Summer, beaches, hot dogs, reading….well, hopefully you’ll enjoy some reading this summer. With that in mind, here are five new books that a reprographics professional should enjoy reading this summer. Click on the book title if you want to go to Amazon and order the book.
This book is for anyone who is nostalgic for the days before digital printing. It’s about a community of independent designers who use traditional printmaking techniques to create innovative graphics.
Here is the description from Amazon:
For People of Print, Marcroy Smith, founder of the website Marcroy, and Andy Cooke, his longtime collaborator, have brought together the work of more than forty-five of the hottest designers, illustrators, and collectives currently committed to the tactility, materiality, and visible craft of print, alongside the gallerists and promoters who are key figures in this creative scene. A dazzling array of work is presented, made to adorn paper, posters, flyers, packaging, fanzines, self-published books, textiles and fashion, and exhibition design, accompanied by profiles of each printer, in-depth interviews, information on innovative design techniques, and a comprehensive reference section.
With a broad range of designers from the United States, Brazil, Denmark, Germany, France, Spain, Singapore, and beyond, People of Print will be an essential and inspirational resource for graphic designers and illustrators as well as anyone who appreciates that print is the future. 452 illustrations
Poster printing is a solid market for a lot of reprographics shops, and if do that kind of work, you know that some posters are simply much better designed than others. Maybe you even employ designers who create posters for clients. Either way, you’ll enjoy this guide to making posters work.
Here’s the Amazon description:
With its unique focus on visual language, Ellen Lupton's How Posters Work is more than another poster book. Rather than provide a history of the genre or a compilation of collectibles, the book is organized around active design principles. Concepts such as "Simplify," "Focus the eye," "Exploit the diagonal," "Reverse expectations" and "Say two things at once" are illustrated with a diverse range of posters, from avant-garde classics and rarely seen international works to contemporary pieces by today's leading graphic designers. Illustrated with over 150 works from the collection of Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, How Posters Work provides a stunning education in seeing and making, demonstrating how some of the world's most creative designers have mobilized principles of layout, composition, psychology and rhetoric to produce powerful acts of visual communication.
There’s no way you’ve missed the growth of 3D printing in the reprographics industry. Even though it can hardly be called “printing,” it is an important new technology that some shops are finding profitable. This book is a guide to the basics, though it’s definitely geared towards the amateur more than a service provider.
Here’s the online description:
3D printing is the hottest new technology. Idiot's Guides: 3D Printing explores this new revolution by explaining all of the basics of materials, parts, software, modeling, design, and finishing. The book then takes it to the next level by teaching readers how to take their new skills and print some simple, fun projects. Helpful advice on setting up a home-built 3D printer, buying a manufactured printer, selecting raw materials, and finding plans and projects online, are also covered.
The Future of Architecture in 100 Buildings
Managing and reproducing architectural drawings is still a major business for more IRgA members, and probably will be for decades to come. With that in mind, it’s fun to see what kind of projects might cross your desk in the coming years. This book gives you a glimpse of the future.
Here is Amazon’s description:
The founder of Architizer.com and practicing architect draws on his unique position at the crossroads of architecture and social media to highlight 100 important buildings that embody the future of architecture.
We’re asking more of architecture than ever before; the response will define our future.
A pavilion made from paper. A building that eats smog. An inflatable concert hall. A research lab that can walk through snow. We’re entering a new age in architecture—one where we expect our buildings to deliver far more than just shelter. We want buildings that inspire us while helping the environment; buildings that delight our senses while serving the needs of a community; buildings made possible both by new technology and repurposed materials.
Like an architectural cabinet of wonders, this book collects the most innovative buildings of today and tomorrow. The buildings hail from all seven continents (to say nothing of other planets), offering a truly global perspective on what lies ahead. Each page captures the soaring confidence, the thoughtful intelligence, the space-age wonder, and at times the sheer whimsy of the world’s most inspired buildings—and the questions they provoke: Can a building breathe? Can a skyscraper be built in a day? Can we 3D-print a house? Can we live on the moon?
Filled with gorgeous imagery and witty insight, this book is an essential and delightful guide to the future being built around us—a future that matters more, and to more of us, than ever.
Oh Beautiful Beer: The Evolution of Craft Beer and Design
This one is pure summer fun! Anyone who remembers the beer can collecting craze of the 1970s probably already appreciates the wide variety of designs found on craft beer bottles. Those designs represent a rebirth of a genre that completely faded when the big brewers started putting beer in mass produced aluminum cans. Crack open your favorite brew and pretend you’re kind of doing “research” for work by studying these designs.
Here is the Amazon description:
The craft beer boom of the last decade has led to an explosion of new breweries. In such a crowded market, how do you make your beer stand out from the crowd? For many of the best brewers, the secret is to have an eye-catching design, something that reflects the quality of the product within and the values of the brewer who made it.
Based on the hugely popular blog, Oh Beautiful Beer collects the most innovative new labels and logos into a sumptuous full-color book. Each brewery is selected by graphic designer Harvey Shepard, who uses the designs to create a visual history of craft beer. From the Gonzo cartoons of Flying Dog to the playful geometric patterns of Evil Twin to the classic Brooklyn "B," every beer geek will want to own this love letter to the art of beer. Over 200 Color Illustrations