Type Now: A Manifesto

Book Description

With the desktop publishing revolution of the 1980s, typographic design came within the reach of anyone with a home computer. Since that time, we have seen a boom in the production of new fonts. This book takes stock of what was achieved during this protean period. Smeijers, a first-generation digital type designer, knows the possibilities of computer technology, but nevertheless argues for the continuing validity of the traditional skills of drawing and shape-making. He suggests that the trends of the recent past are already exhausted. As new industry standards are introduced, font design must again become a job for engineers rather than self-trained designers. The book concludes that the number of new fonts being introduced must be reduced, and it ends with a proposal for a new "moral code" for type designers.

Customer Reviews:

Type Now - a very stimulating read........2005-11-09

Published with the occasion of second Gerrit Noordzij Prize awarded to Smeijers, this book addresses sensitive topics for type design, such as copyright, originality and talent. As its subtitle shows, it is meant as a manifesto, followed by a showcase section, which features Smeijers' type designs to date and his commercial work for manufacturers like Philips and Canon.

Smeijers is a brilliant type designer and outspoken educator and this book confirms that. A very stimulating read!

About Smeijers, not about type.......2004-11-22

I do not doubt Smeijers' importance in the type world. This book is divided into a few sections describing the man and his work. The first is a longish essay on type, computers, education, and whatever else came to mind. It ends with "A code of conduct," guidelines for ethical practice, mostly applicable to anyone in any creative pursuit. There's a brief glossary, possibly too brief to answer more than cursory questions.

I very much like the next section. It's more or less of a Smeijers specimen book and portfolio. Each font is demonstrated in a full piece of readable text, not just quick brown foxes. That really gives me the feel of the font, as I would experience it in normal reading - something I wish I could see more often. Best, the text chosen is a brief essay written by Christopher Plantin in the 17th century, material of interest in itself. Next, there's an annotated gallery a few pages long, academic and commerical work, and the book ends with a brief time-line of Smeijers' career.

Still, I was looking for something that would teach me more about type, letters, typography, or other aspects of design. Instead, the book teaches me about Smeijers. Thus, my disappointment in the book and a rating lower than another reader might give.

//wiredweird

Average customer rating:

Proof Of This Book

Pretty complex

Purple Pirates!

You can do it, not just for kids Too!

Great book! It entertains children of any age for hours.

Ed Emberley's Big Purple Drawing Book (Ed Emberley Drawing Books)

Manufacturer: L,B Kids
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Drawing | Art | Arts & Music | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
Sculpture | Art | Arts & Music | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
General | Ages 4-8 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
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Ed Emberley's Big Green Drawing Book

Ed Emberley's Big Orange Drawing Book

Ed Emberley's Big Red Drawing Book

Ed Emberley's Drawing Book: Make a World (Ed Emberley Drawing Books)

Ed Emberley's Drawing Book of Faces

ASIN: 0316789739

Book Description

These titles continue Little, Browns major redesign of all 14 of Ed Emberleys classic drawing books. With brand-new covers and a new vertical trim size perfect for bookstore racks, these books are sure to attract new generations of fans. In the Big Purple Drawing Book, Ed Emberley shows would-be artists how to draw a variety of animals, people, insects, and more using just eight shapes and objects. In the Big Red Drawing Book, he does the same thing using just seven shapes and objects to make all things red. Using the same formula, Ed Emberley demonstrates how to draw animals, people, assorted monsters (ogres, witches) and more in the Big Orange Drawing Book. A different set of monsters appear in green in the Big Green Drawing Book. These hefty drawing books are packed with fun things that kids will really want to draw.

Customer Reviews:

Proof Of This Book.......2005-05-06

I am now 26 years old but as a child, I had at least 4 of Ed Emberley's books and my mother would take my brother and I to the library to check out those we didn't have.
I am an engineer but on my way to a degree in Product Design. My brother, while he got a degree in English, was a top student in his art classes. Both of us have used our love and talent for art as adults.
The great thing about this book is that Ed gives you the basic pieces but encourages you to be creative and go beyond the book and make the drawings your own. Many other drawing books only show a specific technique or how to draw a certain object which is discouraging and makes people believe that art has to look a certain way. When the truth is, art is what you like and what you make it to be.
I believe that creativity is crucial and to be encouraged in our youth. I spent hours and hours with Ed's books. They are great for car and plane trips. You couldn't get us to stop making our own worlds on paper!
Shove the computers, handheld games, and game boxes aside and put this in front of your children instead.

