OUGD406 STUDIO BRIEF 2 PREP - STUD TASK 1 - BOOK ANALYSIS

This study brief we had to pick out a book at random from a hat and had to analyse it in detail, thinking about who the theorist is, who the author is, what's the editor and publisher, is there a purpose for the book or does it have a concept, what is the context of the book, and what is the classification of the book as well?

DESIGN LITERACY: Understanding Graphic Design
By Steven Heller and Karen Pomeroy
Published by Allworth Press in 1997 in Canada.
Library classification: 741.601

Classification
This book is situated in the University library amongst books to do with graphic design theory, critical writing for graphic design, principles of 2D design, methodologies and processes of graphic design, which all sound like pretty standard books to do with theories and processes of graphic design. However this book was also amongst books to do with design issues, green graphic design, designing for an ethical message and ethics in graphic design, which is really quite interesting, and may suggest that the content of this book relates somehow to green or ethical standards of graphic design, or designing for an ethical cause.
Online, this book is listed under two categories overall. On Amazon it is under Art, Architecture and photography - Design Studies - Graphic Design, however on Google Books and Alibris, it is listed under Art - Graphic Arts. These two categories however are not that different, as although Amazon lists it under Graphic Design, which sounds pretty formal, the broader category is Art, Architecture and Photography, which suggests a less analytical book, similar to Graphic Arts for the other two sites, this sounds more like a book full of designs or photographs, rather than an analytical book, which is actually is.

Purpose
The purpose of this book is to understand how individual designers make graphic design operate, through critically analysing and critiquing individual object or pieces of art, some of which are acknowledged as being icons of specific eras, and others because they are excellent pieces of design which are often just disregarded, possibly because they aren't already highly valued. This is done through a series of essays, whereby the objects are grouped into sections; Persuasion, Language, Identity, Information, Iconography, Style, Media and Commerce. These sections are not ordered chronologically, but according on what role the objects have had in art and commerce. However within each section the objects are ordered almost chronologically, purely for ease of context.

Publisher
Allworth Press was established in 1989 by author, attorney and arts' rights advocate Tad Crawford, who saw the need for a publishing company who provided practical information for creative individuals. Crawford had previous employments as chairman of the board for the Foundation of the Community of Artists in New York City, general counsel to the Graphic Artists Guild, and lobbyist for the Coalition of Visual Arts Organisations, which helped him to understand the needs of such creative individuals, so he was aware of exactly what problems they faced, and therefore had a better understanding of how to solve these problems. Today Allworth Press published 15-18 titles a year, and has a staff of six.
Upcoming titles include The Business of Being an Artist, Star Brands, An Actors Guide: Your First Year in Hollywood, and Business and Legal forms for Authors and Self-Publishers.

Authors
Steven Heller
Steven Heller was an art director for The New York Times for 33 years, where almost 30 of those years he was with the New York Time Book Review section of the newspaper. As of present he is co-chair of the MFA Designer as Author Department, at the School of Visual Arts in New York City, where he also lectures on Graphic Design. He is also Special Consultant to the president of the SVA for New Programmes, and writes the Visuals column for the New York Times Book Review. With Seymour Chwast he has also directed Push Pin Editions, a packager of visual books. For the past 20 years he has also been a contributing editor to Print, Eye, Basline, and i-D magazines, and contributed 100's of articles and columns to other creative magazines and journals over the years. Heller has also been author/co-author and editor to over 100 books on design and popular culture, working with publishers such as Chronicle Books, Allworth Press, Taschen Press, Thames & Hudson, Phaidon Press and Rockport to name a few.
Heller has also received the AIGA Medal for Lifetime Achievement in 1999,  the Art Directors Club Hall of Fame Special Educators Award in 1996, The Pratt Institute Herschel Levitt Award in 2000, and the Society of Illustrators Richard Gangel Award for Art Direction in 2006.
Karen Pomeroy
I have tried extensively but unsuccessfully to find any sort of information about who Karen Pomeroy is and what she does, however I have been unsuccessful, as there is no information about her except that she was co-author of this book alongside Steven Heller.

Appearance

The front cover really isn't interesting at all, being mainly black and white except for the bright yellow box the authors names and title of the book are in. It looks as if a piece of paper has been photocopied or photographed badly to make up the cover image, and it is extremely grainy as well. Whether this was on purpose or accidental it is hard to tell. The massive black "X" that takes up most of the cover space is extremely bold, and is the main focus of the cover, and I'm not sure what the reference of the "X" is to the content of the book, perhaps it would be revealed once reading it? I also don't like the colour choices of the cover; mainly black and white except for a little bright yellow box. It makes the cover look like a danger zone, somewhere you shouldn't enter, as these are the colours used on warning signs. This accompanied with the "X" makes for a not so appealing cover design. I do however like the typographic choice of the "DESIGN LITERACY" part of the title. It is bold and stands out on the page more than most other aspects, and also being a sans serif typeface it still looks modern and in date now, nearly 20 years after the book was first published. The rest of the typographic choices are awful in comparison, with the mix of an italic serif typeface for the rest of the title, and then the use of both uppercase and lower case serif typeface, with the "and" being lowercase amidst the authors names. This looks like too much of a jumble of typefaces, especially with the use of italics as well. It would look much more effective if only one or  maximum two typefaces were used instead, so as not to overcomplicate the tiny box containing all this text.

This is the back cover of the book is not much more interesting, as it follows the same design style as the front cover. The same typographical choices have been made, with the use of the same three typefaces used on the front cover has also been used on the back for headings and the main body of text. The use of the serif typeface for the body of text (where italics are not used) actually works quite well and it very legible, with the application of the serif's, however the use of the italic serif's over complicates the whole image when it is unnecessary Again the paper photocopied style imagery has been used on this side of the cover, another unnecessary feature which would make the cover look a lot more appealing if it wasn't there, adding a dark tone to the book. However I think it is effective how the corner of the photographed paper frames the title of the book, making it stand out and giving a definite start to the text. I also quite like the yellow strip down the right hand side of the page with also spreads onto the spine as well. The white parts in the yellow stripe are where "DESIGN LITERACY" has been typed in white font, which adds a little extra subtle pattern to the cover which works rather nicely, contrasting against the neutral colours of the rest of the cover.

This is the layout for the chapters within the book. At the start of each chapter there is a photograph of the object which is to be analysed (sometimes there's two), with the title of the object and who has created it's name above it. The title of the object uses the sans serif typeface and the artists name uses the serif typeface, which actually works really nicely together, creating the contrast between the two. The start of the body text also starts with a larger capital first letter, perhaps to emphasise the official start of the text, however I feel this is unnecessary, as is the largely indented start of the paragraph too. I think a much simpler start to the paragraph would be much more effective, and would allow the object to stand out more as well. The body text uses the same serif typeface as throughout the rest of the book, with the italic serif to highlight certain aspects. The serif typeface is admittedly easy to read, however when italic it just looks outdated.