The front cover of Polly M. Law's book "The Word Project".

Almost a year ago now, I decided to help fund a small project on Kickstarter. Its name was The Word Project.

“The Word Project seeks to capture the more elusive words that roam the world and introduce them with whimsical detail and colorful fanfair.” – As writes Polly M. Law, the project’s creator. “Each piece will get its own spread accompanied by its meaning, pronunciation & an example of use. Since 2002 I have been raiding the attics, basements and dusty  cupboards of the English language in search of intriguing, odd &  obscure words for my Word Project. I’ve been encouraged to publish my work, and it has made the rounds to a number of publishing house and while recognized for its merits, no investment was made. I’d like to change all of that with your help.”

The project sounded fantastic and so I decided to help fund it. Polly asked for $4,000 to help her produce her book. The project proved so intriguing that she managed to raise $5,899 from backers.

A year later and Polly has managed to not only send copies to all of her backers, but it’s now available on Amazon for those who simply want to take a look at this fantastic little book.

My copy of The Word Project arrived a few weeks ago and the illustrations for each unusual, rare word are brilliant. What makes Polly’s characters so interesting is that they can’t even be classed as illustrations, really, but rather dolls, as they’re all made from a range of materials including buttons, coloured paper and string and then photographed. The result is something that would look right at home in the imagination of any child or storybook. It’s clear that every single one has been well thought out and developed with love and attention.

Beautifully created, Polly uses a range of materials to develop her characters.

The book contains over 100 of these creations, each with a definition of the word and an example of how to use the word in conversation. Memorising all of these words would certainly expand your vocabulary!

It’s great to see that Polly’s unique idea gained the funding of over a hundred backers, raising more money than she needed to make the project a reality and that it’s now selling copies on Amazon. I would fully recommend that you go and buy yourself a copy and see the full range of these fantastic pieces of artwork.

Cark (v) Worry or obsess.

For the most part, I actually prefer to find my design inspiration online, simply because there’s so much of it about. However, there are some times when you need not only high quality images to really see the detail in something, but also, a range of pieces that a professional has chosen, rather than a small collection that a blogger may have chosen to write about – which is what I’m about to do! My book collection is very small, but those that I do have are not only informative, but also a great resource for various projects. I’d recommend these books to anyone interested in design. All links will take you to Amazon, simply because Amazon have all of the books on this list.

Area

Author: Anthon Beeke, Nick Bell, Ken Cato
Publisher: Phaidon Press

Area is a great book for when you’re looking for some inspiration from all over the world. Area doesn’t just focus on one country or culture, but an incredible amount of them, sourcing images from Tehran and Berlin to Amsterdam and London and back. Curators of the book include the likes of Stefen Sagmeister. What’s really nice about this book is that because it’s physically big (measuring in at 29x25cm), you have a great view of some of the most detailed work. It’s hard to call this book a ‘coffee table’ book simply because it’s so big (445 pages) but there is a lack of detailed information. The book chooses instead to dedicate its space to the visuals. So, if your aim is to find out the reasoning behind something, then this book isn’t for you, but if it’s pure inspiration and enjoyment of graphic design, then by all means, consider Area as your next design book purchase.

Visual Research

Author: Ian Noble, Russell Bestley
Publisher: AVA

Considering this is a list of books that I own and wish to write about, this one is one that I regret purchasing. I don’t find it particularly useful because it’s written with the graphically and technically minded in mind. I suppose you could argue that since I am a graphic designer, I should enjoy and understand this book, but it’s just not enjoyable to read. The book is made even worse by the strange layout of it, shifting from serif text to sans serif throughout. In some cases, some of the informative text looks more like a piece of artwork. This is fine, but for a book that’s meant to be informative, you do tend to skip over some of the visuals and therefore miss out on the information you’re search for. So, while I do own this book, my advice is to avoid it.

