The Non-Designer's Design Book, 4th Edition

The Non-Designer's Design Book, 4th Edition

by Robin Williams
Released November 2014
Publisher(s): Peachpit Press
ISBN: 9780133966350

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Book description

For nearly 20 years, designers and non-designers alike have been introduced to the fundamental principles of great design by author Robin Williams. Through her straightforward and light-hearted style, Robin has taught hundreds of thousands of people how to make their designs look professional using four surprisingly simple principles. Now in its fourth edition, The Non-Designer’s Design Book offers even more practical design advice, including a new chapter on the fundamentals of typography, more quizzes and exercises to train your Designer Eye, updated projects for you to try, and new visual and typographic examples to inspire your creativity.

Whether you’re a Mac user or a Windows user, a type novice, or an aspiring graphic designer, you will find the instruction and inspiration to approach any design project with confidence.

THIS ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO DESIGN WILL TEACH YOU

  • The four principles of design that underlie every design project

  • How to design with color

  • How to design with type

  • How to combine typefaces for maximum effect

  • How to see and think like a professional designer

  • Specific tips on designing newsletters, brochures, flyers, and other projects

Table of contents

  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright Page
  3. Dedication Page
  4. Contents
  5. Is this book for you?
  6. Design Principles
    1. Chapter 1. Introduction
      1. The Joshua tree epiphany
      2. The four basic principles
        1. Contrast
        2. Repetition
        3. Alignment
        4. Proximity
      3. Umm . . .
    2. Chapter 2. Proximity
      1. Put it into words
      2. Summary of proximity
        1. The basic purpose
        2. How to get it
        3. What to avoid
    3. Chapter 3. Alignment
      1. Look around
      2. Designer Eyes
      3. Summary of alignment
        1. The basic purpose
        2. How to get it
        3. What to avoid
    4. Chapter 4. Repetition
      1. Summary of repetition
        1. The basic purpose
        2. How to get it
        3. What to avoid
    5. Chapter 5. Contrast
      1. Summary of contrast
        1. The basic purpose
        2. How to get it
        3. What to avoid
    6. Chapter 6. Review of the Four Design Principles
      1. Proximity
      2. Alignment
      3. Repetition
      4. Contrast
        1. Little Quiz #1: Design principles
        2. Little Quiz #2: Redesign this ad
        3. Little Quiz #2 continued: Where to begin?
      5. Summary
    7. Chapter 7. Design with Color
      1. The amazing color wheel
      2. Color relationships
        1. Complementary
        2. Triads
        3. Split complement triads
        4. Analogous colors
      3. Shades and tints
        1. Make your own shades and tints
        2. Monochromatic colors
        3. Shades and tints in combination
      4. Watch the tones
      5. Warm colors vs. cool colors
      6. How to begin to choose?
      7. CMYK vs. RGB: print vs. screen
        1. CMYK
        2. RGB
      8. Print vs. web color models
        1. Little Quiz #3: Color
    8. Chapter 8. Extra Tips & Tricks
      1. Creating a package or brand
      2. Business cards
      3. Try this . . .
        1. Or this . . .
        2. Tips on designing business cards
      4. Letterhead and envelopes
      5. Try this . . .
      6. Or this . . .
        1. Tips on letterhead and envelope design
      7. Flyers
      8. Try this . . .
      9. Or this . . .
        1. Tips on designing flyers
      10. Newsletters
      11. Try this . . .
      12. Or this . . .
        1. Tips on designing newsletters
      13. Brochures
      14. Try this . . .
      15. Or this . . .
        1. Tips on designing brochures
      16. Postcards
      17. Try this . . .
      18. Or this . . .
        1. Tips on designing postcards
      19. Advertising
      20. Try this . . .
      21. Or this . . .
        1. Tips on designing ads
      22. Résumés
      23. Try this . . .
      24. Or this . . .
        1. Tips on designing résumés
  7. Design with Type
    1. Chapter 9. The Essentials of Typography
      1. One space after punctuation
      2. Quotation marks
      3. Apostrophes
        1. Little Quiz #4: Apostrophes
      4. Dashes
        1. Hyphen -
        2. En dash (short dash) –
        3. Em dash (long dash) —
      5. Special characters
        1. Special characters on the PC
        2. Special characters on the Mac
      6. Accent marks
        1. Accent marks in Windows:
        2. Accent marks on the Mac:
        3. Try this, to type résumé:
      7. Capitals
      8. Underlining
      9. Kerning
      10. Widows and orphans
      11. Miscellaneous
    2. Chapter 10. Type (& Life)
      1. Concord
      2. Conflict
      3. Contrast
      4. Summary
        1. But . . .
    3. Chapter 11. Categories of Type
      1. Oldstyle
      2. Modern
      3. Slab serif
      4. Sans serif
      5. Script
      6. Decorative
      7. Be conscious
        1. Little Quiz #5: Categories of type
        2. Little Quiz #6: Thick/thin transitions
        3. Little Quiz #7: Serifs
      8. Summary
    4. Chapter 12. Type Contrasts
      1. Serif vs. sans serif is a contrast of structure
      2. All caps vs. lowercase is a contrast of form
      3. Roman vs. italic is a contrast of form
      4. Summary
        1. Little Quiz #8: Contrast or conflict
        2. Little Quiz #9: Dos and don’ts
        3. An exercise in combining contrasts
  8. A Few Extras
    1. Chapter 13. Does it Make Sense?
      1. The process
      2. An exercise
      3. Okay—redesign this!
    2. Chapter 14. Answers & Suggestions
      1. Quiz answers
        1. Little Quiz #1: Design principles (page 90)
        2. Little Quiz #2: Redesign this ad (page 91)
        3. Little Quiz #3: Color (page 112)
        4. Little Quiz #4: Apostrophes (page 155)
        5. Little Quiz #5: Categories of type (page 183)
        6. Little Quiz #6: Thick/thin transition (page 184)
        7. Little Quiz #7: Serifs (page 185)
        8. Little Quiz #8: Contrast or conflict (page 216)
        9. Little Quiz #9: Dos and don’ts (page 217)
      2. Designer Eye suggestions
    3. Chapter 15. Typefaces in this Book
      1. Primary faces
      2. Modern (14 point)
      3. Slab serif (14 point)
      4. Sans serif (13 point)
      5. Oldstyle (14 point)
      6. Ornaments (18 point)
      7. Script (14 point unless noted)
      8. Decorative
  9. Back matter
    1. Appendix: Mini-glossary
    2. Resources
  10. Index
  11. About this book
  12. About this author

Product information

  • Title: The Non-Designer's Design Book, 4th Edition
  • Author(s): Robin Williams
  • Release date: November 2014
  • Publisher(s): Peachpit Press
  • ISBN: 9780133966350