Best Practices for Graphic Designers, Color Works: Right Ways of Applying Color in Branding, Wayfinding, Information Design, Digital Environments and

by Eddie Opara, John Cantwell

This is the go-to guide for designers as it outlines and details the essential color design skills needed to create successful, meaningful, and aesthetically compelling designs. Along with hands-on projects, it offers unique insights into strategy and business when working in the real world with real clients. "Color Works "starts with basic information on color practices and fundamentals, and then delves more deeply into theory and application on a project-by-project basis. Illustrated with real-world projects and case studies, this book offers a behind-the-scenes take on the design process and the necessary steps to go from concept to final outcome, including the challenges encountered along the way.

Genres: Design, Art

194 pages, ebook

First published January 1, 2013

Reviews

[Pooria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing applicable book for applying color anywhere. It is best to have some basic knowledge about colors before reading this book.

[Michal · Rating 2 out of 5]

[There was another entry for this book that had my review but it's gone. I'm reposting my review below.]

Form over substance. Starts out promising, and by looks alone this book seems meticulously well thought out and deeply researched. However, with each page it becomes more and more apparent that the authors were just phoning it in. If they had a proofreader, he sure must have quit early on. The typesetter cut some serious corners on a few occasions too, and on top of that no one bothered to run a spell check. Embarrassing to see stuff like that in a design book.

In essence, by the end this reads like a pimped up, unrevised first draft of a book loosely connected with color. This is no guide by any means, let alone an "essential" one.

Many claims are not substantiated, poorly explained or just plain false. I'm sure that some of the descriptions were at first accompanied by relevant pictures. For some reason, these must have been removed or replaced, leaving the reader with a confusing chunk of text. The margins are littered with references to other supposedly relevant parts of the book. I tried following one, out of curiosity, only to find out that the information I was pointed to had absolutely nothing to do with what I read a moment before.

Still, there are some good points to consider. Most of the texts themselves (excluding the last chapter) are interesting and worth a read. Taken together they just don't add up to something I'd call a guide or a summary of best practices. This is a collection of great examples of color use with insight into a given designer's decisions. Not much of that is objective or outright useful, even if interesting.

Treat this a collection of inspiring examples - nothing more, nothing less - and you might end up a tad less disappointed.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice set of examples with discussion about colour. Some previous knowledge is helpful.

[Garry Garsky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book to get accustomed with basics of graphic design technologies and history. It give a good overview of how colours are used, sorted and perceived.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic guide for color theory. I only wish the book was structured differently because the foundational materials are the last section of the book.

[Aarif Hussain · Rating 5 out of 5]

Had a great experience