Before and After: How to Design Cool Stuff

by John McWade

Before and After magazine's focus on clarity, simplicity, and elegance has won it legions of fans--fans who will welcome this second volume of the definitive Before and After Page Design by John McWade. Truly an icon of the graphic design community, his insistence on approaching design not as mere decoration but as an essential form of communication is vividly apparent in this cohesive primer on page design and layout. And you could not hope for a better, more qualified teacher. McWade shows readers how to arrange and present information using today's powerful graphics tools. Readers will learn how to design single-page and multi-page documents, brochures, and ads; why one typeface works better than another; and much more. Best of all, they'll discover how to think visually transforming the images in their heads into something that communicates effectively on the page.

Genres: Design, Nonfiction, Art, Business, Buisness, Reference, Art Design

230 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2008

Reviews

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

An easy-to-follow book that covers design principles, techniques, and then a slew of practical step-by-step examples: business cards, brochures, text logos, DVD cases, newsletters, websites, presentations, et cetera.

I didn't necessarily like all of his designs, but I understood his choices because he explains them well. There was plenty that I did find useful.

The book uses loads of images to illustrate his points and also has several templates to help you recreate some of the more complicated projects.

A handy reference.

[Aqsa · Rating 5 out of 5]

First design book!

And I am absolutely loving it!

Should I/ can I/ may I pursue designing full-time?

[Karen Calhoun · Rating 3 out of 5]

Showing by example good and bad graphic design. The parts I found most educational were the befores and afters- of web pages, adverts, business cards, brochures. In each case, I found the before informative and didn't have much objection to the design- but wow! The afters of each were markedly more cohesive, easier to read while supplying more information. The author's step-by-steps of which things he changed and why- from layout to photos to fonts- very helpful!!

[Meshach Hardy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The quality of the book was educational. The writing was professional and fun with full color pictures.
It teaches you how to design brochures, web-pages, CD covers, fliers, and business cards.
I would recommend this book to programmers and designers because they would use it in their career.

[Mary Catelli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting stuff on design. A lot of different objects, so may be of limited use if you're interested in only one or two.

[bittersweet tea · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first part consists of basic know-how and later on it continues with techniques and projects. These are very practical to do to learn by doing. Great alongside an art course.

[Qiao · Rating 5 out of 5]

basic but useful

[Ted · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much dated (entirely web-based), but highly instructive and easy to follow. A principled master class.

[Tim Neaves · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a cool little book, full of neat, cool, and inspired ideas to get your project started or finished .

[Marina ChP · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book for beginners in graphic design. It gives you a clear understanding of what visually works and what doesn't. It teaches you all the basic elements of design that you will need to make a dissent and well presented artwork. It is very useful if you are a designer that tents to work with small businesses and you might lack the budget or the means to make something exceptional. I highly recommend!

[Walt Shiel · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating book for anyone who designs anything for print. Merely browsing through the book will spark creative ideas. Actually reading through McWade's clear, concise explanations of everything from the use of the color wheel to choosing typefaces to putting "white space" to good use will help keep your design skills sharp. And if enjoy this book but you have not yet subscribed to McWade's outstanding Before & After magazines, you really should!

[Curtis Newbold · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great idea book. Good resource to have on the shelf for coming up with brochure, poster, and website designs. I use this book in the publication design courses I teach and seems to be a good supplement to our design discussions and practice with technology. The biggest drawback to this book is that it is too simplistic for advanced designers, yet for beginning designers, there is little explanation on how to complete the tasks McWade recommends.

[Ang · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish I had these books during design school! If I had these as a student and worked on them along side my other projects--school would have been a lot easier. This book is a lot clearer in the principles and practice of design then some of my teachers.

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

The ebook version suffered a bit in conversion and they don't tell you until the end of the book that you can go online to download hi-res resource files that you'd normally get on an enclosed CD with the book. But overall very good and I feel like my work has already improved from reading this.

[Rizal · Rating 5 out of 5]

It really helps me to understand great design. I especially like the before and after examples. Great book!

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great intro to the elements of design! Each time I return to it, I find something to think about--or more properly, try to visualize.

[Swapnil]

cool stuff

[Zoz Alzarouni · Rating 4 out of 5]

being a good designer means more than just knowing how to use the right software ~ great book

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely and well organized primer on design that practices what it teaches.

[Hsin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tips inside are quite handy except the web design part is outdate.
It's a good book in general.

[Anita Ashland · Rating 4 out of 5]

An essential reference for how to design pretty much anything.