Ava Publishing

The second book in the successful "Basics Illustration" series looks to the history of illustration for inspiration from medieval manuscripts and hieroglyphics to the contemporary. It also examines the production of artefacts, for example artists boo ks, graphic novels, posters, and handmade typography, stencils, graffiti, and fonts designed by illustrators

Product Description Thinking Objects: Contemporary Approaches to Product Design is an innovative, wide-ranging guide to great product design. This book reveals how designers can learn to read the signals an object sends, interpret meaning, discover historical context and use those messages in their own new product designs. Globalisation, technology, the media and the need for a sustainable future are all part of contemporary product design. This comprehensive guide helps students and designers everywhere to incorporate these influences and more. Thinking Objects: Contemporary Approaches to Product Design provides an essential reference tool that will enable the reader to find their own style and succeed in the industry.

Epica Book 22: Europe's Best Advertising features more than 950 commercials, print ads, innovative media ideas, publications, internet sites, direct marketing operations, packaging design projects and integrated campaigns honoured in the 2008/09 Epica awards, Europe's premier creative awards show. All the gold, silver and bronze winners are in the Epica Book, together with a good selection of other high-scoring entries. Epica Book 22 is introduced by Amir Kassaei, Executive Creative Director of DDB Germany. It includes articles by Lewis Blackwell and Mark Tungate, author of Media Monoliths and Adland (Kolan Page), who also contributed the creative synopses.

"Basics Fashion Design: Research and Design" second edition is packed with case study examples of work by talented contemporary designers and other creatives working in the fashion industry, designed to inspire you in your own work. The book explores design development and the processes that you need to explore as a designer in order to maximise the information gathered at the research stage, as well as the various ways by which you can communicate and illustrate your design work. You are also guided through the process of compiling and exploring the information that you have sourced in a creative sketchbook.

Sourcing Ideas: Researching colour, surface, structure, texture and pattern' is a visual goldmine for designers greedy for inspiration. The book includes a huge array of beautiful and diverse images, but it is more than a sourcebook. Using a number of different approaches, it teaches readers how to look for inspiration in the world around them, and how to extract visual information from a variety of sources using five key themes - color, surface, structure, texture and pattern. By exploring new ways of seeing ordinary things, Sourcing Ideas enables readers to create extraordinary effects with textiles. The first in AVA's new Basics Textile Design series, the book follows the successful formula of 'Basics Fashion Design 01: Research and Design', which is used by students and designers all over the world. However, in this book, every example, idea and exercise is geared towards textile design. Covering print, weave and embellishment, this is the perfect book for all textiles and fashion students, as well as any arts and crafts enthusiasts who are looking for inspiration and tips on how to carry out effective and wide-ranging research. The logical structure of the book enables readers to dip in and out with ease; case studies and interviews with successful contemporary designers give guidelines and encouragement for aspiring designers; thought-provoking quotes and exercises and above all the huge selection of images provide the stimulation that will get you reaching for your sketchbook immediately.

The third book in AVA's Basics Creative Photography series, Behind the Image: Research in photography is a unique resource for the modern photographer. Professionals, students and enthusiasts alike will all benefit from this new guide demonstrating how to create compelling and evocative images. Encouraging research, reflection and debate, this new title will revolutionize the way new projects are approached. By looking at how successful photographers have produced meaningful canons of work, Behind the Image gives readers the creative edge today's photographers need to make their work stand out from the crowd. The book's generous selection of images brings together an eclectic range of photographic styles and genres, creating a refreshing and inspiring resource for all. AVA has a strong tradition of producing titles that teach students the importance of research in their chosen creative field. This book features a wide range of photographic contributions from students, amateurs and professionals, specifically edited to help students reflect on their own work in order to produce better images in the future.

A graphic design project can be viewed as a series of choices; the more informed these choices are, the stronger the resolution will be. It is essential for all design projects to be approached with carefully researched, in-depth knowledge and this knowledge-gathering process should both inform and go hand in hand with any other design work; one should constantly inform and aid the development of the other. By carefully looking at the various research methods available to the student, "Basics Graphic Design 02: Design Solutions" encourages the reader to interact and work with the demographic they are designing for. Beyond the basic research methods such as data gathering through interactions with your subject in terms of observing and questioning, the book looks at how this information can be analysed, synthesised and developed. The reader will also learn how best to test and prove decisions and design work, resulting in well-rounded solutions that are informed, purposeful, innovative and aesthetically fitting for the brief.

"The Fundamentals of Architecture (Second Edition)" is an introduction to the basic ideas that inform architecture. It is intended to unravel the complexity of architecture to explain its process and make it more accessible. It guides students through the rich history of the discipline, and introduces aspects of contemporary theory and practice. The book explores the process of architecture starting from the initial ideas and concepts, and how these ideas are informed by understanding site and context. It examines the impact of the physical environment and the historical ideas that have informed and influenced the architectural solution. The second edition has been redesigned and updated with new material, including six case studies, exercise sections and contemporary visuals from students and leading architects.

"Epica 25: Europes Best Advertising" brings together images from all the 2011/12 "Epica" Award winners, featuring more than 850 commercials, print ads, innovative media ideas, publications, internet sites, direct marketing operations, packaging design projects and integrated campaigns. It is a unique source of information for all those interested in contemporary European creative trends. The content is conveniently arranged by product category with creative credits and brief explanations where necessary.

