Rating: 
Summary: Graphic Design for the 21st Century Desktop Publishers
Review: Let me begin by saying that this book is an adequate "starter book" that does the basic job of setting up a graphic design career. It solidly defines that design cannot be handed to you through the use of a computer nor can you simply "pick-it-up" by reading this book. Those are great words of reality when it comes to the real world of graphic design - both in the business/advertising world and the Internet. No one should ever step into this field without a complete understanding of the principles of design (balance, harmony, repitition, etc) and computer skill. Lets face it, without the computer, most of the ads and design you see today would be gone.Unfortunately, I felt this book fails to hit the quality of explanation needed to understand the "why" of design. I face it with my own high school and college students as well as my own freelance clients; the "why" of design always becomes the forefront of what is made. It takes more than small paragraphs of information to explain why deciding a photo vs. a raster image is correct for a particular design. Many different factors come into play that aren't fully described in this book. The text almost feels like a glorified glossary rather than a 'how-to" on graphic design. I also found that the quality of the imagery is somewhat remedial and quite outdated. I would not show most of the visual examples to my students as I feel they are not up-to-date enough to follow current design trends and styles. Many are perfect for explaining the point at hand, but should be revamped for today's tastes and should include professional examples where the technique was applied. In addition, I also felt that a few of the techniques described seemed to pull from the 1980's - before computer-based design was the mainstream. I still remember the days of physically cutting and pasting the images in place and the real pen & ink drawings! Overall, I felt the book is good glossary for building a foundation of what graphic design is about, but I would not depend on this as an all-encompassing text for your career. I would in fact use the text as a source for my students to begin with, but would suppliment the examples with that of my own and would encourage more open collaboration on the ideas behind the design (Why does the design fit or not fit the client? What is the design focusing on? What is great about it? Why does it work or not work in this situation? Etc...). The book should also drive the reader into the realization that computers are the mainstream and that they are there as a very powerful tool to aid in your design and should be used whenever possible (for the fabrication, not the idea!). Even though the authors are not full-time designers (one is a typesetter and desktop publisher and the other is a business educator) they have created a decent book for the beginning student of graphic design.
Rating:
Summary: Graphic Design for the 21st Century Desktop Publishers
Review: Let me begin by saying that this book is an adequate "starter book" that does the basic job of setting up a graphic design career. It solidly defines that design cannot be handed to you through the use of a computer nor can you simply "pick-it-up" by reading this book. Those are great words of reality when it comes to the real world of graphic design - both in the business/advertising world and the Internet. No one should ever step into this field without a complete understanding of the principles of design (balance, harmony, repitition, etc) and computer skill. Lets face it, without the computer, most of the ads and design you see today would be gone. Unfortunately, I felt this book fails to hit the quality of explanation needed to understand the "why" of design. I face it with my own high school and college students as well as my own freelance clients; the "why" of design always becomes the forefront of what is made. It takes more than small paragraphs of information to explain why deciding a photo vs. a raster image is correct for a particular design. Many different factors come into play that aren't fully described in this book. The text almost feels like a glorified glossary rather than a 'how-to" on graphic design. I also found that the quality of the imagery is somewhat remedial and quite outdated. I would not show most of the visual examples to my students as I feel they are not up-to-date enough to follow current design trends and styles. Many are perfect for explaining the point at hand, but should be revamped for today's tastes and should include professional examples where the technique was applied. In addition, I also felt that a few of the techniques described seemed to pull from the 1980's - before computer-based design was the mainstream. I still remember the days of physically cutting and pasting the images in place and the real pen & ink drawings! Overall, I felt the book is good glossary for building a foundation of what graphic design is about, but I would not depend on this as an all-encompassing text for your career. I would in fact use the text as a source for my students to begin with, but would suppliment the examples with that of my own and would encourage more open collaboration on the ideas behind the design (Why does the design fit or not fit the client? What is the design focusing on? What is great about it? Why does it work or not work in this situation? Etc...). The book should also drive the reader into the realization that computers are the mainstream and that they are there as a very powerful tool to aid in your design and should be used whenever possible (for the fabrication, not the idea!). Even though the authors are not full-time designers (one is a typesetter and desktop publisher and the other is a business educator) they have created a decent book for the beginning student of graphic design.
Rating: 
Summary: Best desktop design book on the market - period!
Review: Mr Jacobs excelled again in helping novices understand the basics of good graphics. Having a computer with a lot of design options doesn't automatically guarantee a good design. Mr Jacobs clearly shows the basics of graphic design with a host of good examples.
Rating:
Summary: Graphic Design For the 21st Century Desktop Publishers
Review: Mrs. Studer and Mr. Jacobs really know what they are talking about. Graphic Design for the 21st Century is a wonderful book for novices and experienced graphic designers. This book gives you numerous examples for designs of all kinds. I highly recommend this book to everyone who wants to learn about graphic design. Bravo Mrs. Studer and Mr. Jacobs!
Rating:
Summary: A solidly presented "how-to primer"
Review: Now in an updated and expanded second edition, Graphic Design For 21st Century Desktop Publishers by Marvin Jacobs (President of Ameritype Art, Inc.) and Linda I. Studer (Associate Professor, Stark State College of Technology, Canton, Ohio) is a solidly presented "how-to primer" on successfully entering the challenging and every-changing field of computer graphic design which is especially relevant for personal or professional desktop publishing. Basic advice, tips, tricks, and techniques for creating professional quality websites, forms, business graphics and more are discussed in detail. Enhanced with numerous black-and-white illustrations which add a particular clarity to each point, Graphic Design For 21st Century Desktop Publishers is confidently recommended as being a truly first-rate, "user friendly" instructional and reference manual.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent introduction to issues in print design
Review: The desktop-publishing "revolution" has given a lot of businesspeople advanced design tools without giving them advanced design skills or training. In this book, Mr. Jacobs and Ms. Studer help overcome that gap by offering clear, concise, practical advice that anyone can use to improve their business documents.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent introduction to issues in print design
Review: The desktop-publishing "revolution" has given a lot of businesspeople advanced design tools without giving them advanced design skills or training. In this book, Mr. Jacobs and Ms. Studer help overcome that gap by offering clear, concise, practical advice that anyone can use to improve their business documents.
Rating:
Summary: It doesn't just tell you how...it shows you how
Review: The many how-to-do-it, step-by-step illustrations are the key feature in this helpful book. Especially helpful for me was the chapter on generating ideas for layouts. No more staring at a blank screen trying to come up with a creative design that gets the message across. The visual brainstorming technique is worth the price of the book alone.
Rating: 
Summary: Student User-Friendly
Review: This book is concise, factual and a good reference. It has been very helpful in different areas of my work experience. I would recommend this text for anyone who needs such information in increasing their knowledge of forms design
Rating:
Summary: Great book overall
Review: This book is great for beginers as well as professionals. Easy to understand with plenty of illustrations and examples. The book covers form design, web page design, as well as business stationary design and more. I myself learned a lot from this book and would recommend this book to anyone wishing to know more about graphic design.
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