Visual Grammar

by Christian Leborg

Life in the image world has made us all voracious, if not always deliberate, consumers of visual messages. Easy access to computer graphic tools has turned many of us into either amateur or professional image producers. But without a basic understanding of visual language, a productive dialogue between producers and consumers of visual communication is impossible. Visual Grammar can help you speak and write about visual objects and their creative potential, and better understand the graphics that bombard you 24/7. It is both a primer on visual language and a visual dictionary of the fundamental aspects of graphic design.

Dealing with every imaginable visual concept from abstractions such as dimension, format, and volume; to concrete objects such as form, size, color, and saturation; to activities such as repetition, mirroring, movement, and displacement; to relations such as symmetry, balance, diffusion, direction,and variation this book is an indispensable reference for beginners and seasoned visual thinkers alike. Whether you simply want to familiarize yourself with visual concepts or whether you're an experienced designer looking for new ways to convey your ideas to a client, Visual Grammar is the clear and concise manual that you've been looking for.

Genres: Design, Art, Nonfiction, Art Design, Reference, Photography, Visual Art

95 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Joe Li]

visual grammar was a very short read that acts as an introduction to the various terms used in design, where minimalist illustrations are used to reinforce concepts. i did not takeaway much from reading this book, and i only made this purchase because of its pretty visuals. i definitely played myself, and remedied my mistake by making a return to amazon 😩

my qualms with this book are not because of its basic content (because it's very much intended to be one's first introduction to design and its jargon), but the way the author describes simple concepts, he uses some pretty complex words that would fly over anyone's head. this gatekeepy language, coupled with the 6 point single-spaced font used throughout, make parts of this book very difficult to read (which is really not cool in a book meant to educate and teach simple communication practices)

tl;dr: everyone thinks differently and are able to better articulate themselves on topics when they have the domain language necessary to do so. this is especially true in design, where domain-specific vocabulary is often used

[Dita]

Designed and laid out beautifully, but I learned very little of something new.

[mmmm]

If you see this on a friend's coffee table, by all means flip through it and find a few concepts you didn't specifically know in this context. It's pretty. I wouldn't buy it, though. Even as someone with no real design experience and little formal art training, most of it seemed extremely basic.

Before returning it to the library, I took a picture of the bibliography, and I'll get some of those more rigorous books.

[Max Oliveira]

It has some interesting visual interpretations, but that's it. Very weak book, not recommendable even for entry level readers.

[Luke Jones]

As a short textbook about image and how the human eye interprets form, patterns, etc., I would put this alongside books such as The Universal Principles of Design as essential for the bookshelves of people new to design.
It won’t teach designers deep into their careers anything new, but it definitely serves well as a refresher for describing design – an essential skill for anyone who wishes to lead, evangelize, or talk about the why behind their design work.

If you’re interested in this level of design book, I would recommend:


The Universal Principles of Design
Vignelli Canon
A Type Primer
Interaction of Color
The Design of Everyday Things
Thinking with Type


More recommendations are available on my blog.

[Tricia Spoonts]

Good basic introduction to the elements of design. Illustration and layout is nice and engaging. Feels like the small print should have just been part of the book. It was important but super hard to read due to type size.

[Evan]

a really brilliant book - wonderfully designed, concise, and fascinating. my lecturer told me this was the definitive book on the topic and i'm inclined to believe him. a delight to look at and internalise.

[yiss]

Me alegra haberlo tomado prestado de la biblioteca en lugar de comprarlo; el contenido es lo que se espera, pero parece ser hecho para alguien que nunca ha diseñado algo / no es artista, antes que para una persona que trabaja en el campo

[Daniel Fernández]

Gráficos interesantes, resume de manera muy visual conceptos geométricos y abstracciones, pero no tiene mucho más.

[Nicola]

Tutto bellissimo... tranne i 18 euro che costa.

[Bart Van Eemeren]

Veel termen, soms wat chaotisch opgebouwd.

[Haripriya Dalal]

Beautiful

[Georgos Jurobol]

Pretty visual and self explanatory! Great Start.

[Hay Lin]

p8
p15
p23
p27
p28
p84
p88

[Farnoosh Zarinkolah]

به نظرم كتاب خلاصه و خوبی در رابطه با مفاهیم دستور زبان بصری بود.

[Rooh]

beautiful layout but that's it

[Celia :)]

eh, shapes and colors

[Jimena]

Más que un libro sobre gramática visual, parece un glosario con ilustraciones minimatistas...

[Joris]

(Review from a few years back) Beautiful, minimalist little book that tries to establish “grammar” for visual design. Abstract and almost entirely visual with few words. Breaks concepts down into what it calls abstract (e.g. form), concrete (e.g. color), actions (e.g. expansion) and relations (e.g. repetition). I don't believe I learned anything from this (in fact, I believe I spotted a few errors), but it's fun to quickly flip through.

[Carlos Úbeda]

Este precioso libro es uno de los mejores ejercicios de meta diseño con los que me he encontrado. El eslabón perdido entre un cuaderno de la Bauhaus y un manual de programa de dibujo vectorial. Además de servir como reflexión sobre las formas, me parece absolutamente necesario para comunicarse con propiedad.

[Zachary]

Not much text, mostly images of visual concepts. A basic reference with a couple of choice quotes, but left me wanting much more for each of the elements described. Covers a lot of ground but with so little depth as to not have a huge amount of value. I did enjoy the visual representation of coincidence however and learning what a hypercube is.

[Fai Ahmed]

I wished I read this book earlier, there is a few stuff mentioned here that I only understand them after years of designing and practice but this book will explain you and describe the basic elements of design and make it clear and easy. it's very informative and it's a MUST READ for people who want to get into graphic design (or art in general)

Also, extra points for the good design.

[David Hall]

Visual Grammar is beautifully designed and thoughtfully laid out. I find it a nice little flick through book to inspire when creating and it's a good refresher on the basic elements of the design language. Should be given to every young student in art class.

[*]

I seriously didn't expect to finish the whole book in one go, but it got me going! I didn't want to let go of it. very useful, as it is good for undergrads to understand some design terms and also a reminder to postgrads on what the terms are.

[Karen Ruiz]

2.75 // It was a really quick reading. I like the concept, but I think it's more like an introductory book. Mostly of these things (if you are into designing) are basic. Whatsoever, it is cool and it did its informative job.

[Paul Downey]

Stating the simply obvious in such a beautifully simple way.

[Isabel]

loved it.

[Rawan Rabie]

This book reminds me of my 1st year In the Architecture and Planning faculty ..
Very simple i think it will help understand the basics of drawing and relations between shapes ...