Strong images only come about through a combination of technical excellence and thorough composition. While there is plenty of technical advice, photographers often turn to fine-art sources for the so-called 'rules of composition'. This book, however, acknowledges photography's quite different dynamic and offers a contemporary approach to composition more suited to the medium. The second edition of Basics Photography 01: Composition is divided into six core chapters covering the historical background and personal motivation, the formal elements of composition, how to organise space and time within the photographic frame, how to apply composition in real-world situations and, beyond that, how to use the ideas presented in the book to create original, compelling images through an active and enquiring approach to composition. The Basics Photography series from AVA Publishing's Academia list comprises a collection of titles including: Lighting, Composition, Capturing Colour, Post-Production Black & White, Post-Production Colour, Working in Black & White and Exposure. Easily accessible and highly readable, the books clearly explain and explore fundamental photographic concepts; they are fully indexed and illustrated with clear diagrams and inspiring imagery, building to provide an essential introduction to the subject.

The Visual Dictionary Design Box Set provides readers with an enhanced understanding of over 1000 professional design terms, illustrated with historical and contemporary examples throughout. These four books represent a comprehensive compendium of design terminology and will be useful to all designers, visual arts lecturers and students. The variety of illustrations and photographs serve as a source of inspiration, as well as an ideal memory stimulus for visual learners. The box set comes neatly presented in a slipcase and contains four Visual Dictionaries - Pre-press and Production, Typography, Graphic Design and Illustration. From 'linocut' to 'lithography', 'pilcrow' to 'kerning' and 'crop' to 'creep', The Visual Dictionary Design Box Set will prove a fun and useful resource to design enthusiasts.

The Fundamentals of Illustration, Second Edition" is an update to the popular first edition of the same name, in which Lawrence Zeegen introduces students to the various aspects of illustration. This volume provides a fresh introduction to the key elements of the discipline and takes the student step-by-step through the key processes, themes and applications in illustration. This updated edition includes new and revised content and examples that reflects the changes and developments in the discipline over the past few years.

Long since regarded as an inessential object that simply adds to the beauty, convenience or effectiveness of an outfit, accessories are now considered key items in a fashion collection and as stand-alone pieces worthy of our undivided attention. "Basics Fashion Design 09: Designing Accessories" is filled with important information that any designer will need to know, examining from concept to production four key items: the bag, footwear, jewellery and millinery. The key accessories are dissected to clearly display the core components giving a clear view of how each connects. The book explores specialist finishing techniques such as hand-finishing and machine embellishment and contains descriptions of contemporary techniques that break new boundaries in accessories design. A detailed explanation of small accessories, essential to the accessories designer, will broaden the readers knowledge and provide them with the dexterity of skills to enter the fashion industry.

The Visual Dictionary Architectural Design Box Set contains three Visual Dictionaries which provide the reader with an enhanced understanding of over 750 key terms commonly used within architecture, interior design and photography. Each title contains historical and contemporary illustrations throughout. For architects and interior designers, photography and its language is a useful tool in terms of research. For photographers, an understanding of architectural styles - and the associated vocabulary - can be invaluable when discussing and analysing photographs of buildings and urban landscapes. The illustrations which accompany each definition, many of which are photographs, provide inspiration for new projects focusing on buildings and their interiors. Many of those who work within these fields will also find that they have a strong interest or skill in the other, as one thing architects, interior designers and photographers have in common is an ability to see possibilities in their surroundings. From 'fresco' to 'frieze', 'photogram' to 'perspective', this box set will prove an enjoyable and useful resource to all those interested in the applied visual arts. The three dictionaries come neatly presented in an arlin-covered slipcase.

AVAs Basics Design titles are designed to provide visual arts students with a theoretical and practical exploration of each of the fundamental topics within the discipline of Graphic Design. Packed with examples from students and professionals and fully illustrated with clear diagrams and inspiring imagery, they offer an essential exploration of the subject. Grids, the seventh book in the "Basics Design Series", has been updated with new content and visuals, exploring the construction and ordering of the page and screen through the use of grids. The grid features as a strong element in many areas of design, and presents both the student and practitioner alike with the opportunity to ground their work in solid foundations. This book explores not only how to construct grids, but, more fundamentally, why a designer should construct grids at all. Through detailed investigation of the principles behind grid design, this book will inform and advance your understanding of this key design component, allowing you to devise grids with ease and precision for any situation.

"AVA's Basics Fashion Management" titles are designed to provide visual arts students with a theoretical and practical exploration of each of the fundamental topics within the discipline of Fashion Management. Packed with examples from students and professionals and fully illustrated with clear diagrams and inspiring imagery, they offer an essential exploration of the subject. The second book in AVA's Basics Fashion Management series, Fashion Promotion: Building a brand through marketing and communication, examines what's required for a 21st century fashion brand to make its mark and stay visible in a shifting consumer landscape. The book addresses the new ways in which brands engage with customers, through the latest digital channels as well as traditional methods. Topics covered include: Developing a brand from an original idea; The impact of blogging and street style sites; Digital fashion; Online and offline marketing techniques; Creating the vision behind a brand; Public relations.