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1st out of 28 books
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9 voters
The Art of Looking Sideways
Master designer Alan Fletcher has spent a lifetime collecting images, ideas, quotations, anecdotes, jokes, memories, reflections and scraps of useless information that take his fancy. In The Art of Looking Sideways, all this stuff is distilled into a quirky and highly entertaining feast for the eye and the mind. Loosely arranged in 72 'chapters', this book explores the wor...more
Hardcover, 534 pages
Published
August 20th 2001
by Phaidon Press
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a gigantic coffee-table book, this is one of the greatest purchases i've ever made. opens your eyes to a whole new world with great quotes, anecdotes and more. a must-have for anyone remotely interested in design or art. alan fletcher is one of the greatest designers/thinkers of the last century.
High-brow magic eye for "creative types." Chapters like imagination, ideas, inspiration. Some interesting things in here, like learning that anteaters don't dream, and other, pretty pedestrian stuff formatted to look like it's anything worthwhile. Paul McCartney wrote "Yellow Submarine" right before he went to bed, really, who would have guessed. I don't know. I feel like shit like this just flatters the idea that every one of us is a genius when really what it's doing is over-explaining the who...more
This book is arguably the greatest coffee table book of all time --- but really so much more. There is so much in here, I've spent hours upon hours flipping through this, looking, reading, and still I haven't come close to taking it all in. Very hard to describe, but a sort of everything book that can be opened to any page at any time and consumed however you please.
A great gift for anyone you know with a brain.
A great gift for anyone you know with a brain.
Quotes, anecdotes, fine and applied arts of all kinds. British visual designer Alan Fletcher gathers together 534 pages of fascinating imagery and exposition. A little treasure box of a book that explores, in a "jackdaw" manner, curious phenomenon and interesting facts.
Bottomless source of inspiration.
Holy crap.
This book is mindblowing. J had to forcibly remove me from the store where first I was lucky enough to lay eyes upon this astounding thing.
It's not tidy, but that's okay. It's a not-at-all-completely-random collection of thoughts and sketches from a very thoughtful person, a visual person who can also wield the words. It's as inspirational as _The Engineer's Illustrated Thesaurus_, but in a wildly different way. Between the two of them there's no limit to creative possibility.
This book is mindblowing. J had to forcibly remove me from the store where first I was lucky enough to lay eyes upon this astounding thing.
It's not tidy, but that's okay. It's a not-at-all-completely-random collection of thoughts and sketches from a very thoughtful person, a visual person who can also wield the words. It's as inspirational as _The Engineer's Illustrated Thesaurus_, but in a wildly different way. Between the two of them there's no limit to creative possibility.
Sep 23, 2009
Andee
rated it
2 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
people too lazy to think for themselves
Shelves:
art
Glad I borrowed it from the library. This book I taught me that an awful lot of people can be hoodwinked into paying $49 for a book filled with random thoughts. Not that this amazes me, after all people let themselves be convinced that paying thousands for a blob of blue paint in the middle of an otherwise blank canvas means they possess a deeper than normal understanding and appreciation of "real" art. It's sorta pretentious if you ask me, and the silent implication is there that if you give it...more
"Do not adjust your mind, there's a fault in reality."
This is not a coffee table book. Coffee table books are doomed to nothing but dust-collection. No, this is the kind of 534-page book whose value is greater than its weight. In other words, you can carry it all over the place as a bottomless source of inspiration. You can and you will. You don't find inspiration, it finds you.
I know, my reviews are nothing but annoying riddles. But only if you can handle them can you handle this book.
This is not a coffee table book. Coffee table books are doomed to nothing but dust-collection. No, this is the kind of 534-page book whose value is greater than its weight. In other words, you can carry it all over the place as a bottomless source of inspiration. You can and you will. You don't find inspiration, it finds you.
I know, my reviews are nothing but annoying riddles. But only if you can handle them can you handle this book.
A line that takes itself for a walk and arrives as a book. I wish I'd thought of it first.
Whenever I'm feeling mundane or stuck-in-a-rut, this is the book to reach for. It doesn't take long until my brain is over-stimulated by it, so this book is useful to generate ideas. I keep my journal handy, because something always sprouts... maybe someday you'll be discussing the tattered pages of my imagination all printed and bound... come to think of it, I'll be kind to you and publish my pensées and...more
Whenever I'm feeling mundane or stuck-in-a-rut, this is the book to reach for. It doesn't take long until my brain is over-stimulated by it, so this book is useful to generate ideas. I keep my journal handy, because something always sprouts... maybe someday you'll be discussing the tattered pages of my imagination all printed and bound... come to think of it, I'll be kind to you and publish my pensées and...more
This isn't really a book you read, it's a book you pick up and glance through. It's HUGE, so you kind of have to do it in doses. I did not, by any stretch, look at the whole book. It's kind of a designers' dream book. Every page has a beautiful layout. I can't even really explain what the book is about, but it's cool to look at.
