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PUBLISHER’S NOTE: ACTING CRAZY IS SANEThey say there is an August lull every year, but we have not seen it. I imagine we are in the same boat as most of you: doing more with less to stay about the same. All in all, I’ll take it. Despite the busy-ness, we found some time this summer to check out the massive number of graphic design books coming our way — whoever said print is dead is an idiot — and we have noted our top dozen here. They range from logo studies from Sean Adams to scrapbook tips from Jessica Helfand to trade show design from Peleg Top, from professional practices to branding power to design in a corporate setting to entrepreneurship. One thought-provoking favorite: Advertising Is Dead Long Live Advertising! This book honestly faces the fact that traditional advertising is in a fight for its life. In an introduction, Will Collin observes that today’s consumers are “harder to pin down, more demanding, less predictable.” The response from ad agencies is a rise in unconventional forms of marketing, guerilla tactics, stealth, stunts, ambient media and more, and the book presents 200 case studies. Collin writes, in a thought that will stick to the ribs long after summer fades, “The ad industry has not gone mad. Acting a little crazy is now the sanest thing to do.” — Gordon Kaye GRAPHIC BOOKSMastering Logos SustainAble Scrapbook Stories Entrepreneurial Era Mad Men Do You Matter? HP: THE COMPUTER IS PERSONAL AGAINFor information on putting the power of HP Workstations to work on your next big idea, click HERE MORE BOOKSIsn’t That Special Size Counts Identity Crisis Professional Guidance Buying and Branding Made In India SNAPVILLAGE: SPECIAL GIVEAWAY FOR GDUSA READERSwww.gdusa.com/eblasts/080819_snapvillage/msg5.html HOUSEKEEPINGWinners of the American Graphic Design Awards will be notified by mail the
week of September 1. For background on the competition... NOW ON GDUSA.COMThe End Of Parenting Logo Trends Color Trends Free Stuff 
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In his book, Masters of Design Logos & Identity (Rockport Publishers),
renowned designer and AIGA national president Sean Adams, focuses on the work of
twenty-nine leading logo and identity designers. These designers not only discuss
their influences and their techniques for logo design, but also offer advice
for those approaching their own logo projects. Providing strategies for developing
successful logos and tips on how to improve client relationships, this book both
profiles top designers and inspires readers to create successful, creative work
throughout their design careers.
Highly subjective, the scrapbook is a unique and often quirky form of
expression in which a person gathers and arranges meaningful materials to
create a personal narrative. In her book Scrapbooks: An American History
(Yale University Press/Winterhouse Editions), Jessica Helfand outlines the
origins of the scrapbook: where it started, what purposes it served, and how
it has evolved. The book includes 475 full-color illustrations and photographs,
as well as examples made by private individuals and famous men and women. As
Helfand writes, “Made by ordinary people without formal art or design
training, scrapbooks are a vibrant symbol of our need to express ourselves
visually — and to tell our life stories — using more than
words alone.”
Written by Tom Himpe with an introduction by Will Collin, Advertising
is Dead Long Live Advertising! takes a fresh look at the challenges
of modern advertising and the need to sometimes get unconventional. It is
the first book to connect the new buzzwords into an integrated
communications approach needed to reach today’s consumer, who has
become 50 times more difficult to reach over the past twenty years. Himpe
specifically discusses his four driving forces for getting close to the
consumer, eight techniques for employing these driving forces, and the
four types of campaigns that make use of this new knowledge. “The
ad industry has not gone mad,” he assures us. It just looks
that way.
Design for Special Events by Peleg Top features 500 of the best
examples of special-event design from around the world. Nineteen case
studies are highlighted, and the selected pieces either show the seamless
evolution of design in multiyear events or involve elaborate systems that
were carried through an entire event, from invitations to signage and
elements of the décor. Each of these case studies represents a
unique special occasion, a serious fundraiser, an energetic sporting event,
or an exciting music festival for which each designer perfectly captured
a mood and sentiment.
Released last fall, but always fresh, Jeff Fisher’s Identity Crisis:
50 Redesigns That Transformed Stale Identities into Successful Brands (How
Books) tackles the world of business identity design. A first-rate identity
designer himself, Fisher comments extensively on some well-known big business
identities, and then explores and clearly presents 50 redesigns and their natural
applications, from stationery to packaging to signage to print, the web and more.
The range of businesses is wide, spanning restaurants, government organizations
and more.
One emerging Asian giant has been hogging all the press. But now, here is a stylish
object and graphic essay that reminds us about the other Asian giant. Made in
India (Chronicle Books) is an extraordinary glimpse into the heart of the
subcontinent, including hundreds of images of everyday Indian design and pop
culture ephemera from the past century, including folk art, religious prints,
Raj-era postcards, matchbox art, Bollywood posters, household product packaging
and ads. The contributors are Kalim Winata, a computer animation artist and
expert on Asian art, and Reed Darmon, the author of Made in China
and Made in Japan, and a designer of numerous books and gift products
published by Chronicle Books.