Rating: 
Summary: This is a great book that's fun to read
Review: After several years as a reporter, I switch to teaching journalism. My duties included advising the student newspaper. It was obvious the students needed help with the design, but I didn't know a thing about the subject. A friend in the business recommended this book. I bought it and used the exercises in the editing class. The students loved it and their enthusiasm showed in their assignments. This year, the book is a required text. If you don't know anything about newspaper design, buy this book. The spiral binding means you can lay it on the desk next to your computer, and refer to it while you work. Plus Harrower's wacky sense of humor makes the concepts easy to learn and remember.
Rating: 
Summary: The best current newspaper design handbook - I've bought two
Review: Binding is always a key question for a book publisher. Spiral is useful in recipe books and, occasionally, in software tutorials and art books. Newspaper design, however, is kind of in between. Although I do respect the publisher's decision, I believe the book should have a conventional binding so one can shelve it and read the title on the edge. With spiral I will rate it as a four star. With conventional binding I would rate it a five.
Otherwise, I congratulate Tim Harrower for a terrific handbook. I find his material to be appropriate and tastefully presented and am sure many of my friends working the late nights on their community newspaper will benefit from this, the best newspaper design book.
Oh, and I believe the correct choice was made regarding the paper. This finish provides less glare to the user while also providing excellent reproduction for viewing photos and illustrations.
Further, until I find its equal in magazine design I will probably be asking my staff at LJ's Breaking Free - yes, ljsbreakingfree.com will soon be up and running and will be publishing a print version by Fall 2005 - Bill Anderson.
Incidentally - I have purchased two copies of this expensive book. One for myself and another for my staff to share and learn. Seventy bucks is cheap when one pays staff members by the hour or when one has to stop the presses due to graphics or design errors. I know this from experience.
Rating:
Summary: Useful but Over Priced - Poor Binding - Worthless CD
Review: I give this book 4 stars on content alone. But the publisher gets failing grades for price, binding, paper stock, and included CD. With the thousands of books I own, I never had to complain about binding and paper stock until now. I recommend purchasing the hardcover version. I purchased this manual to help me start a local newspaper. I searched through the Internet and there seemed to be few book resources like this one. But there are some good news and bad news related to this book. You decide for yourself. The good news is that this is a wonderful book. It has a little bit of everything. It has lots of examples, defines everything you need to know about a newspaper. It even includes some history. The book makes a big deal of the color added to this edition. I would have suggested it be added several editions ago. The fifth edition even includes a good web design section and a poorly crafted CD. The bad news is that this book is over priced - probably since it has a monopoly on the subject matter. If there was competition the value would be more like $20 at best. The binding is spiral type and the paper is on the thin side so the pages will bend and tear easily. The cover is heavy stock paper as you would expect in any soft covered book. I don't know about you, but when I spend $60 on a book I expect it to be of the highest quality in binding, cover, and paper. I expected the CD to be loaded with all kinds of goodies, examples, and probably a digital version of the book (would have been very handy). After reviewing the CD, it is nothing less than worthless. It looks like a last minute attempt to grab and entice you to buy. The resources provided from the website is not even worth mentioning. Hopefully, after writing this review the author and publisher will take their customers more seriously, especially when they are paying a high premium. The author has much to be proud of with the content inside this book. But when I contacted him he made fun of the fact I was complaining about the paper stock. I guess he does not care about quality.
Rating:
Summary: entertaining and factual
Review: I love this book. I teach high school journalism and I use it all of the time as a resource for page designers. The chapters have a fun, lively voice and the examples are effective. My students love Harrower, too. When I tell them to look something up in the Harrower book, no one complains. I've even bought this book as a gift for graduating seniors!
Rating:
Summary: entertaining and factual
Review: I love this book. I teach high school journalism and I use it all of the time as a resource for page designers. The chapters have a fun, lively voice and the examples are effective. My students love Harrower, too. When I tell them to look something up in the Harrower book, no one complains. I've even bought this book as a gift for graduating seniors!
Rating:
Summary: I've read it & recommended it MANY times!
Review: I love this book. My dad owns it -- he took a class by the author -- and I have borrowed it several times, as well as recommended it to friends -- all of whom have been impressed by the humorous and intelligent approach Harrower takes to newspaper design. If you want to know more about layout and design, but don't want to read a book -- try this one. After reading the first two pages, you'll forget you don't want to read a book and will be spellbound. How many textbooks can claim that?
Rating:
Summary: Good text for students
Review: I use this book to teach page design to my high school journalism and yearbook students. Middle school students could also benefit from this book. However, it is not limited to 6-12 education. Any person who needs to know about layout would be well served by this book.
Furthermore, the resources available on the CD-ROM are outstanding. Chapter quizzes, self tests, photo cropping examples, crossword puzzles, and more really make this book stand out. The disc also links to the McGraw-Hill website which offers even more content to supplement the book.
Overall, a terrific resource for journalists, designers, teachers, and students.
Rating:
Summary: It's great even for an experienced news designer
Review: I'd had plenty of credible newspaper design experience before I bought this book. Problem is, the other page designers didn't. This book clearly explains and demonstrates all the things I've been trying to explain for months! It sums it all up nicely. Mr. Harrower could have gone more in depth into logo and flag design, however. The page and story design sections are impeccable, but I'd have liked to see him get more into the hardcore details of more creative graphic design.
Rating:
Summary: Great for college journalism design class
Review: I'm a college student and taking a class on editorial practices. Our instructor gave us these books to use because the school bookstore didn't get the ones he wanted in. Almost all of the text has some graphic explanation. There wasn't a lot to read, which is great for a college student. The graphic examples make it very clear what the author is trying to tell you. Another great thing about this book is that it is very easy to understand. All of the newspaper terms used have clear definitions, along with a diagram. It is in the first chapter, and a photocopy makes a great cheat-sheet when you are working on a layout of your own.
Rating:
Summary: Great for college journalism design class
Review: I'm a college student and taking a class on editorial practices. Our instructor gave us these books to use because the school bookstore didn't get the ones he wanted in. Almost all of the text has some graphic explanation. There wasn't a lot to read, which is great for a college student. The graphic examples make it very clear what the author is trying to tell you. Another great thing about this book is that it is very easy to understand. All of the newspaper terms used have clear definitions, along with a diagram. It is in the first chapter, and a photocopy makes a great cheat-sheet when you are working on a layout of your own.
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