Pentagram Book Five

Rating:
Summary: Great Design Firm, but an Average Book
Review: Pentagram is one of the best design firms on planet earth, so this book is a must have for a creative professional. BUT the book lacks real inspiration - it's very dry stuff. While the volume has many pretty pictures with "case studies" the book doesn't really tell you a story. The work itself is very good, but you can see that in an awards annual like Graphis. You just get the feeling that they didn't have any fun putting this book together. I judge my design books on how often I run to them for inspiration - and this volume doesn't rate too high. I have an ancient book by the founders of Pentagram (Fletcher, Forbes & Gill) which blows these kids out of the water. So this book is a must have for the reference library, but you may want to wait until it's on sale.

Rating:
Summary: Good design at its best
Review: Pentagram...what more do you need to know? It gives amazing insight into the thoughts behind their work in 50 examples. The forward contains a short but very complete description of the history of this powerhouse company of design. A must have book for anyone who studies or loves "good design" of any kind.