, and logos discovered in avant-garde modernist publications and other curious sources. Hundreds of examples of graphic ephemera sit side-by-side in inimitable Redstone fashion, mixing peculiar charm with useful reference in one stunning package. Special features include an amazing alphabet, circa 1926, created from photographs of a dancing woman; original test-types for opticians charts; pages from sign artists manuals; and coolly elegant designs from fin de si cle French, German, Italian, and Czech journals. Nearly all of this rare and beautiful material is reproduced here for the first time since its original publication. An art book like no other, ABZ is a collection of typographic oddities taken to the next level of appreciation.

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12/24/08--08:50: 100 Habits of Successful Graphic Designers: Insider Secrets from Top Designers on Working Smart and Staying Creative (chan 1775581)



In need of advice? Just want to sounds off? Opening this volume is like grabbing lunch with a fellow designer to commiserate or celebrate. In its pages, noteworthy designers, both past and present, working in fields ranging from graphic design, fashion, architecture, typography, and industrial design sound off on every topic, ranging from deadlines, inspiration, competition, rules, respect, education, and handling criticism-all with a certain amount of irreverence. Their thoughts are boiled down into succinct, quotable quotes and one-liners that exemplify their character and demonstrate their philosophy on the world around them.

Enjoy reading thought bites from everyone from Art Chantry, Margo Chase, Ed Fella, John C. Jay, Hideki Nakajima, Stefan Sagmeister, and Rudy VanderLans.

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01/01/09--11:37: EMPRNT Bookshelf: My Bookshelf by yanashita (chan 1775581)


photo by: yanashita - See All Bookshelves on Flickr


01/02/09--08:24: Bookshelf Recommendations (chan 1775581)



In celebration of our new Bookshelves section, I put together a list of 5 bookshelves that I recommend you check out.

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01/03/09--06:20: Site-Seeing: A Visual Approach to Web Usability (chan 1775581)



Although Web usability has received lots of hype, especially during the dot-com meltdown, the focus has been mostly on technical issues. Usability experts stress the pitfalls of frames and too many images on Web pages. They recommend editing out unnecessary words and writing in a non-linear style-all valuable advice, of course. But less frequently do they highlight the importance of the visual presentation of Web pages.

The Web is a communication medium that does most of its talking visually. What you see on a Web page tells you what you might find within the site, how to get there, and why it might interest you-not to mention the instinctive emotional response that shapes your Web experience. As a result, Web usability issues are communication issues. Easy-to-use sites are those that communicate quickly and effectively.

Site-Seeing takes a fresh approach to Web usability by applying visual communication principles and decision-making to Web design. Specifically, readers will learn the key concepts behind visual organization, look and feel, technical considerations, and clear planning that stem from audience awareness. Through numerous, full-color examples author Luke Wroblewski deconstructs "the good, the bad, and the ugly" of Web design.

The visual presentation of a site does more than merely making it pretty. It organizes information according to function. It creates distinct and appropriate personalities. It provides emotional impact and attachment. In short, it engages the audience-and keeps them coming back.

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01/06/09--13:56: EMPRNT Bookshelf: My Bookshelf by yanashita (chan 1775581)


photo by: yanashita - See All Bookshelves on Flickr


01/07/09--08:48: Adrian Frutiger - Typefaces: The Complete Works (chan 1775581)



The international creation of typefaces after 1950 was decisively influenced by the Swiss type designer Adrian Frutiger. His Univers typeface and the machine-readable font OCR-B, which was adopted as an ISO standard, are milestones, as is his type for the Paris airports, which set new standards for signage types and evolved into the Frutiger typeface. With his corporate types, he helped to define the public profiles of companies such as the Japanese Shiseido line of cosmetics. In all he created some fifty types, including Ondine, Méridien, Avenir, and Vectora.

Based on conversations with Frutiger himself and on extensive research in France, England, Germany, and Switzerland, this publication provides a highly detailed and accurate account of the type designer’s artistic development. For the first time, all of his types – from the design phase to the marketing stage – are illustrated and analyzed with reference to the technology and related types. Hitherto unpublished types that were never realized and more than one hundred logos complete the picture.

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01/08/09--05:00: The Laws of Simplicity (Simplicity: Design, Technology, Business, Life) (chan 1775581)



Received an Honorable Mention in the Communication and Cultural Studies category of the 2005 Professional/Scholarly Publishing Annual Awards Competition presented by the Association of American Publishers, Inc.

Finally, we are learning that simplicity equals sanity. We're rebelling against technology that's too complicated, DVD players with too many menus, and software accompanied by 75-megabyte "read me" manuals. The iPod's clean gadgetry has made simplicity hip. But sometimes we find ourselves caught up in the simplicity paradox: we want something that's simple and easy to use, but also does all the complex things we might ever want it to do. In The Laws of Simplicity, John Maeda offers ten laws for balancing simplicity and complexity in business, technology, and design—guidelines for needing less and actually getting more.

Maeda—a professor in MIT's Media Lab and a world-renowned graphic designer—explores the question of how we can redefine the notion of "improved" so that it doesn't always mean something more, something added on.

Maeda's first law of simplicity is "Reduce." It's not necessarily beneficial to add technology features just because we can. And the features that we do have must be organized (Law 2) in a sensible hierarchy so users aren't distracted by features and functions they don't need. But simplicity is not less just for the sake of less. Skip ahead to Law 9: "Failure: Accept the fact that some things can never be made simple." Maeda's concise guide to simplicity in the digital age shows us how this idea can be a cornerstone of organizations and their products—how it can drive both business and technology. We can learn to simplify without sacrificing comfort and meaning, and we can achieve the balance described in Law 10. This law, which Maeda calls "The One," tells us: "Simplicity is about subtracting the obvious, and adding the meaningful."

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01/08/09--14:13: EMPRNT Bookshelf: Stitched Bookshelf by rubykhan (chan 1775581)


photo by: rubykhan - See All Bookshelves on Flickr


01/09/09--05:48: The Book Cover Archive (chan 1775581)



For the appreciation and categorization of excellence in book cover design.

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01/10/09--09:18: Sagmeister: Made You Look (chan 1775581)



Just as film, art, music, and literature have the power to move people, Stefan Sagmeister's innovative work shows that graphic design, too, can cut to the emotional quick. His desire is to transform stale thinking, and Sagmeister: Made You Look does just that.
Compelling, honest, and intensely personal, Made You Look covers 20 years of Sagmeister's graphic design. With a text by design historian Peter Hall and annotated with Sagmeister's own writing, the book features images from the studio archive, as well as specific influences and reference points for his projects and ideas. Fully illustrated with a red PVC slipcase and silver-gilded pages, this monograph is a compilation of practically all the work Sagmeister and his studio ever designed up to 2001, even the bad stuff


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01/12/09--09:36: EMPRNT Bookshelf: The "Apostrophes" Bookshelves by jmvnoos (chan 1775581)


photo by: jmvnoos - See All Bookshelves on Flickr


01/14/09--06:15: EMPRNT Bookshelf: Colors of My Bookshelf by bananacraft (chan 1775581)


photo by: bananacraft - See All Bookshelves on Flickr


01/14/09--06:19: EMPRNT Bookshelf: Mazzali: "Krea" Bookcase by mazzali (chan 1775581)


photo by: mazzali - See All Bookshelves on Flickr


01/14/09--09:52: Show Us Your Shelf (chan 1775581)



As some of you may have noticed, we've recently added a new bookshelves section to the site. The goal for this section is to allow anyone to add photos of their own bookshelf to show off to the world.

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