Easy access to computer graphic tools has turned many of us into either amateur or professional image producers. But without a basic understanding of visual language, a productive dialogue between producers and consumers of visual communication is impossible. Visual Grammar can help speak and write about visual objects and their creative potential, and better understand the graphics. It is both a primer on visual language and a visual dictionary of the fundamental aspects of graphic design.
This book is dealing with every imaginable visual concept—from abstractions such as dimension, format, and volume; to concrete objects such as form, size, color, and saturation; to activities such as repetition, mirroring, movement, and displacement; to relations such as symmetry, balance, diffusion, direction, and variation.
I Found It Facinating I stumbled on this book at the local library and found it a very fascinating read. I've been involved in graphic production for years and can push the objects around on the comp, but never really knew the basics and foundation of visual language.
This is a great primer to learn the basic concepts that lead one to want to learn the syntax and the structure of the visual nouns learned.
This is something I will purchase and pore over until I learn the concepts.
If you missed out in 5th grade... Wow. Thats just it for this book. Seriously, someone wanted a publication and farted this thing out. I mean, it gives you the vocab of the elements...thats it. Im a college design teacher and this book would be great for a middle-school art/design class.
If you want simplistic...this may be for you.
A book with few words This book certainly takes the simplicity route. It is ruthlessly straightforward in regards to expressing it's information, in a layout that is without a doubt concise and efficient. The nadir? It also unfortunately reads like stereo instructions and the knowledge it tries to impart is thoroughly basic at best. Simple shapes and the like may be the building blocks of structure, but without any really tangible information to be gleaned we are left with an attractive skeleton. Yes there are some bits of wisdom in this book as well as some fetching Adobe Illustrator rendered graphics, but by and large we're just left with more white space than a snowstorm. I really do think people should form their own opinions about reference materials however, maybe you could learn a great deal from this work. Buy it, try it, but I honestly can't envision the need for this volume in light of so many other exemplary works on the subject.
Very Nice Everything was excellent except the quality of the binding on the book. it isn't bad enough for me to want to return it but it is something to mention.
Focussing the visual mind The standard for visual literacy was set by Dondis A. Dondis in 1973 with "A Primer of Visual Literacy". However, it was (is) a heavy read. Christian Leborg's "Visual Grammar" gives us a more visual approach to the subject. His thesis is that we cannot understand the visual images that assault our eyes unless we share a common understanding of the symbols involved. Leborg enlightens us with a symplified but nonetheless complex view of symbols that are abstract, concrete, active, and relative. It's an interesting exploration using only basic geometric shapes. This is a "must have" book for those who teach design and a desirable book for students. All you need to know is that it is published by Princeton Architectural Press. Princeton publishes some of the most important books on design. Their positive discrimination is evident in all of their publications.
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
Tony's Online Tips
Trevor