Jul 14, 2012
Marie-anne
added it
This large book offers to be a cornucopia of odd insights and chance finds. It lives up to that. Not quite a coffee table book but certainly a door stopper. It's a rich treasure trove that makes similar lucky dip compilations look impoverished. I would recommend this to people who enjoy lateral thinking.
I love this book. LOVE it. LOVE IT! Great for everything from pondering to inspiration, you can start wherever you like in this enormous tome and always find something interesting within a few pages. From the content to the design, this one is a keeper I go back to again and again.
This book gave me heartbeats from beginning. It took me through a long journey of Alan Fletcher and other people's observations and opinions. It's filled with wonders of the world and human races. It's quite well-rounded for anyone who seek thrills happening in everyday life.
This is one of my favorite books ever. Fletcher does an amazing job of merging ideas, images, design, art, found objects...you get the idea. I suggest reading it sideways--not from beginning to end, but jumping around to whatever captures your attention.
This is one of those books that I probably couldn't retell what it's about - the design is overwhelming to the point of speechlessness. But it's a good speechless. The kind that leaves me inspired to create something more visual - in print even.
I use this book sometimes to break the logjam in my brain. It's design and graphics are useful for just that -- especially when I'm on autopilot, surf-the-internet, must-read-every-blog-ever mode. It's nice to pull it out and flip through it and soon-enough my brain wants to go and have a more wholesome and productive time. The only problem is that recently the book has started to feel a little dated, or just it feels a bit too familiar. The same publisher also has a set of cards, and I've been...more
This book could be read at any given point of time, when your thirst of creativity has not been quenched. Out of my experience, every time I read this book, it gives me a new perspective about how to perceive.It is enchanting.
There's no way to describe this book thoroughly in such a short review, but simply put, it's one of the best books on anything, ever. You can literally open it up to any page and be completely inspired - Alan Fletcher is a God.
You can't so much as read this book as consume it. Ideas and creativity leap off its pages and the author's thoughts on life in all it's glorious idiosyncratic quirks will entertain you and engage the mind.
actually - to be honest - not read the entire contents of this book and not sure if i shall ever complete the task - but that's the beauty of it - flick to any page and you'll learn something new.
I've given this to co-workers and creative associates as a how-to on breaking out of the cubicle and doing the personal exploration you need to do to really come up with fresh ideas. Loved it.
Simply... BRILLIANT. I found my copy browsing Hatchards in Picadilly looking for something else. Whatever I was looking for, it sure as hell wasn't as good as this! I love this book.
It's the size of a phonebook. You can turn to any page and start reading. It's packed with ideas. You find yourself saying, "huh." What more do you want, really?
An outstanding and must have. A perfect gift actually. Michelle P. found an absolute keeper in this book and passed it on to me as well. Highly recommended for your own enjoyment. You absolutely wont want to give it away or let it out of your hands but you wont be able to resist sharing it with others chuckle
Fantastic coffee-table art book and inspiration book. Indispensable to trigger ideas when stuck on a problem or for browsing through for fun when restless!
An inspirational feast for your eyes, your brain, your passion. The sheer abundance of this book still leaves me in awe every single time I dive into it.
I enjoyed this, but you have to go in with the right mindset. It's a meandering book and doesn't really have a tightly cohesive theme. But it's very pretty and has some interesting information on all sorts of subjects. I didn't bother reading the entire thing; I probably read 150-200 pages out of 530. It gets a bit repetitive (a lot of quotes and trains of thought). Quietly introspective.
The most outstanding and beautiful art book without an agreed theme, except to open your eyes.
Really nice inspirational piece. Great book that will allow you to take a different perspective.
Every time I open this book I feel awed and inspired. And it makes me incredibly happy. Love it.
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Alan Fletcher was one of the most influential and best loved graphic designers of his time. In 1959, after success in America, he settled in London. He co-founded Fletcher, Forbes, Gill in 1962, which became renowned for sophisticated graphic design and enduring wit. Their branding for Reuters was used for over 30 years. In 1971, Fletcher co-founded Pentagram, then in 1991 set up his own company....more
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“Strap a piece of toast -buttered side up- to the back of a cat. Throw the cat out of the window.
Will the cat land on its feet or will Murphy's law apply?”
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8 people liked it
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Will the cat land on its feet or will Murphy's law apply?”
updated Sep 12, 2012 10:09pm