- Publisher
- Phaidon
- Published
- 1998
- Shelf
- design: Thinking
- ISBN
- 0714838128
Thinking
A Smile in the Mind
Beryl McAlhone & David Stuart
Witty thinking in graphic design: hundreds of pieces where the idea, not the execution, is the whole job.
Why read it
The thesis is that a visual pun makes the viewer complete it, and that the half-second of doing so is what fixes it in memory. The book collects the best examples anyone has assembled and, more usefully, explains the mechanics of why each one lands. Wit is treated as a craft with rules rather than as luck.
Why own it
Every identity project reaches a moment where the work is competent and dead. This is the book you open then.
Who it is for
Designers whose work is well made and forgettable.
Reading order
Book 4 of 6 in the graphic design reading order. See all 6
Read nextHow to Be a Graphic Designer Without Losing Your SoulAdrian ShaughnessyBefore taking on clients, read Shaughnessy on the half of the job that is not designing, such as pricing and a first client meeting.Read before thisMaking and Breaking the Grid
Opens a search on AbeBooks, a network of independent and antiquarian sellers, which is where a good part of this shelf has to be found, because it is out of print.
Read next
Chosen because they argue with this one, not because a machine noticed they share a category.
