Tag: graphic design

Review: The Art of Looking Sideways by Alan Fletcher

The Art of Looking SidewaysThe Art of Looking Sideways by Alan Fletcher

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

 

Above: a photograph of my own copy of The Art of Looking Sideways.

This book is a valuable collection of experiences, quotes, designer-gasms, observations and insights into life, the aesthetic, artistic and general human experience, by late master graphic designer Alan Fletcher.

I got it more than a year ago like new (yes, it took me this long to go through its 1000+ pages reading/enjoying on and off) for around €30. Most of that must have been the shipping costs: when it arrived I really couldn’t believe the sheer mass of it. I tried to scan some of it, once; the results: my current profile picture, and a scanner which since then has been occassionally malfunctioning, the book’s weight having left a permanent scar in its life of digitisation. This is actually the only reason I haven’t been lugging it around more often, showing it to each and every one of my friends — artistically inclined or no.

This book is so thick with inspiration it’s almost impossible to deal with: you can’t open it randomly to catch the creative spark (supposedly Alan Fletcher’s point in making it) without wanting to read it all. Though I suppose this mindless and distracted consumption is a personal demon I have to deal with!

Anyway. I’ll make this short and to the point: this treasure chest of a book is one of my most prized and proud possessions — and believe you me, as a rule I don’t take particular pride anymore in owning things.

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Review: Whatever You Think, Think the Opposite

Whatever You Think, Think the OppositeWhatever You Think, Think the Opposite by Paul Arden

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book is so short you can throw in a re-read every time you’re about to lend it out and it gets better every time because every time you’re just a bit older and different parts stay with you in new ways. I think I’ve already read it 4 times in random the years I’ve owned it just by picking it up and putting it down 30 minutes later having read it all and thinking about it anew. I like thinking outside the box in extreme ways, if not practically in my life at least in theory (figures: why else would I enjoy books such as this?) and Whatever You Think, Think the Opposite encourages that side of my character. It mostly comprises stories of bad decisions that in the long run proved to be good; of people finding out that the secret is letting yourself risk and tread new water no matter the (illusory) danger, ultimately reaping all the rewards. In the end, being different from others also means deciding irrationally, for everyone else tries to be rational and make decisions like that too.

Of course I should say that the ultimate capitalist dream is to be a unique, bleeding-edge entepreneur and Paul Arden seems to be preaching to precisely that choir in particular. His work has a “live and let die” vibe and the fact that a lot of his stories of success, creativity and “bad” decisions have to do with advertising, “making it” and getting rich, turns me off a bit. At the very least, it’s a different kind of inspiration from what would really get me going, what would really speak to my core. Still, it’s advice you can presumably use in many different aspects of life.

Amidst all this you can certainly be forgiven if you don’t really notice the top-notch graphic design that makes Arden’s words even sparklier and more alluring. The less is being said and the better its presentation, the more mysteriously seductive what’s being said is. It’s not just the power of the words alone, there are other forces at play here… Scary thought if you’re not willing to admit that humans are mainly weak, malleabe and inconsistent beings.

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