Book Review: The Paper Bride

The Paper Bride is the latest book from my friend Esther K. Smith, who is part of the duo that runs the terrific NYC based Purgatory Pie Press. With a concern for the environment and an interest in promoting DIY culture, Esther once again presents a wonderful collection of paper based projects that encourage brides and grooms to spend more time at home making things together and less time spending money on wasteful items that will often end up in the trash moments after the ceremony is done. The lavishly illustrated book features plenty of easy to follow instructions for making everything from a unique proposal to a funky photo album and would make a great gift item or a treat to yourself before diving into the world of wedding planning.

The Paper Bride
Esther K. Smith
Potter Craft
$24.99

Book Review: Design Is The Problem

I’Äôve just realized I’Äôve been woefully remiss and have not reviewed what is one of the best books to come out about sustainable design in the past several years. Nathan Shedroff’Äôs Design Is The Problem addresses all manner of designers  and holds them accountable for the potential bad and good their work can do for the world. Rather than dealing with an individual branch of design Shedroff looks at overarching systems of sustainability and how they can be applied to any field. After starting with a thorough review of what ’Äúsustainability’Äù even means and how to measure it, Shedroff then reviews several popular approaches from books like Cradle To Cradle and Natural Capitalism. This section is particularly useful in how it encapsulates several complex theories and then proposes how to make use of the best of all of them. The rest of the book is devoted to breaking down all the areas in which designers have an opportunity to apply sustainable principles using the classic ’ÄúReduce, Reuse, and Recycle’Äù framework even adding a new ’ÄúRe’Äù to the mix: Rethink. Even folks who are fairly familiar with the standard terminology may stand to learn a thing or two when it comes to Dematerialization and Transmaterialization, and Informationalization! The book is rounded out with real world examples that are sprinkled throughout, along with specifics about making sustainable processes a measurable reality, and a useful selection of resources. Nathan’Äôs accessible writing keeps the book from becoming a dry textbook and his points are well-researched & applicable to people with a wide range of knowledge and interest in sustainability. A truly useful guidebook, this should definitely be in the hands of anyone interested in the impact their work is having on the world.

[UPDATE: The publisher is offering a 15% discount on the purchase price if you use the code REBELLION when you buy the book through their site.]

Design Is The Problem
by Nathan Shedroff
Rosenfeld Media
$36.00 print & digital

$22.00 digital only

Book Review: Art for Obama

Art for Obama, edited by Jennifer Gross & the infamous Shepard Fairy (whose iconic Obama image is still the focus of a court battle), is an excellent overview of some of the amazing art that was created in support of the Obama campaign for president. Say what you will about what's happened since the election, the fact remains that it was an historic election on many levels, not the least of which was how this candidate was supported by the art community (and vice versa). Just the fact that the work of a graffiti artist (who had already been arrested many times) was the centerpiece of the campaign says a lot about how remarkably different this was than the elections of the recent past. The book not only showcases the well-known posters, but also art that was created specifically for the Manifest Hope exhibitions co-organized by MoveOn.org. The range and quality of art is truly impressive and at the same time it's overwhelming to see how intensely people's hopes and dreams were invested in one man. Looking back it's hard not to see that people would be disappointed no matter what happened after the election was over. There's no way one person could live up to such expectations, but at the same time the book is a great reminder of what could be made a reality when the general public actually felt like they had a chance to have their voices heard.

Ask for it at your local independent bookstore.

