Not the most amazing cover, but I thought it might be fun to post this since they used a typeface of mine, ‘Counterhand’ which is a very cheeky typographic in-joke that I am embarrassed to admit was mine. Ben and I shot this on the floor of our second studio many years ago, which was in a boxed-out section of an old John Deere tractor factory in Portland, hence the green paint. I still find that stuff sticking to things around the studio.
—
, 2008-12-01 18:41:00 -0500
I like it. I think it really fits with the title of the book and it makes a nice play of negative space. Large amount of credit to the typeface designer of course.
—
, 2008-12-03 10:06:00 -0500
I like it. It’s crafty. It’s appealing and conpositionally balanced. Good colors.. reminds me of the Modest Mouse CD with all the green, pink, white.
It took me a little bit to figure out what Gra Phic Esign is, but it’s not a big hassle to realize it spells Graphic (D)esign. It’s sort of a puzzle that you work out in your brain for a few seconds and then whoop, there it is. The coolness of the cover makes up for the bulky grammar cock up.
What’s up with the Japanese subtitle? A touch self-serving but a nice cover. It bothered me at first that the ‘D’ is missing in Design but after looking at it for a few minutes I think that is my favorite thing happening on the front. (Curious does the ‘D’ wrap onto the spine?)
It does wrap around on the spine, which sorta looks cool on the shelf. The Japanese subtitle is because the book is entirely in Japanese – which now means We’re Big In Japan™
Sorry the click-through isn’t working. Amazon.co.jp is weird.
—
, 2008-12-03 16:17:00 -0500
The entire book is Japanese except for the cover? A bit of an identity crisis I suppose, but it’s still interesting.
Oh, and kudos for creating the letter images, Chris and team.
Does this book read Western style? I’m drawing a blank but don’t Japanese books read vertically or back-to-front or something? Re: + and & I say choose one and be consistent.
I like the crafty-funkiness and the colors. It’s obviously meant to attract design-types, but that makes sense for the subject.
I have some books a friend brought from Japan recently and yes, they do read from right to left (front cover + back cover are in the opposite places we are used to seeing them). Makes me wonder how this book works…
—
, 2008-12-04 04:56:00 -0500
I’m going to take a gander here that if there was an illustration of a cute rabbit (or substitute your favorite mammal) next to the Kanji sales of this book would slightly increase in Japan.
i liked it more until I found out that it was a font. Kudos to you guys for the design, but it seems to easy for the designer of the book.
—
mike
, 2008-12-04 14:17:00 -0500
From what I know, more and more books are being printed western style in Japan and China (Korea’s been doing it for years). And the English on the cover—they love English, just as we love the cool Chinese Characters and Japanese Hiragana/Katakana.
So I say OK! (0) やぁ！
—
, 2008-12-04 19:14:00 -0500
Yes, this book reads left-to-right, western-style.
Im not sure about the ’+’ and do we need the title twice?
—
, 2008-12-11 00:21:00 -0500
i think so. for people who speak/read english as a second language (at whatever proficiency level), the cutouts might be difficult to read initially. i imagine i’d struggle with it if the situation were reversed… i can read katakana/hiragana in standard formats but sometimes i really have to think about it when it’s presented in more decorative typefaces. considering the market, clarifying the title in a more standard typeface makes sense to me.
It just sort of goes against the whole design of the typeface for me. Having the title written again makes it seem like there is no faith in the typeface’s eligibility. But I agree with you about the language, maybe (what I presume is the japanese tarnslation) is needed but not english again.
—
, 2008-12-11 08:10:00 -0500
I like it as a design book because of the really fun and creative way of making the letters, by cutting out the white spaces instead. However, the colors... I want to vomit. Perhaps they're trying to tie the peach color in with the flesh tones. The peach makes it look very old, boring textbook-y.
But from my experience, the Japanese like strange color combinations that make me sick, so I'm sure this would work well over there.
—
, 2008-12-20 00:57:33 -0500
This is the Japanese translation of the original English textbook by Ellen Lupton and Jennifer Cole Phillips. It is titled "Graphic Design: The New Basics" in English and can be found here with a strikingly different cover: http://gdbasics.com/ The project was a collaborative one undertaken in the MFA studio at Maryland Institute College of Art.
“It is titled "Graphic Design: The New Basics" in English”
Ah, that explains the Japanese title. I was wondering why it didn’t translate directly.
Re: Nathalie — The ‘+’ is more commonly used than the ‘&’ in Japanese hacked up English. Even more interesting is that ‘×’ between two names reads as “collaborates with.” I agree with Jack regarding the name repeat, though. I don’t think it’s good, but it seems to be standard practice.
i like it.
i really do.
the use of paper is unconventanal and works very well.
kudos!
—
Anonymous Coward
, 2009-02-17 17:03:53 -0500
kodomanlar ordeklerle kosarken birden karsilarinda orhan gencebay cikmis sonra muslum b una bozulmus baslamislar kolbasti oynamaya sonra yorulmuslar otururken mum sondu yapmaya karar vermisler acaba niye?
New & Basic Graphic Design
Not the most amazing cover, but I thought it might be fun to post this since they used a typeface of mine, ‘Counterhand’ which is a very cheeky typographic in-joke that I am embarrassed to admit was mine. Ben and I shot this on the floor of our second studio many years ago, which was in a boxed-out section of an old John Deere tractor factory in Portland, hence the green paint. I still find that stuff sticking to things around the studio.
— , 2008-12-01 18:41:00 -0500
I like it. I think it really fits with the title of the book and it makes a nice play of negative space. Large amount of credit to the typeface designer of course.
— , 2008-12-03 10:06:00 -0500
I like it. It’s crafty. It’s appealing and conpositionally balanced. Good colors.. reminds me of the Modest Mouse CD with all the green, pink, white.
