Thomas Kryton (bio)

-160 pages
-hardcover
-full color

The authors’ goal in “The Graphic Designer’s Guide to Effective Visual Communication…” is to demonstrate how through the use of type, image, and color designers can create hierarchical visual structures that guide a viewer through a design piece. The book is broken down into two main sections; the first dealing primarily with type and the latter, imagery with an introductory section for each. The introduction to the two main sections offers an overview of what that portion of the book will cover along with real world examples of some of the ideas presented later in the following pages.

The two sections are further broken down into seven exercise sections, each dealing with a sub topic expanding on of the ideas of the two main sections. Each exercise opens with an example exercise with suggested possible layouts and then again follows with more examples culled from both print and web material with discussions on how the examples relate to the ideas being presented.

I found the two page exercises at the beginning of each subsection to be the highlight of the book overall. The exercises were laid out along with sample solutions that expanded on the previous material and served as a good bridge to the examples presented later in the book. The liberal examples through the book tie in nicely with the text discussing how each solves the problem being presented, although in some instances the explanations feel a little brief.

The authors have done a good job of demonstrating how a designer can control the flow of the eye through a piece from capturing the viewer’s attention to the final delivery of the message. This will be a book I will keep handy on the book shelf just to keep me thinking about how to increase the effectiveness of my designs for both print and web.

Digital Paint Graphic and Web Design