Art for Obama
Abrams
$22.50

Book Review: Ad Nauseam

Ad Nauseam is a entertaining collection of classic articles and new material from Carrie McLaren and Jason Torchinsky, the main voices behind the brilliantly caustic Stay Free Magazine. I actually met Carrie in the mid-90's after falling in love with the magazine (emphasis on the "zine"), which turned a critical eye to consumer culture, and more specifically the corporations and advertising that promoted it. It turned out we were both in NYC at the time, so I was delighted to help out with some photography and design (including a map of the advertising saturation of Manhattan that was handed out in Times Square and is still available online).* Since this was before the internet was the source for all information, it was a rare treat to find someone else who shared an interest in presenting a critical response to advertising and the corporatization of culture, plus it was actually funny to read. The book is a terrific reminder of what made the magazine such a treat: it deals with serious topics in clever and often hilarious ways (including multiple choice tests at the end of each section!). Where Adbusters moved away from their parody ads and Buy Nothing Day activism, Stay Free retained a gritty, street cred (and sense of humor) that sometimes involved playing pranks on unsuspecting NYC residents in Carrie's neighborhood. Having read a lot of the material in its original form it's sad to realize how much of it is still completely relevant to our current world 10 or so years later. For anyone who missed Stay Free Magazine's heyday (the magazine is no longer in print, though the blog version lives on) or needs a primer on what is so messed up about the world of advertising (and why you actually are affected by it, despite what you think) Ad Nauseam is a must read. Ask for it at your local independent bookstore.

Ad Nauseam
Carrie McLaren & Jason Torchinsky
$18.00
Faber & Faber, Inc.

*Fun fact: One of the first images in the book (a parody Gap ad) is actually a photo I took for the back of the magazine (if I remember correctly we did that shoot on the roof of Matador Records!).

Book Review: Magic Books & Paper Toys

My friends at Purgatory Pie Press are at it again, Esther Smith has put out another beautiful book on DIY paper craft: Magic Books & Paper Toys. With everyone's eyes on the bottom line these days Magic Books is a perfect antidote to the consumption driven happiness that has been sold to us for so long. With dozens of classic paper projects that are easy to do, like flip books and magic wallets, this two-sided book, filled with lovely hand-drawn directions, should be on every family's coffee table in place of the remote control.

Magic Books & Paper Toys
by Esther K. Smith
Potter Craft
$21.95

Book Review: The Pirate's Dilemma

In the era of major corporations suing kids and old ladies for illegally downloading content and governments using their power to shut down torrent sharing sites Matt Mason's The Pirates Dilemma is an argument for the support of the shadowy folks behind the DIY world of sampling, remixing, and yes illegal (digital) pirating. He gives an engaging history of modern youth culture and all the ways that, what many consider, illegal behavior has actually shaped what we accept as mainstream pop culture today. The book starts with the roots of punk rock and swings through the beginnings of hip-hop ending up with modern street art and DIY 3-D printers. Ultimately he argues that the pirate's way of dealing with the market is, and always will be, the most successful and that rather than trying to stop it we should hop on board the pirate ship. True to his beliefs Mason even offers the logo for the book as a free Creative Commons licensed download which you can remix as you please as well as a pay-what-you-want digital version of the book. It's a fun read that will definitely leave you considering adding an eye-patch to your wardrobe.

The Pirate's Dilemma
by Matt Mason
Free Press
$25.00

The Big Book of Green Design

I recently found out that several of my recent pieces are included in the new book from Crescent Hill Books: The Big Book of Green Design. This is the latest in a terrific run of environmental/socially conscious themed books coming out for graphic designers in the past two years*, which is a welcome relief after the long drought that preceded it. The Big Book of Green Design is definitely more of a coffee table book than a reference manual, but with an intro by Re-Nourish founder Eric Benson, hundreds of visual examples, and several detailed case studies it should be a fairly inspiring resource for anyone interested in the environmental direction businesses big and small are taking. The book is scheduled for release later this month, ask for it at your local independent bookstore.

*See also my reviews of: Green Graphic Design, SustainAble, and Do Good Design.

Book Review: Forms, Folds, and Sizes 2nd Ed.

