Designa (Wooden Books, 12)

Pack full of designs from ancients. With enough reference lines left for me to figure out how patterns were drawn I can draw them with only compasses and ruler, and experience the joy of past without modern technology. Brief introductions of uses in history make this book not only a great collection of patterns but a delightful history book.

Nearly every page of this book could become an entire book on it's own. It's a treasure trove of fascinating topics that can be appreciated by beginners and experts alike.

I thought this would be one of those large-format books, like a magazine with better covers. But it's 8 inches by 6 inches and 1.5 inches thick with 410 pages including a 5-page Index at the back for cross-reference. DESIGNA is packed with examples from thousands of years: Graphics and Architectural styles from around the world as well as Scientific examples of ideas like symmetry and repetitive examples from Nature. All sorts of patterns, from strict order to random fields. An arcane tour of relationships compiled for those who can take advantage of this information and not have to reinvent the wheel. It's fascinating reading, and going through the illustrations there are Artistic designs you may have seen (for example in works by M.C. Escher) that are broken down into their elements to show how they work, both visually to massage the brain through the optical cortex, and aesthetically, as they show you WHY they are beautiful. You could view this as someone seeking a specific solution to a problem or as a tourist who just wants to explore where they've never been before. There are carved pieces from 200,000 years ago that are just as modern-looking as Art made yesterday, using the same designs for the same reasons, proving that early humans were more like we are now (and maybe even more, because considering the difficultly level of those pieces, the nameless creators were geniuses.) I wasn't quite sure what this book would contain and now I'm pleased (and amazed) at the depth and scale of the resources that were assembled to inform as well as entertain.

An art student’s or designer’s dream. An astonishing collection of forms and shapes we rarely pay attention to and the origins of many of them…..and many you’ve never seen.

I am fastinated with these complicated pattern that I can used for free motion quilting as well as knowing they are based on mathematical equations. I will use them at there most simple lines or take it to the max.

These books hardback are very fragile but they do not ship them as fragile so when you buy them as new they arrive with torn edges scuffed up corners. I'm not doing a second return, but I am very displeased with the quality of these hardbacks because you don't value your product enough to ship it where it won't be damaged.

Haven’t been disappointed yet. Not as good as the quadrivium but it’s a beautiful necessity for anyone crafting Celtic mosaics or is curious about the principles behind some of the most intricate designs inside Islamic countries and others.

I am a digital art designer, as well as many other art hobbies, and I bought this book recently as resource to a college essay on the Golden Section. The Golden Section chapter is great. This series of books is downright amazing, they have all the secrets to everything you ever really wanted to know about design, I also have Quadrivium and its everything you ever could want to know about qualitative math, math in art, math in music and math in nature. I can’t imagine my life without these and I plan to enjoy them for ever

Libro composto da sei libri con bellissime immagini.

Amazón tardó tanto tiempo en mandarlo que la tarjeta con la que se había pagado caducó. 🤣 Así es, después de casi 5 meses por fin lo tengo en mis manos, es un regalo que llevo queriendo más de una década y 5 meses de espera compara poco con una década. Es un libro magnífico, hay gente que dice que es muy básico, puede ser pero si quisiera algo más … avanzado/ completo/ profundo(?). Me hubiera comprado un libro (o incluso una enciclopedia) de cada tema específicamente. Como bien se especifica son 4 libros sucintos en 1, no esperen más que unas maravillosas ilustraciones e información sucinta de varios temas interesantes. Si conocen esta casa saben a lo que atenerse, sino pueden ver algún resumen en su página o comprarse uno de los libros pequeños. Si se es parte del mundo del arte, ilustración, animación o diseño pueden darle una oportunidad y no creo que les defraude, a no ser que sean especialistas en la materia, es ahí donde lo pueden encontrar … poco informativo. Respetuosamente recuerden que esto es mi humilde opinión. Espero lo disfruten. :3

Was completely worth the wait! ❤️ Definitely a book I'd treasure for the years to come. Love love love it But packaging could have been better, slightly damaged the spine

Designa looks gorgeous and is a pleasantly compact size. It's stuffed full of history, art and design nuggets and applied geometry. It's actually a collection of six other Wooden Books titles: Celtic Pattern, Islamic Design, Curves, Perspective and Other Optical Illusions, Symmetry and the Golden Section; as such, it is excellent value for money if you don't have any of those titles.

Fun to read and easy to understand.