Another Book About Design: Complicated Doesn't Make It Bad

by Mark Gonyea

In A Book About Design, Mark Gonyea taught us why a complicated design does not necessarily mean a good design. Now he's back in super-heroic form to demonstrate that the beauty of "complicated" can be found in its underlying simplicity.


Mesmerizing to look at and easy to understand, this book breaks down more design concepts and lets you see through the eyes of a graphic designer.

Budding artists young and old will find Mark Gonyea's explanations helpful and informative.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Design, Crafts, Childrens

160 pages, Hardcover

First published August 7, 2007

About the author

Born in northern New York seven years before I saw Star Wars for the first time. While spending the better portion of my early life watching tv, going to movies and playing video games, little did I realize this was to be the essential ground work for a career in cartooning, graphic design and kids books.

Reviews

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

*Very* simple. Introduces *some* ideas about design. I will look for the previous book by Gonyea, and I will try the one exercise he suggests... but if you actually want to buy something, skip this, and get Go: A Kidd's Guide to Graphic Design instead. (Or, do you know something even better?)

What is the target audience for this? Few words, simple ideas, challenging vocabulary, presumption of experience.... :shrug:

To clarify: I like it a lot for what it is. It's just not much.

[Peter Wolfley · Rating 3 out of 5]

When you're trying to master something they say it's good to go back to the basics. This might have been too basic though.

[Tamara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Graphic design does not come naturally to me. This is an EXCELLENT book that explains the basics of design, from shapes and colors to foreground and background to positive and negative space.

I would be tempted to own this one. Even though it is extremely simple, it does it extremely well.

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant - there are surely few books that can be read in their entirety in less than half an hour yet teach so much (possibly only the prequel, A Book About Design, can match it).

[Burbank Library Children's Department · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautifully, simple book that explains design concepts with fun, bright graphics.

[Benjamin Jacobson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another strong book on design by Mark Gonyea. Get the first volume and share them with a young artist, or enjoy them yourself.

[Betsy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Combining the terms "good design" and "children" often sends me into fits of mild hysteria. There is nothing in this world that I find funnier than adults creating tasteful/mindless toys, games, and books for kiddies that utilize the principles of good design. I used to work across the street from the ultimate in hoity-toity children's goods. The kind of place where the mobiles looked like something out of a Klee painting, and rocking horses were one single sinuous unseamed piece of polished wood. In short, stuff that no self-respecting child would touch with a ten foot pole. Children's books are often the same way. The Graphic Alphabet is the book I like to single out as the grossest offender (nore does the fact that it won a Caldecott Honor does not help its case any). There are exceptions, though. Follow the Line and One Red Dot, for example, are truly charming titles as fun to kids as they are to PoMo minded adults. One of the best, however, was Mark Gonyea's, A Book About Design: Complicated Doesn't Make It Good. Regardless of whether or not you agree with Gonyea's conclusions at all times, you have to admit that he has an ear for making this most peculiar of art forms comprehensible to young kids. I was pleased as punch to see that his follow up title was coming out this year. "Another Book About Design," breaks down the elements of a complex image and gives children everywhere a book that they can understand.

Working with primary colors, bold lines, and simple terms, "Another Book About Design," picks up where its predecessor left off. The premise of this book is simple. "Just because it looks complicated doesn't mean that it is." Breaking down complex images, Gonyea considers foreground and background, familiar images, positive and negative space, how elements are laid out in an image, and so on. Chapters are rarely longer twenty pages, and often whiz by. This is because Gonyea writes his text in big bold letters, often with just a sentence a page. Ideas are easy to follow because he doesn't engage in complex paragraphs and excess ideas. The principle guiding factor of this book is simplicity. And though you don't initially realize it, each chapter introduces a concept or element of design that will make a significant contribution to the final image (which is to say, the cover image) in the book.

At the moment I'm currently enjoying Scott McCloud's book, Understanding Comics, which tackles many of the same elements Gonyea is discussing here but in an adult context. I should clarify, though, that even though Gonyea has featured a superhero on the cover of his book, this is not a how-to-draw-comic-book-characters title. It's undoubtedly going to end up purchased that way, and possibly even checked out by kids for that reason, but that is not what the book is about. Like McCloud, title is concerned with the elements on the page or canvas before you. Unlike McCloud, though, there is no discussion of the melding of text and image. Gonyea is all image all the time, and that's not a bad thing. Art teachers can gleefully pull from his book all kinds of lesson plans. After all, if this book can be used in a practical manner at some point in the future, more power to it.

In terms of titles, Gonyea's sort of dug himself into a hole. If he keeps writing books in this series (and I certainly hope that he does) he's going to have to come up with monikers that don't go the inevitable route of "Yet Another Another book About Design," etc. That said, this is a more than worthy sequel too his original concept. Simple enough to be almost considered a picture book, but with terms and ideas that break down complex ideas without ever condescending to its audience, "Another Book About Design" is one of the better non-fiction titles coming out this year. Seek it out.

[Cori · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliantly simple.

[Allie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. This book is more interesting than A Book About Design: Complicated Doesn't Make It Good, but neither is nearly as good as Go: A Kidd's Guide to Graphic Design. This is definitely more appropriate for a younger audience, because Chip Kidd's book can be a little texty. I'm glad I picked up this one before Mark Gonyea's first kid's design book, because it explains some cool design concepts in language kids can understand. I think the strength of these books for kids is explaining something by adding and subtracting things in subsequent illustrations. What if you added a shape? What if you made things symmetrical? You see immediately what one concept looks like in relation to another. Pretty cool.

[Abby Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The simple text of this design book belies its big ideas. Although most pages contain only a few words or a couple of sentences, Gonyea brings across finer points on color, patterns, negative & positive space, background & foreground, and other elements of design. If you're a complete design newbie, this simple book can have a lot to teach you in a short amount of time. I think more sophisticated art connoisseurs will find something to enjoy as well.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The concepts featured here are important to understand when creating visual art. Gonyea successfully illustrates his ideas so that visual learners will pick up the concepts immediately. The text is very simple, with most pages only featuring one sentence, and therefore the chapters are very short. Most concepts included are easily defined however, the author describes personal space in art as something you do

[Abbie Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another excellent children's book about design by Mark Gonya. This edition delves in deeper to sizes and quantities in design. Simple, clear and bold explanations made for easy understanding of concepts that are actually rather complicated. But, as the title explains, "complicated doesn't make it bad."

[Tripmastermonkey · Rating 3 out of 5]

i like making fliers at the library, and i've been curious how i can make them look even neater. i think my fliers look okay, but i decided to start with a very easy book (and one that's on the floor i work on) and to work my way up- any suggestions?

[Karen A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great way to introduce young kids to concepts of design. And hopefully make ART less mysterious. It actually is an excellent book for any age and for anyone interested in making great design without all the baggage of theory.

[Nadine · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent continuation of his first book explaining that, when used properly, multiple elements of design can be good. He covers more elements in this book, again with great visuals and easy to understand descriptions.

[Salsabrarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I believe this is the third or fourth title in this series introducing graphic design to children. This is another winner. I like how the last chapter and final illustration pull all the introduced concepts together.

[Melody · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clear and simple points on graphic design.

[Michelle Farella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simple text, big concepts. Great delivery!

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very simple, yet effective way to illustrate design concepts.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great resource for children's design class.