Design for Hackers: Reverse Engineering Beauty
Aug 2011 · Sold by John Wiley & Sons
4.4star
16 reviews
Ebook
352
Pages
About this ebook
Discover the techniques behind beautiful design by deconstructing designs to understand them
The term 'hacker' has been redefined to consist of anyone who has an insatiable curiosity as to how things work—and how they can try to make them better. This book is aimed at hackers of all skill levels and explains the classical principles and techniques behind beautiful designs by deconstructing those designs in order to understand what makes them so remarkable. Author and designer David Kadavy provides you with the framework for understanding good design and places a special emphasis on interactive mediums. You'll explore color theory, the role of proportion and geometry in design, and the relationship between medium and form. Packed with unique reverse engineering design examples, this book inspires and encourages you to discover and create new beauty in a variety of formats.
- Breaks down and studies the classical principles and techniques behind the creation of beautiful design
- Illustrates cultural and contextual considerations in communicating to a specific audience
- Discusses why design is important, the purpose of design, the various constraints of design, and how today's fonts are designed with the screen in mind
- Dissects the elements of color, size, scale, proportion, medium, and form
- Features a unique range of examples, including the graffiti in the ancient city of Pompeii, the lack of the color black in Monet's art, the style and sleekness of the iPhone, and more
By the end of this book, you'll be able to apply the featured design principles to your own web designs, mobile apps, or other digital work.
Ratings and reviews
4.4
16 reviews
David Megginson
- Flag inappropriate
August 23, 2014
My initial review, about 20% of they way through, was only 2 stars. The book is very slow to get started, and you're exposed to page after page of boilerplate design cheerleading (with the inevitable genuflexions to Apple). In the middle section, however, the book improves considerably, and actually starts to fill some of its promise of helping hackers understand design, especially by coming back to the same simple design over and over (four simple circles) to show how different elements of design relate to it. If you're reading this, be patient through the early chapters: there is a payoff.
1 person found this review helpful
A Google user
- Flag inappropriate
November 13, 2012
Coming from an engineer's background, I was looking for an intro to the designer's jargon. This book delivered exactly that. It's not perfect -- one might describe it as the thinly veiled and unintentionally tragic memoir of a man afflicted with a crippling typography obsession -- but it more than gets the job done. It covers the basics of typography, proportions, composition, the color wheel... Everything you need to get started. This book won't make you a designer, but it will teach you how to talk to one without seeming dumb or concluding they are. And that's exactly what I wanted.
A Google user
- Flag inappropriate
August 5, 2012
This book was fabulous! Exquisite detail and comprehensive coverage addressing the most important question I have ever had... "why". In grade school did your algebra teacher tell you; "just follow these steps- that's all that is important". Did that make it harder for you to learn and apply your algebra? If so, then you will find incredible satisfaction as the author thoroughly, yet concisely, take you through the facts and foundation of design. I'm getting all excited again just thinking about it.
Nothing is more empowering than understanding the fundamental reasons "why" on any give subject. For non-designers, David Kadavy has closed the loop and turned a subject that you may have found uninteresting or subjective into a fascinating challenge waiting for you to apply your newly acquired objective knowledge.
About the author
David Kadavy is a user interface designer whose clients include Silicon Valley startups such as oDesk, UserVoice, and PBworks. He led the design departments at two Silicon Valley startups and an architecture firm, taught a college course in typography, and studied ancient typography in Rome. David blogs about design at kadavy.net, and his Twitter handle is @kadavy.
Rate this ebook
Tell us what you think.
Reading information
Smartphones and tablets
Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.
Laptops and computers
You can listen to audiobooks purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.
eReaders and other devices
To read on e-ink devices like Kobo eReaders, you'll need to download a file and transfer it to your device. Follow the detailed Help Center instructions to transfer the files to supported eReaders.