Despite the less than enticing title, Forms, Folds, and Sizes (second edition) from Rockport Books is actually one of the most useful texts a designer can have on his/her shelf (and realistically it'll probably be on their desk more than the shelf). The densely packed, but not overly large, book is filled with prety much every technical detail a working designer needs to make sure their work prints, mails, or posts online correctly. From copyright basics, to printing terminology, it contains much more than what the title implies (though that's there too in abundance). There's even a large process color selector section at the back that's worth the price of the book alone. Forms, Folds, and Sizes is really about the stuff that is often breezed over or left entirely out of design education with the assumption that students will figure it out on their own or once they're in the working world. And while there's no beating learning by doing (and making mistakes), there's a lot to be said for getting it right the first time (and saving the pain and expense of getting it wrong on the client's dime). Based on the original edition, by prodigeous design writer Poppy Evans, this new version contains additional sections written with the help of Aaris Sherin on grid design, online design, design jobs, and (most appealing to me) environmentally aware design. The Greening Graphic Design chapter is a handy synthesis of the topics covered in Sherin's book SustainAble, making the book even more useful to the budding socially conscious designer (which really should be all young designers at this point). The one sad irony is that the book has a flexible vinyl cover. From a functional standpoint this makes sense since it will hold up better than a standard cover, considering how much more use this will get than a regular book. From the environmental angle however, this is one of the worst materials in existance and really is a shame that something else couldn't have been found to replace it. I know cost issues are a major factor with these things, but here's hoping the third edition comes with a cover that's as good as the contents within.

Forms, Folds, Sizes (second edition)
Poppy Evans & Aaris Sherin
Rockport Books
$30.00

Book Review: Green Graphic Design

Green Graphic Design, by Brian Dougherty of Celery Design Collaborative, is the second new eco-graphics handbook I’Äôve read in the past year. This is a pretty big deal, considering I’Äôve spent the previous six years using out-of-date (and often out-of-print) books to introduce the subject to my socially conscious design students. It’Äôs a nice problem to actually have some resources to choose between and while I may have a bit of bias towards Aaris Sherin’Äôs SustainAble, since my own work appears in it, I like to believe that I came at Green Graphic Design with an open mind. However, it is impossible for me to read and review it without comparing the books.
Two of the major advantages of Dougherty’Äôs book are clear from the outset: it’Äôs a smaller-sized paperback, which makes it less of a coffee table book and more useful as a day-to-day manual and it costs nearly half as much.
After a strong introduction, which speaks to the broader idea of socially conscious design, even though it sticks with the term ’Äúgreen design’Äù, the book settles into a fairly solid overview of the issues and techniques of environmental graphic design. In terms of technical information covered, both Green Graphic Design and SustainAble are on fairly equal ground.
Where Green Graphic Design falters, however, is in the question of audience. The text more often than not seems geared towards people who have little or no professional experience. This would be ideal for a student audience, except that the practical examples, the majority of which involve projects for Celery’Äôs large corporate clients, will be most useful to people who are already able make choices about custom pocket folders and mass-produced consumer packaging. Package design seems like something that is better covered in a book on green industrial design (a topic which has many more books already associated with it) and most graphic design students I know won’Äôt be dealing with work at the scale that Celery handles for a long time (if ever).
In the end, Green Graphic Design reads more like an elaborate self-promotion for Celery that is supplemented with some useful information on working environmentally rather than the other way around. The diversity of the projects and voices in SustainAble still make it my primary recommendation, but Green Graphic Design is an acceptable choice for those who are new to the topic, especially if portability and cost are your primary concerns.

Green Graphic Design
by Brian Dougherty
Allworth Press
$24.95

Book Review: Do Good Design

For the last six years I’Äôve taught a class on socially conscious design at Virginia Commonwealth University called Design Rebels. I created the class after teaching general design classes and seeing that no one was talking about the issues that drove me to start my on socially conscious design firm in 2001. Namely that design is an extremely powerful tool for affecting change in the world and designers need to be making conscious choices about how and for whom they do this work.

Through readings, discussions, presentations, and self-directed community projects, Design Rebels introduces the students to the range of gray areas they will encounter in their professional lives. But when I started the class the only book that really dealt with the related issues was Naomi Kline’Äôs No Logo and it was not directed specifically towards designers. Lacking a proper textbook I created a course pack culled from dozens of books and articles that represented the range of issues that I wanted to class to discuss. And every year I have added and removed articles attempting to refine it into a functional handbook for the students, while keeping an eye out for something to fill the void.