Pretty complex.......2005-04-22

I bought this book for my 9 year old step-daughter. She loves art and drawing. I also got the Ed Emberley book of animals, which is great. This book seems cluttered and the drawings are much more difficult. The reading level says 9-12, but I'd say its the upper end of that range.

Purple Pirates!.......2004-05-04

Another great Emberley book teaching how to draw by using simple geometric shapes to build anything from pandas, poodles, robots or even intricately detailed pirate ships.

You can do it, not just for kids Too!.......2002-03-12

This series of books from Emberly are the easiest books on drawing there are, period. Anyone young or old can learn to draw some great critters and vehicles from these books. All of his Big Color books are great, as is his "Make A World" book. This one is famous for the easy way it shows you how to draw step by step, what appears to be a complex pirate ship. He even shows you how to make yours unique rather than a copy of his drawings. You can be the doodle hero of your class or office after using this book. He does it simply using very simple steps, lines, and basic shapes to start you off. If you want to learn the terminology of what you are doing, and really become an accomplished artist, the next step after these are the terrific Jack Hamm books. If you just want to have some fun, get this book!

Great book! It entertains children of any age for hours........2000-10-30

This book is incredibly entertaining. From a complex pirate ship to a simple bunch of grapes, these books teach you how to draw a complicated picture in a series of easy steps. It will keep children of every age occupied for hours, as well as adults.

Average customer rating:

Ed Emberley's Big Purple Drawing Book
Ed Emberley
Manufacturer: Little Brown & Co (Juv)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OTNK1I

Average customer rating:

Ed Emberley's Big Purple Drawing Book
Ed Emberley
Manufacturer: Little, Brown Young Readers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OTY5XA

Book Description

The legendary Countess de Castiglione, embodiment of the Second Empire in France, dedicated her life to a cult of personal beauty. At her death she left more than 400 extraordinary photographs of herself, commemorating the significant moments of her life as she re-created them for the camera. This volume presents a selection of the portraits gathered from public and private collections and places them in the context of a dazzling epoch.This book is the catalogue for an exhibition at The Metropolitan Museum of Art from 18 September to 31 December 2000.

Customer Reviews:

A woman far ahead of her time.......2000-12-21

An amazing account of a time and woman like no other. The Countess di Castiglione can be looked upon as a precursor to many artists that have explored self-portraiture, though her "art" captured her narcissism more than any underlying concept or expression. In beautiful costumes from her personal collection, the Countess was photographed and then had artists paint over the portrait to create scenes from history, current operas, or novels of the time. This book compliments the wonderful exhibit recently displayed by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. I had the pleasure of seeing the exhibit and I was floored by the effortless artistry by which the Countess expressed her deep-seated self love (and loathing). I highly recommend finding out more about this beautiful woman, so scandalous in her time, so historically important in ours.

La Divine Comtesse : Photographs of the Countess de Castiglione

Average customer rating:

La Divine Comtesse : Photographs of the Countess de Castiglione
Pierre Apraxine
Manufacturer: Yale University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OS19BW

Book Description

Sponsored by The Management Center

At last, busy nonprofits can produce their own employee handbooks without the usual worries or frustrations. And employees can finally look to a single source for all the policies and procedures that bear on their day-to-day work. This unique book-and-disk set has everything you need to craft an employee handbook that is tailored to your organization's mission, culture, and goals. It is The Management Center's most comprehensive human resources toolkit for nonprofits across the country--filled with sample policies and examples of how to adapt each policy to your specific objectives.