A Smile in the Mind

Author: Beryl McAlhone, David Stuart
Publisher: Phaidon

If there’s one book on this list that you’ve probably heard of and/or seen in your design library, it’s probably this one. The book’s opening chapter begins:

Thank goodness the brain is designed to be uncreative. With eleven items of clothing to put on there would be 39,916,800 ways of getting dressed. The brain is designed to make patterns, to use them and to stick to them.

With an opening like that, it’s easy to tell that this book is all about being creative, but creative in a way in which makes people smile. Creative in a way in which people ‘get’ it. Where the previous book fails in explaining this smile in the mind, this book succeeds. Not only does it offer a good in-depth overview of the methods and executions it discusses, it also gives pages and pages of great examples. As many other designers would agree, A Smile in the Mind is a book which should be on any designer’s shelf.

Creative Advertising

Author: Mario Pricken
Publisher: Thames & Hudson

Where the previous book deals with how other people have created fantastic and creative pieces of work, Creative Advertising shows how you can do it yourself, giving numerous small tasks you can set yourself. This book doesn’t deal with the technical aspects of things like colour and composition, but rather the methods in which you get to that stage, asking questions such as “What if the product could defy gravity?”, “What if the product could make animals talk?” and other such questions to spark an idea. This is definitely a book which needs more than just a passing glance in order to get the most from it. However, if you do decide to spend time not only reading this book, but following its tasks, it’ll certainly be worth the price you paid for it.

The Creative Handbook

Publisher: Creative Review

This isn’t actually a book you’ll find on Amazon, but rather one which strangely came free with my subscription to Creative Review. It’s not even really a book. It’s more a Yellow Pages for creatives. An entire book dedicated to finding top design agencies, photography studios and other creative outlets. What is really interesting about this book is the way in which these companies choose to advertise, showing some of their best work, some of which is stunning. The Creative Handbook is published yearly and so each handbook is different, but if you happen to come across one, it’s worth keeping a hold of, especially if like me you’re interesting in applying to a few agencies.

1000 Graphic Elements

Author: W. Harvey
Publisher: Rockport

Out of all of the books I own, this is definitely my favourite. This book has an incredible amount of creative bindings, finishes, packagings and other truly impressive ways of presenting an idea. Although there’s no detailed information on any of the executions, the photos are so perfectly shot that it’s hard not to instantly understand what’s going on. The book is separated into sections including Printing, Manipulated Surfaces and Unique Materials. Each section has a wide range of agency work, with accreditation at the back. If ever you’re in the need of an original way of presenting something, this is absolutely the book for you. I can’t recommend it enough.

How to be a Graphic Designer Without Losing Your Soul

Author: Adrian Shaughnessy
Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press

This is another book that should be on the shelves of every graphic designer. The advice given is advice which you would never get from a University tutor (and some could argue that this is what University should be about – Getting real advice!), but rather, a honest look at the industry of graphic design and what you’re up against if you choose to be a part of it. Shaugnessy does an excellent job of explaining things like how to find a job, working freelance and self promotion. His words are not filled with technical jargon, but simply written from his perspective, along with contributions from the likes of Neville Brody scattered throughout. The book itself is beautifully presented with plenty of small footnotes and afterthoughts which are just as interesting as the main articles themselves. This is definitely a book you should own.

Seventy-Nine Short Essays on Design

Author: Michael Bierut
Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press

I’ll be honest and say that I’ve still not had a chance to completely read through this book, but it’s a book that you don’t need to read completely in order to enjoy it. This book become part of my collection after Ben Terrett suggested it on his blog. As the title suggests, this book is made up of small, easy to read essays about various elements of design. While the author of the book may be Michael Beirut, there are contributions from a huge number of designers and all of the articles are worth reading. What’s also really nice is that each individual essay is set in a different typeface, making the essay stand out more. What’s more is that information on how it’s been set out can be found at the back, along with the author of each essay. The size of book makes for easy reading when you’re not busy at the computer, with its small size and hardback cover. A really nice book and one which I still need to read thoroughly!

