Although he went by a different name at the time, Gris Grimly graduated from college just as I was starting. Bennett or some of our friends probably knew him better than I did, but I can tell you this guy was, well, eccentric. My limited memory of him includes burgundy velvet suits, greased black hair, long pointy sideburns, and a cloud of mystery and intrigue that followed him around like a curse. This image has served him well, and aside from the fact that he is now an acclaimed author of children’s books, it seems like little has changed. The bio on one of his books says, “‘Gris Grimly’ is whispered by children in classrooms and on playgrounds around the world. Mothers cringe and babies cry at the sound of his name. In spite of his notoriety, Gris Grimly continues to remain a mystery. What we do know is that he likes old movies, tweed suits and mints.”

When I recently got my hands on one of his books, Little Jordan Ray’s Muddy Spud I was captivated. We follow Nine year old Jordan Ray as he encounters beggars, trolls, water nymphs, and other dark yet lovable creatures. Gris’s illustrations steal the show, but the plot is equally captivating. The book is geared towards children, but Grimly deserves the respect he receives from readers of all ages. I can’t wait until my 2 year-old is old enough to enjoy the books as much as I have. Check out Mad Creator.com for more Gris Grimly, if you dare.

Designers reach back into the past to learn from various design styles. They may attempt to emulate the color scheme, the line qualities, the textures, or even the concepts. But one factor holds together the most beautiful designs of both nature and man: sound geometry. Geometry of Design explores this mysteriously potent aesthetic phenomenon.

Kimberly Elam presents a simple yet comprehensive overview of the role of geometry in the beauty of design and nature. Elam first explores the prevalence of the Golden Section in nature, art, and architecture, and supports the storied beauty of its proportions with an overview of the cognitive proportion preference studies of both Gustav Fechner and Lalo. Red-highlighted illustrations illuminate Elam’s clear explanations of how to construct Golden Section (or Fibonacci Series) rectangles, ellipses, and triangles.

Geometry of Design doesn’t only cover the Golden Section. Elam also explores the root 2, root 3, root 4, and root 5 rectangles and explains their role in the more familiar European DIN system (root 2), and the construction of hexagons (root 3).

After introducing these common geometric proportions, Elam reveals the geometric structure of historically significant works such as Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona Chair, A.M. Cassandre’s Wagon-Bar Poster, and Jan Tschichold’s Konstruktivisten Poster, as well as contemporary industrial designs such as the Braun Aromaster Coffee Maker and the modern Volkswagon Beetle. Her analyses are concisely written and aptly accompanied by translucent overlays which reveal geometric structures that range from the astonishingly deliberate to the seemingly unintentional.

Kimberly Elam’s Geometry of Design is a flawless introduction to the role of design’s least visible, yet most powerful, methods of achieving aesthetic beauty. It is a must-read for anyone curious about geometry’s role in design.

I wanted to get this review up before I saw Pash’Äôs presentation on *Inspirability*. I will be doing a review of his session of our HOW blog.

The book Inspirability is composed of interviews from 40 famous designers. Matthew Pashkow, a.k.a. Pash, is the author. This appears to be fairly unedited conversations with some of the biggest names is the biz. Beirut, Sagmeister, Scher, Kidd . . . I have made it no secret that I am a sucker for celebrity designers and this is no exception. It gets me every time. Why wouldn’Äôt I want to know what inspires some of the most respected and creative people out there? Of course there is no definitive answer and that is addressed at the front of the book. What inspires one person might disgust another. Another mans trash . . .

What is strange about the book might just be it’Äôs greatest quality. Informality. The conversations are obviously edited to fit the space allotted, but the content does not seem to be all that much. It is rather different to read Mr. Beirut say ’Äúyou know,’Äù several times in a row. What seems right in a phone conversation seems a little strange while your reading. You know. These informalities carry through in almost all of the interviews. It feels a bit voyeuristic. The informal aspect of the conversations is included in the design as well, almost to a fault. I’Äôm not sure that I enjoy reading body copy in Scala Sans, but maybe I am just being a font snob. At least it is easily readable.

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This is the third book that I have read in order to beef up my knowledge of the speakers at this year’s How Conference. I was lucky that, *Made You Look* had been recently re-printed. I am glad I didn’t have to shell out 60-100 clams for the fist edition (although it still might be worth the price).

I think I might be one of the few designers (among those that do read) that hasn’t read Stefan Sagmeister’s “self-indulgent” design monograph, *Made You Look* by Peter Hall. This isn’t by mistake. When Sagmeister’s Detroit AIGA poster came out, I was convinced that this poster was a publicity stunt and not the direction that design should be heading (I was just out of school and pretty idealistic). Since then I have realized all of the other amazing work that Stephan has done. That slip case induced ravenous dog cover was enough to make me want to read his book. I wasn’t disappointed. It is rare to find a design book as entertaining as this.

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In order to have a little more information for my upcoming HOW Conference session reviews, I have been reading books by some of the presenters. Hatch Show Print: The History of an American Poster Shop is my second installment. My own experiences with letterpress printing is one of the many reasons that I am attending Mr. Sherraden’s session.

I have only been doing letterpress printing in my spare time for less than a year, and currently I have only done small and precise work. Hatch Show Print’s posters have spurred me into getting a 1920′s 12″x18″ Chandler & Price letterpress and four trays of wood type. I am already looking for an excuse to print a letterpress poster.

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