Flexible and user-friendly, Creating Your Employee Handbook offers a unique three-level approach, capturing the complexity and diversity of your nonprofit. Many of the sample policies appear in versions that correspond to large, medium-sized, or small nonprofits. Sample policies also reflect different organizational cultures. For each policy,you can choose--mixing or matching as needed--the language, form, and style that best reflect your purpose and work culture. Topics include: employment and employee development, benefits, workplace healthy and safety, standards of conduct, work hours and pay, and much more. You can create a new employee handbook from start to finish, update existing policies, or identify new ones.

This hands-on manual can also help you gain insight into why certain policies are legally necessary. Such important policies are tagged throughout the handbook and there is even a state-by-state listing of specific statutes and mandates to help broaden your knowledge of employment law. Above all, Creating Your Employee Handbook shows how to make your handbook an effective employee communications tool.

Use the Disk for Easy Customization and Implementation

The do-it-yourself kit includes a computer disk complete with all of the sample policies in PC format. The policies are organized into folders that correspond to the size of your nonprofit. You can select or combine the policies according to your specific requirements. Also included are sample forms that can be copied or saved for future use. The guide and disk make the normally daunting task of creating an employee handbook that simple!

Customer Reviews:

great help for a non-profit agency.......2007-07-28

This book and CD were tremendously helpful to our agency. We put together an employee handbook in less than two hours and we are very satisfied with the results.

Creating Your Employee Handbook: A Do-it-Yourself Kit for Nonprofits Diskette

Average customer rating:

Creating Your Employee Handbook: A Do-it-Yourself Kit for Nonprofits Diskette
Bernstein
Manufacturer: Jossey Bass Wiley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0787952303

Book Description

A pioneer in the childbirth movement for 30 years, Odent focuses on birth and breastfeeding and suggests some startling conclusions. His premise here is that in order to gain a truer understanding of the human experience, we must examine the way other mammals function during birth, breastfeeding, and parenting.

Customer Reviews:

Weaves The Air War Into The Overall War.......2005-07-04

In "Clash Of Wings", the renowned air power expert, Col. Walter Boyne, brings World War II air power to life. Covering all theatres and major combatants, the reader is treated to a thorough introduction to the strategy, personalities and equipment involved.

Col. Boyne has again written in a very engaging and easily understood manner. Much of this writing consists of description of aircraft, including their strengths and weaknesses. My knowledge of aircraft has generally been limited to the models I had assembled in my youth, several of which I enjoyed reading about. I have never studied aircraft in sufficient depth to really follow their ins and outs, but Col. Boyne writes in such a way that I never became bored. I appreciate the way he weaves the story of the air war into the bigger story of the overall war. I finished this book with a feeling that I had a better understanding, not only of the air war, but of the ground and naval wars also. I was pleased to find some of my lingering questions about World War II, such as why Japan attacked the U. S. and European colonies to the south rather than trying to finish off the Soviet Union first, and what would have happened if they had attacked the U.S.S.R., addressed in this narrative.

This book is great! I really cannot say much more. Read it and understand what I mean.

An interesting book on aviation during WW II.......2001-12-04

Many books on this topic tend to get too detailed and readers tend to lose sight of the larger context of the war. I found this book to be good in that area- giving the reader a better overall view of the situtaion and circumstances that led to particular stratergies or equipment being developed in the course of the war. Its meant more for those interested in military avaition during WWII but do not want to get bogged down in the technical details.

Ambitious Overview.......2001-03-04

Walter Boyne knows his aviation. He may be rightly called the Dean of aviation writers. A former military pilot and former Director of the National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian in Washington, DC, he is an author that I would recommend anyone who has an interest in aviation should read. Not only has he produced historical books about aviation, he's also written some very fine novels about the early days and progress of commercial and military aviation called Trophy for Eagles,Air Force Eagles and Eagles at War. He has also written a great book on the Air Force called 'Wild Blue'. These I also highly recommend. In this book, Boyne gives a good overview of the air war in WWII. He covers all theaters, recounts the classic air battles in the Pacific and in Europe, describes the planes that were used and tells of the men who flew them. In fact, the book is so spare that it almost feels like there needs to be more. For someone who wants a well-written, well-researched overview, this is the book to read about the air war in WWII and I recommend it.

