I ran across this link at www.logodesignlove.com and planning to add this to the bookshelves.
Learn more on the official page and on On Amazon.
Interview with the writer below.
Download the attached pdf preview from the book.
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
 DecodingDesign_overview.pdf | 867.02 KB |
Without my sense of direction, I don't know where I'd be.
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Creativebits is a blog about creativity, design and Macs. We also have a critique section where you can post your work to get opinions and a forum to discuss any design related topics.
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Friend on Google+ tells me he read it and it's great.
Yes, a very nicely done book. Her next one, Design by Nature, will be coming out in a few weeks and we'll be publishing an extract on Graphics.com.
Hi CreativeBits! Thanks for the plug! Unfortunately, Decoding Design is out of print as a hardcopy, but is available as an ebook and a kindle. They are asking silly money for used copies! But, yes, my new book "Design by Nature" is out in just a week+! There is an interview with me about it here. Would you mind posting? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-CsUt5prU4 Thank you so much!
Maggie Macnab
Designer • Educator • Author
Added it.
Nice, Kevin. Thanks!
Mara
Now if Maggie could just dedicate a book to the golden ratio as basis for excellent science fiction space craft design, I could die happy.
Without my sense of direction, I don't know where I'd be.
LOL. I thought it's just me. :)
+1
Thanks, Ivan! @caoimghgin Well, there is a chapter in Design by Nature on making meaning and the phi ratio, Ch9 "Messaging: A Meaningful Medium." And my dad read science fiction to me as a kid as bedtime stories, but I hadn't yet put these two together. A natural fit, I'd say!
Maggie Macnab
Designer • Educator • Author
Heh! When involved in a heated debate of Old Star Trek vs. Next Generation, I declared the original Star Trek was better because "The Next Generation Enterprise is ugly".
"But beauty is subjective!", my pro-Next Generation debater declared.
Being obsessive compulsive, I sought to empirically prove the Next Generation Enterprise was indeed uglier than the original. Pulling up a blueprint of the original, I overlaid Phi ratio rectangles and found the original designer, Matt Jefferies, constructed the entire ship on Phi. Not just an element here or there. Everything!
Just to test it out, I brought up diagrams of other designs I thought were particularly beautiful (original Star Wars ship designs) and once again, Phi ratios were to be found in every element and it felt as if I were looking over the shoulders of the original designers at their drafting table and seeing how they were constructing everything.
Given the lack of Phi ratios in modern designs (and my general abhorrence of these designs) it seemed very conclusive evidence that today's designers have lost all knowledge of Phi.
Obviously, I'm really glad you're actually writing about this subject!!
Without my sense of direction, I don't know where I'd be.
I've already got Design by Nature on order at Amazon, so I'll be the first kid on my block to have a copy. Also enjoying the Kindle version of Decoding, but I long for the format of a real book in hand. Maybe I'll get lucky in a second-hand shop—maybe even meet the Semiotics professor of my dreams, poring over books on ritual masks from the Cameroon or something :)
Mara
@caoimghgin That would be totally cool to see the phi ratio applied to Star Trek schematics! Why don't you post this work? Love to see it! @Mara thank you so much for jumping out there before the reviews are even posted! The publisher ramped up the release date by 3 months (!) and there has been no time to get advance copies out. The site will be up approximately mid October (I'm working on it! www.designbynaturebook.com).
Maggie Macnab
Designer • Educator • Author
Sure! It's a very short blog post but I hope it gets the point across. Like I mentioned before, the ratios can be found everywhere so it would take up a lot of pixel space to show them all.
http://kevinmuldoon.blogspot.com/2008/11/starship-design-and-golden-ratio.html
Without my sense of direction, I don't know where I'd be.
My pleasure, ma'am :)
Mara
Received my "Design by Nature" in today's mail. I can't wait to immerse myself in it. Looks fabulous.
Mara
@Mara great! I'd really appreciate a review on Amazon (be the first?!), particularly if you like Design by Nature! thank you! :)
Maggie Macnab
Designer • Educator • Author
'T will be my pleasure, ma'am. Don't know if I can be the first, but I'll certainly be *among* the first.
Mara
...her eyes are scary!
http://stevefakeballmer.wordpress.com
I am not Steve Ballmer pretending not to be me!
Almost as scary as your galloping dance moves. ;-)
Without my sense of direction, I don't know where I'd be.