It took me a little bit to figure out what Gra Phic Esign is, but it’s not a big hassle to realize it spells Graphic (D)esign. It’s sort of a puzzle that you work out in your brain for a few seconds and then whoop, there it is. The coolness of the cover makes up for the bulky grammar cock up.
— C-Dog , 2008-12-03 14:06:00 -0500
What’s up with the Japanese subtitle? A touch self-serving but a nice cover. It bothered me at first that the ‘D’ is missing in Design but after looking at it for a few minutes I think that is my favorite thing happening on the front. (Curious does the ‘D’ wrap onto the spine?)
— Auguste , 2008-12-03 15:42:00 -0500
It does wrap around on the spine, which sorta looks cool on the shelf. The Japanese subtitle is because the book is entirely in Japanese – which now means We’re Big In Japan™
Sorry the click-through isn’t working. Amazon.co.jp is weird.
— , 2008-12-03 16:17:00 -0500
The entire book is Japanese except for the cover? A bit of an identity crisis I suppose, but it’s still interesting.
Oh, and kudos for creating the letter images, Chris and team.
— C-Dog , 2008-12-03 17:51:00 -0500
This reminds me so much of Design 141 where all the projects were cut-and-paste… that was one of my favorite classes!
— Courtney Baker , 2008-12-04 01:19:00 -0500
Does this book read Western style? I’m drawing a blank but don’t Japanese books read vertically or back-to-front or something? Re: + and & I say choose one and be consistent.
— Hara Hachibu , 2008-12-04 04:29:00 -0500
I like the crafty-funkiness and the colors. It’s obviously meant to attract design-types, but that makes sense for the subject.
I have some books a friend brought from Japan recently and yes, they do read from right to left (front cover + back cover are in the opposite places we are used to seeing them). Makes me wonder how this book works…
— , 2008-12-04 04:56:00 -0500
I’m going to take a gander here that if there was an illustration of a cute rabbit (or substitute your favorite mammal) next to the Kanji sales of this book would slightly increase in Japan.
— Kawaii Nay! , 2008-12-04 06:47:00 -0500
i liked it more until I found out that it was a font. Kudos to you guys for the design, but it seems to easy for the designer of the book.
— mike , 2008-12-04 14:17:00 -0500
From what I know, more and more books are being printed western style in Japan and China (Korea’s been doing it for years). And the English on the cover—they love English, just as we love the cool Chinese Characters and Japanese Hiragana/Katakana.
So I say OK! (0) やぁ！
— , 2008-12-04 19:14:00 -0500
Yes, this book reads left-to-right, western-style.
— Matrix , 2008-12-05 01:34:00 -0500
the cover looks really different, but not my taste.
— Kỳ Nam , 2008-12-08 00:49:00 -0500
is there an english version?
— , 2008-12-08 13:06:00 -0500
Not that I’m aware of
— Test , 2008-12-10 06:19:00 -0500
portland rocks!
— ian b shimkoviak , 2008-12-10 12:03:00 -0500
Im not sure about the ’+’ and do we need the title twice?
— , 2008-12-11 00:21:00 -0500
i think so. for people who speak/read english as a second language (at whatever proficiency level), the cutouts might be difficult to read initially. i imagine i’d struggle with it if the situation were reversed… i can read katakana/hiragana in standard formats but sometimes i really have to think about it when it’s presented in more decorative typefaces. considering the market, clarifying the title in a more standard typeface makes sense to me.
— jack , 2008-12-11 05:56:00 -0500
It just sort of goes against the whole design of the typeface for me. Having the title written again makes it seem like there is no faith in the typeface’s eligibility. But I agree with you about the language, maybe (what I presume is the japanese tarnslation) is needed but not english again.
— , 2008-12-11 08:10:00 -0500
I like it as a design book because of the really fun and creative way of making the letters, by cutting out the white spaces instead. However, the colors... I want to vomit. Perhaps they're trying to tie the peach color in with the flesh tones. The peach makes it look very old, boring textbook-y.
But from my experience, the Japanese like strange color combinations that make me sick, so I'm sure this would work well over there.
— , 2008-12-20 00:57:33 -0500
This is the Japanese translation of the original English textbook by Ellen Lupton and Jennifer Cole Phillips. It is titled "Graphic Design: The New Basics" in English and can be found here with a strikingly different cover: http://gdbasics.com/
The project was a collaborative one undertaken in the MFA studio at Maryland Institute College of Art.
— Jeremy Botts , 2008-12-21 09:34:31 -0500
“It is titled "Graphic Design: The New Basics" in English”
Ah, that explains the Japanese title. I was wondering why it didn’t translate directly.
Re: Nathalie — The ‘+’ is more commonly used than the ‘&’ in Japanese hacked up English. Even more interesting is that ‘×’ between two names reads as “collaborates with.” I agree with Jack regarding the name repeat, though. I don’t think it’s good, but it seems to be standard practice.
— Joseph K , 2008-12-22 03:47:40 -0500
I like Japanese litrature
— Argos , 2008-12-24 18:42:43 -0500
i like it.
i really do.
the use of paper is unconventanal and works very well.
kudos!
— Anonymous Coward , 2009-02-17 17:03:53 -0500
kodomanlar ordeklerle kosarken birden karsilarinda orhan gencebay cikmis sonra muslum b una bozulmus baslamislar kolbasti oynamaya sonra yorulmuslar otururken mum sondu yapmaya karar vermisler acaba niye?
— yapay havuz , 2009-12-03 09:51:07 -0500
garlica
— garlica , 2010-01-20 08:09:13 -0500
biber hapi
fx15
lida
rent a car
magna rx
penis büyütücü
elektronik sigara
— red pepper , 2010-01-28 06:33:21 -0500