In 2004 I had the pleasure of meeting Canadian designer/lecturer David Berman when he came to VCU to present his talk: ’ÄúWeapons of Mass Deception: Design & Social Responsibility’Äù. Over a post-lecture dinner we discussed my class and my need for a textbook where one didn’Äôt exist and David talked about his own interest in writing a book. He left with my syllabus in hand and four years later I’Äôve got a copy of his Do Good Design in my hands.

Do Good Design (the title consistently defaced so that it reads Do Good Design) follows David’Äôs friendly and accessible lecturing style, even including self-conscious asides handwritten in his title-defacing marker in the margins. The volume, while slim, manages to give a thorough overview of some of the main issues faced by designers and why the discussion of their responsibility is necessary in our increasingly connected world. Through his anecdotal experiences traveling the world as a lecturer and with a plethora of visual examples he builds a strong case for the need to redefine the designer’Äôs role. The book is a quick and entertaining read that aims primarily to inspire a busy/jaded audience to think differently.

Since the length and tone of Do Good Design doesn’Äôt allow for a deeper discussion of the issues or the ways to solve them, the book works best as an enthusiastic introduction to the topics of socially conscious design for students and professional designers who have only just begun to realize the social and environmental impact of their work. The ’ÄúDo Good Pledge’Äù at the end of the book and the additional resources provided on the book’Äôs mini-site are intended to lead these new initiates onto the next level of research and discussion that will hopefully help them develop more nuanced views and solutions.

While several useful books have recently been published on the specific whys & hows of green/environmental graphic design, the few books that broach the subject of socially conscious design tend to be merely essay collections, interviews, or visual collections with sparse text. Do Good Design is definitely an improvement upon those, and even if it is ultimately not the replacement for my own course pack, it does make an excellent primer and should certainly be considered a useful component of any socially conscious design library/curriculum. I definitely plan to make it a part of the required reading for my students this year.

Do Good Design
How Designers Can Change The World
by David B. Berman
AIGA/Riders
$24.99

Book Review: In Defense of Food

I finally had a chance to read In Defense of Food: An Eaters Manifesto, yet another fantastic book by journalist/author Michael Pollan. His books are consistently engaging and inevitably educate me on topics in which I already thought I was well-versed. This slim volume in no exception and manages to pack a big punch as it deconstructs one of the central food paradigms that we in the US have taken for granted (dubbed "Nutritionalism"). As with Omnivore's Dilemma and Botany of Desire, Pollan's sheer enthusiasm for (good) food and the fact that he is not working for a specific group or agenda helps him make a much more compelling argument about changing the way we relate to eating. The essential core of the book is the mantra "Eat food, not too much, mostly plants," which was originally introduced in a New York Times essay. Those three short phrases, as simple as they seem, contain the seeds to some very big ideas and Pollan fills out the book with well-researched facts and rules of thumb that forgo the difficult to follow recommendations of typical guides to healthy eating. This should be required reading for everyone in the US (are you listening Oprah?).

Branding for Nonprofits

I just finished reading DK Holland's excellent Branding for Nonprofits. Published in 2006, this slim volume is a must read for any nonprofit interesting in harnessing the power of branding (which should really be all of them) or even just considering working with professional graphic designers for the first time. Indeed, any designer already working with nonprofits might want to consider handing this out to new clients as a means of introduction.
The book, based on articles and lectures DK created for The Foundation Center, is filled with plenty of real world examples and resources and suggests a system of working that is easy to understand and follow. Holland does an excellent job spelling out the role of design and designers, while detailing most of the issues that come up as part of the branding process. While I wish more time was spent explaining why paying for design from folks that focus on nonprofits is better than asking for pro-bono work from large agencies (who make their money pushing cars, cigarettes, acohol, etc.), Ms. Holland does acknowledge that you often do get what you pay for.


Ask for it at your local independent bookstore.