It’s Not How Good You Are, It’s How Good You Want To Be

Author: Paul Arden
Publisher: Phaidon

As with the previous book, I haven’t had a chance to read all the way through this because it was only given to me recently by Thoughtful. However, after flicking through it, it’s going to be a very easy read as there’s less than a paragraph of text on most of the page. That’s not to say that the paragraph is undeserving of being read, however. In most cases, what I’ve read so far is quite interesting. The book has a fairly light-hearted feel to it, with lots of humorous lines in it. This kind of book can be read in less than a few hours, but the advice contained within it will undoubtedly stick in your head for many months to come. It’s definitely a worthwhile purchase and one which is less than £5.

So, there’s my list of books that currently adorn my shelf. As I said at the beginning of this post, it’s not a huge collection, but I consider these books to be worthwhile purchases and ones which far outweigh the cost of buying them. Many people could argue that the art of a printed book is declining, but there’s something about a physical book that can never be replicated by viewing it online. Sometimes, it’s all about holding it and turning pages. It’s that tactile action that makes you enjoy the book even more and perhaps even help you remember what you read. I would recommend any of these books to anyone interested in design and in the coming years, I have no doubt that my collection will grow much larger than it is now. At that point, my next book list post may be considerably longer!

One of the main reasons that I’m so eager to launch it is because of the increasing priority to simply get my name out there. I graduate University in May and long before then, I’d like to have a few freelance projects under my belt and the only way to do that is to promote the hell out of myself. I’ve already begun taking smaller steps than the relaunch of my site. This includes fantastic new business cards, which I very much love.

New business cards

Via the purchase of Michael Bierut’s 79 Short Essays on Design on Amazon, I recieved a flyer offering me 250 business cards from VistaPrint at what I thought was a rather good price. I had been looking for some new business cards for quite some time, after using very unprofessional ones that I had printed myself.

So, I fired up Illustrator and designed my card, with the dimensions of 85x54mm, which is a standard dimension for a business card (Same size as a credit card, for those that don’t know) and uploaded it to VistaPrint. Confirmed all of the options and paid my £19 or so. I was told I’d have them within two weeks. Not bad. Or so I thought.

When they came, I was very disappointed with them. The first, most glaring problem with them is that they were completely the wrong size. That’s not to say that VistaPrint had made an error, however. For some reason, VistaPrint (And I’m talking about the .co.uk version here) seems to think that the standard dimensions for a business card is 87x49mm. It’s not.

I did think that it was VistaPrint’s fault to begin with and was very quickly onto their site to check out what the hell had gone wrong. It was only after finding their artwork specifications page that I realised it was me who had been foolish enough to submit artwork without looking at their specs first. The only reason I did so was because 85x54mm is, as I say, such a standard size for British business cards.

Additionally, even if the dimensions were correct, the print quality and stock were poor. The colours were dull and the stock was thin. Not professional looking at all. So, in short, it was £19 badly spent.

I still needed professional business cards, however and I spent a great deal looking for a decent site that would print them to my specifications, not theirs. I found cardsmadeeasy.com, who, while only offering 50 cards for the price that VistaPrint were offering 250, would happily print them at 85×54, on heavier stock and with a laminate finish. Again, I submitted the artwork and they told me it’d be about two weeks for delivery.

I recieved them within ten days and when I opened the package, I smiled. Professional, proper sized, vivid business cards, bearing my logo and my name.

I’m a big fan of tactility when it comes to design and these felt great to hold. For those that don’t know much about business cards, when a card is laminated, it’s not the same laminate that you’d find on the likes of membership cards. It’s a kind of smooth sheen. Silky to the touch. Not glossy, not quite matte. Perfect.

I sent an email to Cards Made Easy, thanking them for deliverying a professional finish. They put my email up on their site on their customer comments page. They also noted that I was a graphic designer and offered me a 10% discount on any further client work that I might send their way. I’ll certainly be using them again.

It’s amazing how the likes of VistaPrint can get business cards wrong when they’re such a huge company and yet Cards Made Easy, while you could call the underdog, gets it right and goes a step further too, offering discounts to graphic designers and replying to emails personally, rather than with automated responses. It’s really nice to see.