Rating: 
Summary: A Must Have
Review: "Smile in the Mind" is the probably the best design book that I own. It goes beyond grids and "pretty pictures" to show you design that thinks and involves the viewer. It's informative and inspiring. Also, the text is as interesting as the many examples displayed, a rarity for design books.
Rating:
Summary: A Must Have
Review: "Smile in the Mind" is the probably the best design book that I own. It goes beyond grids and "pretty pictures" to show you design that thinks and involves the viewer. It's informative and inspiring. Also, the text is as interesting as the many examples displayed, a rarity for design books.
Rating:
Summary: a bible for whitty thinking
Review: A 'must have' for all design students. This clear and concise book is a feast of visual whit & humour. Well written, well presented & well funny.
Rating:
Summary: a bible for whitty thinking
Review: A 'must have' for all design students. This clear and concise book is a feast of visual whit & humour. Well written, well presented & well funny.
Rating: 
Summary: Not that witty, really
Review: A nice design book. But what the authors describe as wit is simply design with a message in it. I mean, they classify the Shell logo as visual wit! The best genuine wit is on page 56; the front cover of "Designer" magazine's Money Issue. A bank manager, pictured behind his desk with Thurberesque simplicity of line, tells a pen-and-copperplate-engraved image of a designer that he's "ridiculously overdrawn". If you're interested in visual wit look at advertising, not design. Get a British D&AD annual from the 80's or 90's.
Rating:
Summary: Not that witty, really
Review: A nice design book. But what the authors describe as wit is simply design with a message in it. I mean, they classify the Shell logo as visual wit! The best genuine wit is on page 56; the front cover of "Designer" magazine's Money Issue. A bank manager, pictured behind his desk with Thurberesque simplicity of line, tells a pen-and-copperplate-engraved image of a designer that he's "ridiculously overdrawn". If you're interested in visual wit look at advertising, not design. Get a British D&AD annual from the 80's or 90's.
Rating: 
Summary: Best examples of graphic wit over the past 30 years.
Review: A Smile in the Mind: Witty thinking in graphic design
by Beryl McAlhone, a writer with a special interest in design, and David Stuart, a founder member of The Partners.
A Smile in the Mind focuses on the graphics which give the most pleasure - the ideas that prompt a smile. These are the jobs that people remember, the projects that make designers famous. The book selects the cream of witty work from designers across the world. It comprises the most comprehensive collection of graphic wit ever published.
Humour is fragile under analysis, and this is not a heavy read that wipes the smile off your face. It has a light touch, even when explaining in business terms why wit works. The authors break new ground in analyzing the kinds of thinking behind the images, in showing the 21 different ways of being witty and making the case for witty solutions. The book includes hundreds of examples for all kinds of graphics, covering the main business sectors including work from over 300 designers in the USA, Britain, Europe and Japan. Its most intriguing feature is the collection of interviews with the world's top designers which reveal the secret of secrets, how to get ideas.
Rating:
Summary: A Must Have
Review: Although I think this book is an excellent source for creative encouragement, I wonder if the book is trying too hard to quantify something as intagible as creativity. Creativity is a boundless entity that resists any kind of logical or mathematical scrutiny. However, this book seems to try exceedingly hard to pull apart such a magical force in design and break it down into its simple components. I'm not saying that this attempt is "BAD"...I'm just saying its futile. After closing the book I didn't feel as if I gained any more enlightenment about creativity then before. What I did gain was the great joy of seeing so many incredible examples of how designers have taken seemingly impossible design problems and turning them into clever solutions THAT WORK! But Again, in spite of all the analytical chapters that preceed the example pages, you still look at many of the sample works shown and ask the inevitable question of "How did they think of that?" I don't believe there is a way to study, analyze or answer that question. The best thing to do is enjoy the work and stay inspired. BTW, at the end they have interviews with some of the greats such as Paul Rand and Micheal Beirut. I think many of the readers will enjoy their insight.
Rating:
Summary: A good source of inspiration
Review: Although I think this book is an excellent source for creative encouragement, I wonder if the book is trying too hard to quantify something as intagible as creativity. Creativity is a boundless entity that resists any kind of logical or mathematical scrutiny. However, this book seems to try exceedingly hard to pull apart such a magical force in design and break it down into its simple components. I'm not saying that this attempt is "BAD"...I'm just saying its futile. After closing the book I didn't feel as if I gained any more enlightenment about creativity then before. What I did gain was the great joy of seeing so many incredible examples of how designers have taken seemingly impossible design problems and turning them into clever solutions THAT WORK! But Again, in spite of all the analytical chapters that preceed the example pages, you still look at many of the sample works shown and ask the inevitable question of "How did they think of that?" I don't believe there is a way to study, analyze or answer that question. The best thing to do is enjoy the work and stay inspired. BTW, at the end they have interviews with some of the greats such as Paul Rand and Micheal Beirut. I think many of the readers will enjoy their insight.
Rating: 
Summary: Good for a read and as inspiration...
Review: Although I was a little disappointed by the feeling that about 1/3 of the designs shown in the book were all in the article that convinced me to buy it (Critique Magazine), I am about halfway through reading it cover to cover (on the subway to and fro work), and I almost never stop smiling, nodding, or saying, "Hrmph" during the ride. As a student currently making a rough transition from Apparel Design to Visual Communications, this is the kind of publication that reminds me of why I made that decision. (And makes me wonder if The Partners will be hiring freshcuts when I get outta college!) Good for a read, and as inspiration -- a definite keeper.
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