Rating: 
Summary: Beauty in Imperfection
Review: Soak Wash Rinse Spin's typesetting forces you to stop reading after too few pages. You really want to dig in but are quickly demoralized into putting it down. Sagmeister's, "Made you look" was studied in wonder over a 10 hour session immediately after opening the package. I had never heard of him and i was quickly converted into a believer, all other scheduled items became secondary. Long lines of sans serif tiny type are the only thing that stopped this book from having an impact of similar strength. An unrelated note, within one week, the binding cracked. One research misjudgement on my part was to assume the book was published very recently and included their newest projects (see tolleson.com) It was published in 2000 of course, some projects have glimmers of past trends. Nothing compares to the sheer visual firepower Tolleson blasts with both barrels. There is a beautiful logic flowing with every peice and you feel drawn into the scientific precision of the studio's creative process. A printer's eye glass would be a fun attachment to assist in reading this book, which despite it's flaws is a proud part of my collection.
Rating: 
Summary: Marvelous
Review: This book is not only a complete gallery of top class design studios Tolleson, it is also a page layout jewel and an essay on good design. You will see some very high quality projects and clients, if you're looking for creative inspiration maybe this is not the book for you, unless your clients are Coca Cola, Microsoft or some other Corporation, however you will be stunned and delighted by the maniac and scientific descriptions of workflows and projects. Complex page layouts like the ones you will see here are not easy to read, but if you work in the design field you will love them. A very very good book.
Rating: 
Summary: Typography lovers Must Buy
Review: This is a must-have for any graphic designer's library! The typography is "tolleson-esque", which is beautiful and fresh. And the book carries the reader through various project thought processes which is important.
Rating:
Summary: What's the point of this size?
Review: This is a portfolio of work that is always interesting and often beautiful. The approach is as stimulating as the work and, sadly, this is where the book is done a great disservice by the size of the type. It is simply too small to read comfortably and seems to invite its dismissal. Everything seems irrelevant- small type not intended to be read because it's not important. It's unnecessary and unforgivable- an elementary folly that made me question the whole book.
Rating:
Summary: I read this every day.
Review: Tolleson's book is so brilliant and concise that I read it every day. This book is an extensive collections of projects by the design firm. Not only does it show the final product but also all the comps they made for every project such as the 100+ symbols they created for Liz Claiborne's new logo. Tolleson goes into much detail to describe the intellectual side of design before the visuals are even considered with strange charts and brief yet thought-provoking incites. This book is large and very helpful. When I'm stuck on a project, I pull out this book just to jog my brain a little and then BOOM. I have new ideas. Definitely worth every cent.
Rating:
Summary: I read this every day.
Review: Tolleson's book is so brilliant and concise that I read it every day. This book is an extensive collections of projects by the design firm. Not only does it show the final product but also all the comps they made for every project such as the 100+ symbols they created for Liz Claiborne's new logo. Tolleson goes into much detail to describe the intellectual side of design before the visuals are even considered with strange charts and brief yet thought-provoking incites. This book is large and very helpful. When I'm stuck on a project, I pull out this book just to jog my brain a little and then BOOM. I have new ideas. Definitely worth every cent.
Rating:
Summary: new standard
Review: When there are so many self serving design books out there full of thrown together pop-culture imagery, it stops you in your tracks to see something of such quality and substance. This is a firm with a long history of influential work, and this book is much more than a collection. It's insight into the design process and thorough execution goes far beyond the standard fare. I'll be going back to it again and again. The style may not be for everyone, but I'm a sucker for the aesthetics of science, and the cratsmanship and depth cannot be denied. When I do finally wear out this copy, it'll make a nice stout doorstop too.
Rating:
Summary: new standard
Review: When there are so many self serving design books out there full of thrown together pop-culture imagery, it stops you in your tracks to see something of such quality and substance. This is a firm with a long history of influential work, and this book is much more than a collection. It's insight into the design process and thorough execution goes far beyond the standard fare. I'll be going back to it again and again. The style may not be for everyone, but I'm a sucker for the aesthetics of science, and the cratsmanship and depth cannot be denied. When I do finally wear out this copy, it'll make a nice stout doorstop too.
Rating:
Summary: new standard for design monographs
Review: When there are so many self serving design books out there full of thrown together pop-culture imagery, it stops you in your tracks to see something of such substance and thorough execution. It must have taken thousands of hours to put this together (2089 to be exact, as well as 43200 fl. oz. of coffee - as noted on the last page.) This is a studio with a long history of influential work, and well deserving of a monograph. It goes beyond that, as the text is worth the price alone. I'm not kidding when I say seeing work like this either makes me want to be a better, more disciplined designer, or just give it up altogether. The style may not be for everyone, but I'm a sucker for the aesthetics of science. This is the kind of book I'll keep looking at over and over again - impressed by the absolute quality, thought and craftsmanship. When this copy is all worn out, it will make a nice stout doorstop too.
Rating:
Summary: new standard for design monographs
Review: When there are so many self serving design books out there full of thrown together pop-culture imagery, it stops you in your tracks to see something of such substance and thorough execution. It must have taken thousands of hours to put this together (2089 to be exact, as well as 43200 fl. oz. of coffee - as noted on the last page.) This is a studio with a long history of influential work, and well deserving of a monograph. It goes beyond that, as the text is worth the price alone. I'm not kidding when I say seeing work like this either makes me want to be a better, more disciplined designer, or just give it up altogether. The style may not be for everyone, but I'm a sucker for the aesthetics of science. This is the kind of book I'll keep looking at over and over again - impressed by the absolute quality, thought and craftsmanship. When this copy is all worn out, it will make a nice stout doorstop too.
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