A Comprehensive Reference for Graphic Design Novices and Experts

For nearly 20 years, Robin Williams’ The Non-Designer’s Design Book has been a trusted resource for designers and non-designers alike. It presents the essential ideas of great design in an accessible and humorous way. Using four surprisingly simple ideas, this book has helped hundreds of thousands of people create professional-looking designs. With a new chapter on the principles of typography, additional tests and activities to hone your designer’s eye, updated projects to try out, and fresh typographic and visual examples to spark your imagination, the fourth edition of The Non-Designer’s Design Book offers even more useful design guidance.

Key Features and Principles

The four design principles:

  • Proximity: To create a clear structure, group related parts together.
  • Alignment: To create a sense of balance and order, use alignment.
  • Repetition: To create visual coherence, repeat design elements.
  • Contrast: To draw the eye and create visual interest, use contrast.

Design with color and type:

  • Gain the skills necessary to use color schemes such as primary triads, split complement triads, analogous colors, and complementary colors.
  • Recognize the importance of typography and learn how to select appropriate fonts for your designs.

Combining fonts

Learn how to use bold and italic styles, as well as serif and sans serif fonts, to combine fonts for maximum impact.

Designing with typographic and visual examples

Learn how to apply design principles to a variety of design tasks, such as business cards, flyers, brochures, and newsletters.d business cards, to learn how to apply the principles of design.

Reviews and Testimonials

Emily Lewis points out the thoroughness and accessibility of Robin Williams’ Non Designer’s Design Book. Although Emily had no prior experience with graphic design, she found the book to be a great resource, especially for newcomers. She praises the book’s easy-to-read format, which covers a variety of topics such as color schemes, font selection, layout inspiration, and creating business forms. Emily recommends the book to anyone interested in exploring graphic design and often refers to it for guidance and inspiration.

John R. Hawkins praises the book for providing excellent guidance on basic design ideas. He likes how the author uses compelling examples to show how well and poorly designed items such as resumes, personal stationery, postcards, and bulletins can be created. John found the book very educational, even though he has a lot of experience with design software such as Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign. He points out that the second half of the book deals extensively with typography and focuses on four basic design concepts. John emphasizes the importance of The Non-Designer’s Design Book as a learning resource and gives it his highest recommendation for both novice and experienced designers.

About the Author

Renowned typographer, speaker, college instructor, and graphic designer Robin Williams has influenced a generation of digital designers. She is the author of numerous bestselling and award-winning books, including The Non-Designer’s Presentation Book, The Non-Designer’s InDesign Book, and The Mac is Not a Typewriter. An entire generation of computer users has been educated and influenced by Robin’s writing, teaching, and seminars on design, typography, desktop publishing, the Mac, and the Web.

Summary

Regardless of experience level, The Non-Designer’s Design Book is an essential resource for anyone interested in graphic design. With a new chapter on typography, practical design tips, and a variety of design exercises, this book will help you develop your creative and aesthetic talents and produce designs that look professional.

Non Designer’s Design Book by author Robin Williams. Hardcover: 240 pages. Language: English. Publisher: Peachpit Press; 4 edition. (November 29, 2014).

Where Can I Buy This Book?

Robin Williams’ “The Non-Designer’s Design Book” is an important resource for anyone trying to understand design concepts without formal training. Peachpit Press has published this 240-page hardcover book (4th edition, November 29, 2014) in English. It has motivated many readers to understand the fundamentals of efficient, eye-catching layouts and designs. Here’s where to get your copy if you can’t wait to learn the techniques for creating stunning designs:

  • Order a copy of The Non-Designer’s Design Book from Amazon and start using simple yet effective design strategies to elevate your work.
  • Get The Non-Designer’s Design Book on AbeBooks to learn how basic design ideas lead to powerful, lasting images.

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