Design Research shows readers how to choose the best method of research in order to save time and get the right results.The book makes readers aware of all the different research methods, as well as how to carry out the most appropriate research for their graphic design projects. All stages of the research process are considered in a dynamic and entertaining style, covering audience, context, trends, sources, documentation, dissemination and more. Students and designers can benefit from this text by learning fresh ways to analyse information obtained by data gathering, and how best to test and prove decisions. The resulting, well-rounded solutions will be informed, innovative, and aesthetically fitting for the brief.

From traditional print to digital formats for mobile phones and tablets, this book provides a clear introduction to the creative use of format in graphic design. Using 200 inspirational examples from contemporary international designers, Format for Graphic Designers guides the student through the role of format in both the purpose and the narrative of a design. The authors look at the physical aspects of formats - traditional and experimental, print and digital - to explore innovative solutions and, through case studies, explore how and why professional designers choose particular formats for a job. Covering everything from books and magazines, point-of-purchase displays, packaging, direct mail, brochures, and screen-based formats, the new edition illuminates this critical element of design practice for students, and provides them with a solid foundation on which to build their own designs.

Demonstrating the power and variety of typography from hand-drawn to kinetic, this fully updated new edition of The Fundamentals of Typography covers the principles of using type across a range of media. Starting with a comprehensive introduction to the history of typography, the authors provide detailed explanations and inspirational examples of type usage from leading practitioners from around the world. With expanded practice exercises and four new case studies, this book gives students everything they need to know to use type effectively and creatively.

How do you start a design project? How can you generate ideas and concepts in response to a design brief? How do other designers do it? This book will answer all these questions and more. Now in its second edition, the highly popular Design Thinking for Visual Communication identifies methods and thought processes used by designers in order to start the process that eventually leads to a finished piece of work. Step-by-step guidance for each part of the process is highlighted by real-life case studies, enabling the student to see teaching in practice. This focus on ideas and methods eschews an abstract, academic approach in favour of a useable approach to design as a problem-solving activity. The new edition now includes contributions from a broader international range of design practices and adds depth to existing case studies by looking in greater detail at some of the processes used.

Fully updated, the third edition of Grids for Graphic Designers explores this important tool which is part of every designer's practice- whether it involves digital or print-based media. With over 200 illustrations plus six new interviews with design practitioners such as Second Story, Brody Associates and Peter Dawson, the student is introduced to the creative use of grids in contemporary practice as well as the basic principles that underlie their effective use. Written and designed by best-selling authors Gavin Ambrose and Paul Harris, this clear and concise introduction to the use of grids in design covers all the basics and the expanded section of activities and exercises allows students to implement what they have learned.

Typography is the most effective tool that graphic designers use to express ideas and convey a message. The ability to choose the right typeface for the right job, to design readable and legible pages, and to marry type and image to create visually compelling results are skills that every designer must master. This book introduces the student to the basic principles of typography with clear examples from international practitioners, interviews with designers and typographers, plus exercises to reinforce the concepts covered. With its attractive layout, approachable text and skillful use of typography on every spread, the author sets the standard to inspire the beginning student of design.

Successful visual outcomes can only be arrived at through the generation of great ideas, driven by research that will ultimately provide the designer with a range of potential design solutions. Basics Graphic Design 03: Idea Generation explores the different ways in which the designer can generate ideas. Consideration is given to audience, context and materials as well as to the many levels of idea generation, from the macro to the micro, from brainstorming to more focused, selective and strategic systems.

Layout for graphic design concerns the arrangement of text and images on a page. How these elements are positioned, both in relation to one another, and within the overall design scheme, will affect how content is viewed and received. Whether in print or online, it is key to powerful visual communication. Layout for Graphic Designers provides visual arts students with a theoretical and practical underpinning of this design subject. Packed with over 200 examples from key contemporary practices, and fully illustrated with clear diagrams and inspiring imagery, it offers an essential exploration of the subject. This third edition has been updated to include 25 new images and 6 new case studies from Lundgren + Lindqvist, TwoPoints.Net, Bruce Mau Design, Non-Format, Mind Design and Plau.