Readable, occassionally insightful, but also questionable........1997-12-20

Col. Boyne's book is certainly written in a readable style, but it is yet another strategic history of air warfare, a genre overpopulated with the strategic and tactical at the expense of the operational. Thankfully, Col. Boyne takes more of a look at the operational level of war than most air authors, but it's still a glimpse limited mostly to correlation of forces tables. However, some of Boyne's strategic insights are refreshing, particularly his revelations about how the cycle of aircraft and technology development impacted the different air forces, and the size and strategic mobility of the Luftwaffe and the Japanese Naval Air Force. Unfortunately, in the end, Col. Boyne is lead astray by his own background, wandering off course in the Pacific due to a poor understanding of naval air power. Naval Aviation's pioneers and their struggle to establish the arm that won the great battles of the Pacific war receive short shrift, as does the whole campaign. Boyne focusses excessively on the role of land based aviation, particularly the 5th Air Force and the B-29 bomber campaign. The former's Bismarck Sea massacre of a Japanese convoy is a highly overrated event, and the later was largely a matter of beating a dead horse. The Japanese recognized their military defeat at the Battle of the Philippine Sea, in June 1944 before a single B-29 launched from the Marianas. The only reason the war continued past that point was cultural pride and stubbornness. Clash of Wings is a good starting point, but I recommend the following books to people who really want to understand the Pacific war: Miller's "The Naval Air War," Hezlet's "Aircraft and Sea Power," Reynold's "The Fast Carriers," and Allen and Polmar's "Code-name Downfall." The B-29 campaign was rescued from a historical verdict of ineffectiveness, pointlessness and inhumanity only by the staggering shock of the atomic bomb, something Boyne appropriately calls "true air power." In the end, only nuclear, biological and chemical weapons are capable of achieving Guilio Douhet's vision of air power.

Readable, occasionally insightful, but also questionable........1997-12-20

Col. Boyne has produced a very readable history of the air war in WW2, but his USAF roots betray him in the end. Chief among Boyne's strong points is his recognition of the impact of the aircraft technological development cycle on the combatants. It goes a long way toward illuminating why the Luftwaffe and Japanese Naval Air Force peaked early, only to stagnate later. Boyne also delves into certain strategic and operational level facts not often addressed. His revelations about the small size, but significant strategic mobility of the Luftwaffe and JNAF are quite interesting, as well as his correlation of forces tables. But alas, Boyne is of USAF origin and wanders into questionable assetions about the largely naval Pacific campaign. He trots out the tired, tragic and questionable feat of Colin Kelly (saying the target was really the cruiser Ashigara, not a battleship), glosses over the abject failure of land-based air at Midway, and positively glories in the small, and largely over-rated massacre in the Bismarck Sea. The role of the pioneers of Naval Aviation (such as John Towers) is largely ignored. Boyne is also a little light on his criticism of a number of USAF and RAF figures involved with the strategic bombing campaigns. Overall, Col. Boyne has written a readable, concise and insightful history of the air war, but it is decidedly skewed and anyone truly interested in the air campaigns of WW2 must read beyond him.

Average customer rating:

Good resource for naturalists

The American Kestrel: Falcon Of Many Names
Roland H. Wauer
Manufacturer: Johnson Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Birdwatching | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
Reference | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
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Hawks from Every Angle: How to Identify Raptors In Flight

ASIN: 1555663532

Customer Reviews:

Good resource for naturalists.......2007-03-17

Written by one of America's most prolific authors on birding, "The American Kestrel: Falcon of many names" is an educational, quick, and fun book for those interested in learning more about North America's smallest, yet most commonly seen raptor. Written in language that is easy to understand, though still packed with information, this book will expand your understanding of how to spot kestrels, how they hunt, when they breed and migrate, and myriad other details about their life cycle and history. Though of limited utility for falconers, this book is still recommended to them as an instrument for viewing the kestrel from a different angle which will help paint a more three dimensional image of this incredible little raptor.

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