This book does not set out to teach lessons, but it is full of wisdom and insights collected from all over the world. Describing himself as a 'visual jackdaw', master designer Alan Fletcher has distilled a lifetime of experience and reflection into a brilliantly witty and inimitable exploration of such subjects as perception, colour, pattern, proportion, paradox, illusion, language, alphabets, words, letters, ideas, creativity, culture, style, aesthetics and value.

The Art of Looking Sideways is the ultimate guide to visual awareness, a magical compilation that will entertain and inspire all those who enjoy the interplay between word and image, and who relish the odd and the unexpected.

PICTURING AND POETING is a testament to Fletcher's remarkable talent and a reflection of the intelligence and visionary creativity for which he was so acclaimed. The book presents a wealth of material from his notebooks and travel diaries about people and places, the contextual patterns of words and letters, and the charming and infuriating idiosyncrasies of the way in which we communicate with the world around us.

Throughout this personal collection of work, Fletcher's sketches and quotations demonstrate how images can often communicate a point more clearly than text. A self-proclaimed "doodler," Fletcher offers an entertaining exploration of the potential that words have to become pictures, and that drawings have to convey meanings. This book will appeal to anyone who enjoys visual mind-teasers and clever stories.

Alan Fletcher belonged to that elite international group of designers who transcended the conventional boundaries of their craft. He is was consultant Creative Director to Phaidon Press and the author of Beware Wet Paint (1996) and The Art of Looking Sideways (2001) The Design Museum of London will be hosting the exhibition "Alan Fletcher: Fifty years of graphic work (and play)" through February 2007.

PICTURING AND POETING is a tribute to the storied 50-year career of one of the world's great creative thinkers. As Emily King states so eloquently in the book's introduction, "Although much of this book seems to be the work of an instant, it is, of course, the product of a lifetime."