Compared to the others book I mentioned on my posts, this one is bit different. Last year we had a lot of briefs for poster designs, so I thought it would be smart if I actually read up a bit about it in preparation for this year, so I’m ready to make a highest mark worthy poster if need comes to be. What I really like about this book, is that you can, just like other books I mentioned, see different types of designs, so they aren’t confined to just one style, which I think is great. As some person said ‘Variety is the spicy of life’, which totally fits to this book. Another massive plus , the author approaches the topic in a playful manner, so it doesn’t feel like your regular school textbook, it actually interests you and before you know it, you get absorbed into it.

Foster, J., 2012. Masters of Poster Design. 1st ed. United States of America: Rockport publishers.

This is yet another book that I look at for artistic inspiration, but in this case, it’s more related to what I’m actually passionate and interested about, which is Illustration. This book features tons of contemporary illustrations, that range from simple character sketches, to very strange pieces that make you question the artist’s thinking. When you open the book, you can also find artworks, made with different methods. You want traditional sketches? Yup, it has those. What about designs made digitally? Absolutely. So, all in all, it’s a great book to look at, when you want to clear that artist’s block.

Hyland, A., 2003. Hand to Eye. 1st ed. London: Laurence King.

On this post I’d like to talk about website, that talks about something I’m interested in and that I draw inspiration from. http://www.bigbadworldofconceptart.com, which is a website that talks all about the concept art. I find it helpful, because if you have any question related to concept art, it can be answered there. After seeing a particular post on that website, my way of seeing things changed and I want to talk about it. The post talks about how to motivate yourself to draw if you are someone, who’s lazy like me, so in my eyes, this is golden material. Basically, there are 4 points to the formula: 1. You have to wake up earlier or go to sleep later and spend that time drawing, so you have that little extra time you can spend on honing your craft. 2. You have to reduce the amount of time you spend on TV or playing video games, which is fair, since at this day and age, we all spend too much time on those. 3. Ignoring distractions when you are busy, that way you’ll get into a habit of focusing on work. Lastly, 4. Replacing your phone with a sketchbook. Don’t worry, not literally. If you have 5 minutes to spare, instead of checking your phone, get your sketchbook out, it’s as simple as that. It might sound sounds like common sense, but I tried to follow those 4 points, and what do you know, it actually works if you commit to it.

Eliott Lilly. 2018. Tips to keep drawing. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.bigbadworldofconceptart.com. [Accessed 13 December 2018].

‘Graphic Design Now’ is a book I often look at for inspiration, when I need to design something, since you can find any kind of design, ranging from illustrations, to logos, to photography and even packaging design, so it has something to offer for everyone. The author talks about the the graphic design as a whole, explores the origins of interesting design, while trying to explain artists thought process to the reader. It’s an interesting read for sure, but the thing I get absorbed into the most are the illustrations. Usually, these kinds of books show you only the design from the older days of the industry, but this one is special. It actually shows you designs from both old times and modern times, so you can see and compare how the design trends have changed.

Fiell, C. and P. , (2015). Graphic Design Now. 1st ed. Cologne, Germany. TASCHEN

I’d like to share a really helpful design help and it comes from a book called ‘The digital canvas’ by Jonathan Raimes. It’s a book that, essentially, shows you the basics of digital painting and the software functions. I find it quite interesting because even when you think you know most of the things about digital painting, you can still find something new and totally fresh that you didn’t know before and it makes you happy in a way, that you’re glad that you found the book and decided to take a look.  The book also features a brief history of digital art, an easy to comprehend hardware description, software and many other things that any beginner (and a veteran) digital artist could learn and pick up fairly quickly.

Raimes, J., 2006. The Digital Canvas. 1st ed. New York: Abrams.