Elementos do Design Tridimensional

by Gail Greet Hannah

A hands-on book design students and designers alike will welcome. Elements of Design is a tribute to an exceptional teacher and a study of the abstract visual relationships that were her lifelong pursuit. Rowena Reed Kiostellow taught industrial design at Pratt Institute for more than fifty years and the designers she trained-and the designers they're training today-have changed the face of American design. This succinct, instructive, invaluable book reconstructs the series of exercises that led Kostellow's students from the manipulation of simple forms to the creation of complex solutions to difficult design problems. It includes her exercises and commentary along with selected student solutions, and concludes with examples of work from former students who became leaders in the field, including such well-known figures as Tucker Viemeister, Ralph Applebaum, Ted Muehling, and many others.

Genres: Design, Nonfiction, Art

192 pages, Paperback

First published July 2, 2013

Reviews

[Michael McKay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Starts Slow, Then Go!

I knew nothing of Rowena Reed Kostellow and her brilliant work on the vocabulary and foundational underpinnings of three dimensional design when I purchased this book. As a graphic artist I was intrigued by the promise of a structure within which I can develop as a designer. Part 1 seemed to be mostly praise and biography, at least at first. I found that less interesting at the beginning and I skipped a lot of it. The exercises were fascinating, engaging, and well illustrated and the examples of professional work done by Kostellow's students showed a hint of how much of our designed environment she influenced. Few books change the way one sees things. This is one of them.

[Isabel Rebelo da Silva · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a designer I felt to be important to read this book which describes the teachings of the great 3-D industrial design teacher, Rowena Reed Kostellow ((July 6, 1900 – September 17, 1988). She was the Chair of the Industrial Design department at Pratt, and she was the driving force behind the study of form. She taught about the relationship of rectilinear volumes, curvilinear volumes, rectilinear and curvilinear, composition of fragments, planar Construction, lines in space, construction, convexity, concavity, abstract analysis, and space design. She inspired many modern designers and architects who took with them her precious teachings,

The first part of the book describes Mrs Reed Kostellow’s life as a teacher and pioneer in design education, as well as talks about her teaching methods. The rest of the book teaches specific and fundamental principles of design, contains exercises to help students work with shapes and forms, and shows the principles of advanced design, applied to buildings, interior design, and industrial design. A fascinating book for those who love design.
The only thing I didn’t like in the book is that the font is very small, and some parts of the book are written with a golden color, which requires a very good light to read. I tried to read his book during the day and near a window.