SustainAble Book + Interview

SustainAble is an invaluable new practical handbook on environmentally conscious graphic design from Rockport Books. Author Aaris Sherin, has done a fantastic job of compliling the latest information on materials and techniques for designers interested in working with the environment in mind [full disclosure, my company is featured prominenetly, but I really would recommend it regardless]. Not only is the content on point, but the book itself was printed using a range of sustainable methods (a rarity in publishing). Going beyond standard recycled papers, they actually used make-ready sheets for the covers and end papers. The last real handbook on these issues (The Complete Guide To Eco-Friendly Design by Poppy Evans) came out in 1997 and has been out of print for years, so this type of book has been long overdue. Considering the massive increase in interest in going "green" by corporate America, the need for designers knowledgeable about these issues will only continue to grow as well. Kudos to Rockport being the first to fill the void.

Aaris kindly agreed to a mini-interview about the book, so I sent her a few minimalist questions to answer however she interpreted them...

ALR: Why now?
Aaris Sherin: Graphic Designers tend to be concerned about social and environmental issues, and yet many have not idea how to apply this ideology to their professional practice. Increasingly clients are asking for eco-friendly design solutions and many practitioners are tasked with having to learn the relevant problem-solving and technical specifications for environmentally preferable production. To date there really hasn't been a comprehensive resource to go to for this information. My idea was to make a sort of one-stop reference for
those interested in the topic. The book covers topics that include sustainable forestry, basic history and theory, as well as practical information about eco-friendly production materials and techniques. The second half of the book is devoted to case studies that trace how designers approached specific projects with the environment and social systems in mind.

ALR: How?
Aaris Sherin: The book is filled with tips for how to approach design problem solving and production with sustainability in mind. Here are a few of the most basic. 1. Using proper sizes or asking for custom sheets is an easy way to reduce waste 2. Every designer should be able to identify and understand the value of FSC and other third part certifications 3. Eco-friendly paper doesn't always cost more. 4. Creating customized environmental checklists is a great way to bring consistent value to clients

ALR: So what?
Aaris Sherin: I really believe that design has a crucial role to play as we move toward the cultural shift that will need to happen in order to become more sustainable. Graphic design is so often the conduit between manufacturing/services and customers/audiences; as such we can bring value to clients who working with environmental and social consciousness in mind. By making simple changes in the way we work and offering our services to like-minded organizations there is an opportunity to make fantastic, visually arresting work that doesn't have to cost the earth.

ALR: What's next?
Aaris Sherin: There are so many people (many of whom were early adopters) who have created their own resources, libraries, and community groups for teaching and practicing sustainable design. As I talked to people I realized that a lot of them are duplicating each other's work. We really need more resources and more sharing of information so that the next generation isn't tasked with replicating our work.


SustainAble is in stores now and of course available via Powells and Amazon.com.

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

I just finished reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, the fantastic new book from Barbara Kingsolver, author of the Poisonwood Bible. It tells the story of her family's attempt to only eat locally grown food for a year while living in the mountains of Virginia. Not only does she tell the story of planting, growing, and finding her food, but her husband and daughter get in the act as well supplying in-depth sidebar information on the issues and recipes as well. Anyone with a budding interest in where their food comes from (and happily that number seems to be rapidly growing here in the US) should read this book. It's a fantastic primer for the gamut of issues surrounding food production/distribution, but it's also totally readable, a rare and pleasant combination which I've also found in the books of Michael Pollan. You can get a preview of Animal, Vegetable, Miracle as well as access to all the recipes it contains at the book's website HERE. But definitely consider picking up a copy of the actual book at your local independent book store.

Omnivore's Dilemma

I finally finished reading Michael Pollan's excellent new book The Omnivore's Dilemma. It tells the story of 4 meals: Modern Industrial, Industrial Organic, Non-Industrial Organic, and Hunter Gatherer, from their source to the plate. As always Pollan presents the spectrum of modern food issues in an accessible and entertaining way, especially since he is not coming at it from the perspective of an animal rights or organic activist (though he is definitely a food connoisseur). Anyone interested the relationship we have to our food (and really that should be everyone) should pick up this book. Look for it at your local library or independent bookstore.

And for more from Michael Pollan check out this PBS Frontline interview about modern meat production and his recent article on nutrition.